Vul. Novyi svit, 3 – residential building ID: 2586

The apartment house was designed by Józef Delkiewicz and Antoni Jarusiewicz (façade) and built in 1910–1912. It is an example of late Secession style with Neoclassicist motives; it features a unique ceiling mural depicting a girl with a guitar against a golder background. It was commissioned by Stanisław Slawik — a judge at the Regional Court.

Story

Till the late nineteeenth century, the area where part of this street lies — a rather large plot — belonged to a Dominican monastery: it is plainly visible e.g. on the 1783 plan of Lviv and on an 1863 one. On the 1895 plan one can see that it began to be divided into plots for further construction. In 1898, a street called Krzyżowa boczna was laid out here — today it is called Novyi Svit (Лемко, Михайлик, Бегляров, 2009, 319). The street's even side — up to the intersection with Hlyboka street — is built up with Historicist-style apartment houses, whose design is typical of the 1890s.

From 1905 till 1943 the street was named ul. Nowy Świat (Polish for "New World"); one can spot this name on Lviv's maps, address books, and other sources. During the Third Reich's occupation, in 1943-1944, it was called Mackensengasse, in 1946-1990 it was called vul. Demokratychna; while in 1944-1946 and after 1990 it has been called Novyi Svit.

Before this apartment house was built, there was a larger plot marked with a conscription number 79 ¼ here. It is visible on the 1802 plan of Lviv. In 1871 and 1889, it's address was ul. Głęboka, 5. Its owners were Michał Raba, then Antoni Siedler (till about 1897). It is likely that in 1898, when the street was laid out, two houses with the same conscription number 79 ¼ were assigned addresses ul. Nowy świat 1 and 3. Information about these houses is available in the address books of 1909 and 1910, according to which 7 residents lived in house no. 3 (Wielka ksiega adresowa, 1909), the number increasing to 20 in 1910 (Skorowidz, 1910).

The analysis of the 1910 city map and the 1910 location plan in the building's construction records (DALO 2/1/3036:19) proves the existence of four large houses on the odd side of ul. Nowy Świat up to the intersection with ul. Głęboka. During the development of the street in the 1910s, the previous parcellation was changed — and the houses that have survived to this day were built. Accordingly, the present-day house no. 3 occupies a part of the former site of house no. 1, while house no. 5 was built on a part of the former parcel of house no. 3.

 

In 1910, the preparation of a project for a an apartment house began. In July 1910, Stanisław Slawik, the owner of the plot, applied to the magistrate for a permission to build a house on plots under cadastral numbers 2744/13 and 2744/23 or conscription number 79 ¼ (DALO 2/1/3036:1). In August 1910, the first project was approved. There are signatures: of the owner Stanisław Slawik, master mason Józef Delkiewicz as the designer, and of the neighboring plot owners (DALO 2/1/3036:19).

In September 1911, the magistrate allowed to connect the building to the city sewers (DALO 2/1/3036: 3,4,22). In November 1911, a slightly different façade design was approved, which actually corresponds to the one implemented. Antoni Jarusiewicz, another master mason, signed it. According to the inscription on this drawing, the house acquired a different conscription number — 2145 ¼ (DALO 2/1/3036:28). In May 1912, the magistrate certified that all construction works were finished (DALO 2/1/3036:6).

In March 1937, the magistrate sent a request to the owner of the building, Salomea Schapirowa, to restore the façades as those appeared "damaged and dirty". Exactly one month later, another request followed. In October, the owner asked for the case to be withdrawn, which the magistrate did not agree to (DALO 2/1/3036: 9,10,14-17).

Today (2016) the house remains residential.

Architecture

The building was conceived as an apartment house, with premises to be rented out for residences. It has retained its function.

The house is located in the middle of the street's row housing. All houses on this side of the street — up to the intersection with vul. Hlyboka — are built in a very similar late Secession style. On the other side of the street, the houses were built earlier and feature Historicist revival styles.

The three-story and two-tract L-shaped building is covered with a gable roof. According to the archival drawings from 1910-1911, main façade is 20 m wide, the floors 1-3 are 3.4 m high, the basements' premises are 2.85 high. The house stands on a slope, and the courtyard level is lower than that of the street. While Lviv's Building Code of 1885 restricted buildings' height, in this case it was possible to attach a four-story wing to a three-story main building.

The plot is rectangular, therefore all rooms are either rectangular or square. The entrance consists of a portal, small vestibule with a few stairs leading to the main staircase. The two-flight staircase is inscribed in a rectangle with cut corners, its volume protruding from the rear façade. The staircase landings provide access to gallery balconies, which lead to the apartments in the wing. A two-flight back staircase is arranged at the end of the wing.

 

The façade is decorated in a late Secession style combined with Neoclassicist elements. It has eight window axes and is almost symmetrical: the entrance is located slightly off the center.

The staircase interior is decorated with a unique painting of the second floor ceiling. The elongated rectangle of the ceiling is divided into three geometric panels. The central elongated panel with a depiction of a tanned woman in a white and blue outfit with a guitar against a golden background imitating a mosaic is the compositional accent of the mural. The painting is executed in a realistic manner with a thin outline typical of Secession. It can be assumed that the appearance of such a theatrical painting was caused by the fact that in 1913-1916 the house was occupied by three dramatic artists, a writer, and a teacher (Księga adresowa, 1913, 1916).

(Editor's note: this architectural description is a shortened translation. For the full text, see the Ukrainian original).

People

Barańska — resident of the house in 1936 who filed a complaint about fire hazard there.
Stanisław Batko — forestry engineer,a resident in 1935.
Izak, EugeniaChodiner — house owners in 1935.
Józef Delkiewicz (1874–1938) — a licensed master mason who designed houses in a late Secession style in Lviv, he designed the house in question.
Stefan Dębski — private company employee, a resident in 1935.
Eliasz Heschełes — co-owner of a neighboring plot in 1910.
Szymon Heschełes — co-owner of a neighboring plot in 1910.
Emilian Hładyłowicz — teacher, a resident in 1916.
Antoni Jarosiewicz — a licensed master mason who designed the façade for this house.
Mieczysław Jełowicki — man-of-letters, a resident in 1916.
Ada Czesław Kaden — theater actress, a resident in 1913.
Edmund Karasiński — theater actor, a resident in 1913.
Stefania Karzniewicz/ Karszniewicz — owner of a neighboring plot in 1910.
Helena Knobloch — employee at a private company, a resident in 1935.
Roman Marjan Kuntze (1902–1944) — doctor of philosophy, zoologist and anatomist, professor at the University of Lviv; a resident in 1934–1936.
Witołd Leszczyński — bank director, a resident in 1913.
Roman Łoziński — representative of a neighbor in 1910. He owned a house at pl. św. Jura, 6 then.
Karol Muller — adjunct in the railway company, a resident in 1916.
Maurycy Neuss — a resident around 1932–1935.
Franciszek Pacześniak — engineer, a resident in 1913.
Emanuel Pollak — adjunct at the railway company, a resident in 1916.
Michał Raba — owner of the previous building on the plot in the nineteenth century.
I. Ridler — doctor, a resident in 1935.
Waleryan Sabiński — auditor in the railway company, a resident in 1916. 
Władysław Sanocki — construction worker, a resident in 1935.
Salomea Schapir(owa) — house owner in 1937.
Antoni Siedler — owner of the previous building on this plot in the nineteenth century.
Stanisław Slawik — judge at the Regional Court, house owner in 1910–1912.
BronisławSłonecki — secondary school professor, a resident in 1935.
Józef Tassower — owner of a neighboring plot in 1910.
Aleksandra Tarczewska — owner of a neghboring plot in 1910.
Marjan Wieczorek — assistant at the Lviv Polytechnic, a resident in 1935.
Leopold Zbudzki — theater actor, a resident in 1913.

Sources