The building at Velyka Panasivska Street, 83 is listed on Kharkiv’s register of architectural landmarks as a residential building designed by V. Veruzhsky in 1933, although its design has also been attributed to O. Beketov.

Nevertheless, this house is not mentioned in any reference works or monographs on Beketov.

To the city’s residents, the architect Beketov is primarily associated with buildings in the Neo-Renaissance and Neoclassical styles, which is why his work in Constructivist architecture—a style so uncharacteristic of him—is quite rare and intriguing.

That said, the Constructivist-style electrical engineering building at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, designed by Beketov, is widely known; after the war, an entrance in the Socialist classicism style was added to it, distorting the building’s original appearance.

Some Kharkiv residents say that the building was originally constructed as a dormitory for the “Zaliznychnyk” Palace. After it was converted into short-term rental apartments in the early 2010s, its appearance suffered greatly…

Most of the building’s balconies were removed, the windows were made smaller, and an extension was added…

It’s hard to recognize the building’s Constructivist style now—it could easily be mistaken for a typical building from the late 1980s.

In the 1962 photo, you can see the building in its original form, with balconies featuring concrete railings, which were later replaced with metal ones.

The house before renovation in the early 2010s:

The building’s windows were damaged as a result of Russian missile strikes on Zaliznychnyk Palace in 2022.