The building of the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts (KSADA) is arguably the finest example of Ukrainian Art Nouveau architecture in Kharkiv. It is located at Mystetstv Street, 8.
The building features most of the typical characteristics of Ukrainian Art Nouveau – a hexagonal entrance portico, distinctive roof lanterns and the slopes of the tiled roof, majolica and murals.
Some researchers also see expressionist features in the building.
The building was constructed between 1911 and 1913 to a design by Konstantin Zhukov and Mikhail Piskunov for the Kharkiv Art School, founded in 1912.
The roots of the Kharkiv Art School go back to Maria Raevskaya-Ivanova’s drawing school, opened in 1869. A whole host of talented artists passed through this school, whom we have mentioned on numerous occasions – for example, the artists K. Pervukhin, S. Vasylkivsky and the architect O. Beketov. Raevska-Ivanova’s school was transformed into the municipal art school in 1896.
In 1911, the Kharkiv City Council announced an architectural competition for the construction of an art school in the Ukrainian style. Four designs were submitted for the façade competition, but only Konstantin Zhukov’s design was deemed the most thoroughly developed.
In the spring of 1912, the newspaper ‘Utro’ published a transcript of the heated debates that took place during the project’s approval. Some members of the council (deputies) denied the very existence of a new Ukrainian architectural style at that time and wanted to construct a simpler building in the Neoclassicism style, considering Zhukov’s façades too costly from a financial point of view.
Among those defending Zhukov’s design were the deputies M. Mikhnovsky, M. Sumtsov and V. Velychko. The majority of deputies spoke in favour of approving the design, which was adopted to a standing ovation.
As the building was designed from the outset to educate artists, the issue of providing natural light to the classrooms was taken very seriously. It is worth noting the huge windows and the glazing in the roof of the hall on the second floor.
In 1920, the art school was transformed into the ‘State Free Art Workshops’. In 1921, the Kharkiv Art College was opened, renamed an institute in 1929. In 1963, it became an art and industrial college, which cemented the name ‘Khudprom’ for the university. Later, Khudprom was expanded with two additional buildings on the neighbouring Mystetstv Street.
Khudprom became the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts in 2001.
The building’s tiled roof, glazing and stained-glass windows were repeatedly damaged as a result of Russian shelling between 2022 and 2025.
