What Will Remain Historical of the BSU Main Building After Reconstruction
In March 2026, large-scale construction work began in the main building of the Belarusian State University on Independence Avenue. They promise a maximally careful approach to the historical appearance of the building. However, while some unique details from the 1960s will indeed be meticulously restored, other authentic materials will give way to modern imitations. This approach largely repeats the experience of the recent renovation of BSU's Faculty of History.
Victim of Khrushchev's Decree
The main building of BSU was constructed between 1958 and 1963 according to the design of prominent architects Mikhail Baklanov and Anatoly Dukhan. Initially, it was conceived to be even more monumental: the central part was supposed to be crowned with a high spire-topped tower in the style of Moscow high-rises.
Main facade of the BSU main building. Photo: Google Maps
But the project fell under the bulldozer of Khrushchev's decree on the "fight against architectural excesses." The tower was removed, and the decor was simplified as much as possible. However, even in this truncated form, the architects managed to create a distinct ensemble with a powerful granite portal and solemn interiors featuring Art Deco elements.
Today, the building holds the status of a historical and cultural value of the 2nd category.
Archival drawing of the courtyard facade of the BSU main building. Despite the simplification of the architecture as part of the "fight against excesses," many projected elements, such as the relief panel or the canopy above the porch, were still not implemented. Photo from project documentation
Modern view of the courtyard facade of the BSU main building. Photo: Google Maps
The project for its major renovation with modernization was developed throughout 2022 by "Grodnograzhdanproekt Institute." Elena Shchasnaya served as both the scientific director of the object, responsible for preserving its historical heritage, and the chief architect of the project.
What Will Happen to the Facades
As for the exterior appearance, the designers approached the matter relatively delicately. The facades will remain as they were: the project envisages the restoration of the original stone plaster with added marble chips, treated with a bush hammer, and the preservation of the granite plinth cladding.
Stairwells, glazed with stained glass infills. Photo: Google Maps
Side porch with authentic doors and metal railing. Photo: Google Maps
The most noticeable external change concerns the roof. Historical and archival research showed that the roof was not originally red, as it is today, but covered with ordinary galvanized sheet metal of a natural gray color — this color will be restored during the reconstruction.
Even such inconspicuous details as grilles on window wells can turn out to be an original feature of a historical monument. Photo from project documentation
Original metal grilles with individual designs will also remain on the facades, and lost elements are promised to be re-cast according to historical patterns.
Art Deco in the Interiors — Will It Be Preserved?
According to the documentation, many original artifacts of the era, which form its unique ambiance, will remain in the building.
Art Deco ceiling lights in the assembly hall. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Archival drawing of a ceiling light for the assembly hall. Photo from project documentation
The four rectangular ceiling light fixtures in the assembly hall, which feature a distinct Art Deco style, are recognized as a true treasure of the interiors. Their geometric pattern of crossed rhombuses is made of thin bronze-like metal strips, with frosted glass inserts. The project envisages their mandatory and detailed restoration.
Decorative wooden radiator grilles in the reading rooms and foyer are subject to preservation.
Archival drawing of the facade of the wooden glazed partition of the library, located in the BSU main building. Photo from project documentation
Wooden library partition with stained glass infills in fusing technique. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Two decorative stained-glass compositions in the vestibule niches, made using the fusing technique with images of white birds against a blue sky with brown and green inserts — they will be carefully dismantled, lost fragments of the image will be restored, and then they will be returned to their place.
The grand multi-flight staircase with its characteristic railings will also remain: the wooden profiled handrails and the wooden barrier with nickel-plated steel details must also be restored.
Without Italian Terrazzo and Oak Parquet
The most significant historical losses in the BSU main building concern the replacement of authentic flooring materials with modern industrial analogues.
Historically, the main vestibules, corridors, and stairwells of the building were laid with mosaic concrete with marble chips, forming a characteristic geometric terrazzo pattern. This is an extremely durable material, typical for public architecture of the 1960s.
Archival drawing with the floor pattern in the building's vestibule. Photo from project documentation
Such floors in Belarus are usually called Soviet mosaic, but the USSR has nothing to do with the material — it is actually called terrazzo. It appeared in Italy and spread widely throughout the world in the late 19th — early 20th century, including in Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture of the 1920s.
The interiors of the building preserve the spirit and authenticity of their historical period. It appears that the interiors needed a delicate repair of floors, doors, and partitions, as well as the installation of networks in the walls and work with lighting — instead, the reconstruction proposes a total overhaul. Photo from project documentation
The project envisages the complete dismantling of terrazzo in the BSU main building. Officially, this is due to the emergency condition of several inter-floor ceilings, made of prefabricated reinforced concrete slabs, which require reinforcement and pouring a new monolithic screed.
In the ceremonial rooms, mosaic floors have already been replaced with ceramic granite. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The building after the start of work.
Terrazzo will not be restored, as the designers cite the risk of cracks appearing on the new monolith during subsequent operation. In reality, this problem was solved as early as the 1920s when partitions began to be used for pouring terrazzo on floors, which also serve as expansion joints, preventing the floors from cracking.
Instead of restoring the mosaic concrete, ceramic granite tiles will appear, supposedly «preserving the layout pattern and the external appearance of the terrazzo surface.»
In one sentence on the drawings, the designers include mosaic floors in the list of «distinctive features of historical and cultural value,» and in the very next — calmly prescribe their complete destruction and replacement with modern tiles.
Moreover, the promise to preserve the historical mosaic pattern with ceramic granite seems dubious also because there are no drawings with a specific tile layout for the floors that would at least allow the floor pattern to be restored.
Among the positives of the reconstruction is that historical profiled concrete slabs will return to the building instead of plastic window sills. Photo from project documentation
However, terrazzo will remain in the main building, but not on the floor. The project provides for the preservation of some wooden windows, which appeared during the renovation in 2017, as well as the reuse of authentic window sills. In the 1960s, they were cast from the same mosaic concrete (terrazzo) as the floors.
The original oak parquet in the auditoriums will also be dismantled — it will be replaced with linoleum.
Return of Historical Doors
A similar approach of imitation instead of restoration is observed concerning the joinery. The documentation states the necessity of «recreating door hardware based on preserved analogues in this building» and preserving bronze hardware.
Some doors with decorative handles have already been recreated based on historical examples in previous years.
Archival drawing of wooden doors in the BSU main building. Photo from project documentation
Existing veneered wooden doors in the BSU main building. Photo from project documentation
Door handle and exit from the assembly hall balcony. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / from project documentation
Office Ceilings
Adapting a mid-20th-century building to modern sanitary and fire regulations requires the installation of a huge amount of equipment. The project includes powerful ventilation, air conditioning, smoke extraction systems, as well as hundreds of meters of cable trays for networks.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
All corridors and auditoriums in the building will be fitted with suspended office ceilings. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In the 1960s, air exchange was achieved through natural draft and high ceilings, while electrical wiring was hidden in shallow chases. Modern pipes and trays are not laid within walls, preferring to conceal them behind suspended ceilings, significantly reducing room height — the same awaits the BSU main building.
In the vast majority of working offices, corridors, and laboratories, suspended ceilings with square «Armstrong» type panels are planned, similar to those in regular offices. Such solutions alter the historical proportions of the rooms, but at least in this building, there is almost no valuable ceiling stucco that would be hidden behind a suspended structure, as was the case at the Faculty of History.
Coffered ceilings in the main vestibule of the building will remain uncovered by suspended ceilings. Photo from project documentation
Coffered ceilings in the main vestibule of the building will remain uncovered by suspended ceilings. Photo from project documentation
It appears that only the coffered (with square recesses) ceilings in the grand rooms will remain uncovered: in the main vestibule named after Picheta and in the assembly hall.
Without Unsightly Lifts, But Also Without Historical Staircases
The project envisages a complete modernization of the lift shafts: old equipment from the 1960s will be dismantled, and modern systems without a machine room will be installed in its place.
Currently, the lift shafts in the central stairwell of the main building look like an industrial object: they are enclosed by unsightly structures made of profiled metal decking, resembling constructions in an industrial zone more than elements of university interiors designed by Baklanov and Dukhan.
Staircases and lift shafts are marked for demolition in the project documentation.
The old staircase made of mosaic concrete, along with its authentic railings and banisters, will be dismantled. The lift shafts in the stairwells, made of unsightly metal profile, will also be replaced. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The shafts will be re-equipped using modern non-combustible materials that comply with today's fire safety standards. It is likely that the aesthetic aspect of the structures will improve, but
along with the outdated lifts, as can be understood from the drawings, the flights of historical staircases into which they are integrated, as well as the wooden railings and banisters, will also be completely demolished. It is unlikely that during the restoration of the staircases, their profiled steps of mosaic concrete will be replicated; rather, the most primitive version of staircase execution with ceramic granite finishing will be used, as is the case with the floors.
The reconstruction of the BSU main building is another example where historical buildings are ruthlessly adapted to modern construction standards, as if they were objects being built from scratch. According to the Code on Culture, fire or sanitary safety requirements are not prioritized if they harm the distinctive values of an architectural monument.
This approach is far from true restoration. Although the scale of intervention in the main building does not reach the disgraceful destruction of interiors that occurred during the recent renovation of the neighboring Faculty of History, it is also very far from being an exemplary case of heritage preservation.
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