Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

For most people, Odesa is Primorsky Boulevard, Deribasivska, catacombs and port. Well, there are also a couple of popular beaches, such as Arcadia or Langeron. It is crowded there, full of visitors, and everything is very expensive, which is what you should expect from a resort.

But there is an opportunity to come to Odessa, rent housing for a moderate amount, settle in a decent neighborhood with developed infrastructure, but quite green and with access to the sea… Do you like the idea? Then you have a direct road to Tairovo.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

Tairovo (not to be confused with the village of Tairova!) is the second largest district of Odessa, approximately six kilometers from the historical center. About three hundred thousand people live here – twice as many as in the whole of Uzhhorod. There are restaurants and supermarkets, shops of all types, the huge Southern market, schools, kindergartens, in short, everything necessary for life in a big city. This is a special place with its own character, customs and even culture.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

A little about the history of the district

In 1915, an electric tram line was laid along the coast in the Odesa region. It was, as it is customary to say today, an image project: the Odesa authorities demonstrated the well-being of the city. From a practical point of view, the tramway was to connect the city center and numerous villages and estates with each other, up to the German settlement of Lustdorf.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

But these places remained sparsely populated until the 1960s, when the area began to be actively developed. First, a huge and rich collective farm named after Karl Liebknecht was broken up here. Early tomatoes, sweet peppers and other southern vegetables were grown here. But the collective farm was most famous for its vineyards. The culture of winemaking in these regions was founded by Vasyl Tairov, who founded a winemaking station here in 1905, and after the revolution became the main Soviet winemaker. The district is named after him.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

Secondly, the city authorities began to allocate plots of land in this area for individual development – this is how a considerable private sector appeared. And thirdly, the construction of the Ulyanovsk residential complex began – a block of multi-story buildings in which employees of the Black Sea Shipping Company received apartments. Then Ulyanovsk was joined by Vuzovsky and Pivdenny housing estates. Representatives of Odesa academic circles settled in the university. And the South was built in the last years of the USSR and after its collapse, when apartments were no longer distributed, but bought. So people have always lived decent and wealthy here.
Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

What is Tairov now? These are several arrays of high-rise buildings, surrounded by areas of private development, with well-developed infrastructure and access to the sea, on the beach of Zoloty Bereg and beach 14 of the Velikoi Fontanu station. This is also an area of prestigious development: not far from the sea, in a populated area. It also has its own sights: monuments of Soviet times andmore modern. But it is much more interesting that this is the center of the graffiti subculture in Odessa. Graffiti artists naturally continue the culture of painting that has existed here for almost two centuries.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

At the end of the 19th century, the Society of South Russian Artists was formed here in Odessa. Despite the name, representatives of different nationalities gathered in the Society, as always in Odessa: the Greek Kostandi, the Englishman Edwards, the Jew Levitan and others. The paintings of South Russian artists differed from other paintings of that time by their bright colors: as the tour guides say, they were inspired by the very nature of the south.

There are streets on Tairov named after Shishkin, Levitan and Kostandi. And here there are long rows of fences, along the Lustdorf road and areas of private development. Graffiti artists use this space to improve their skills. And it must be said, this is not just street graffiti, but a developing type of monumental art. The authors of the drawings are winners of Ukrainian and foreign competitions, most often they have an art school or even an academy behind them.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

Graphite artists work in different styles. For example, in the photo above – Wild style, complex and difficult to read. Such a drawing requires a firm hand and quite a supply of colorful balloons. This is hardly the pranks of an amateur, a real master worked hard here.
Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

And this is a 3D style, three-dimensional image, although in fact the wall on which the unknown insect is drawn is absolutely flat, without convexity.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

Throw up is a style where the simplicity of lines is most appreciated, although the message of the drawing does not become less profound.

Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov

This style is called Cosmic. It’s just strange that this gorgeous drawing adorns not an exhibition of modern art, but the wall of a garage cooperative. But it must be admitted that not all local residents are delighted with graffiti. Some believe that these drawings are a sign of disorder in the city. Others draw other people’s pictures with hundreds of small black crosses. It is difficult to say what the authors of the crosses are trying to achieve – or are trying to achieve – perhaps they are protecting citizens from the evil spirits that live in the wall paintings. What…
Walks in Odessa: the charming urbanism of Tairov