CASE STUDY-

KIZHI POGOST
CHURCH
by -Tanya shah
UG191401
Assignment Brief

To create a report on the given case study here, Kizhi Pogost Church,
Russia.
Basic information and introduction of the building, its main material details
about the material reason for the use of that particular material.
Performance of the material and its expected performance. Various quality
checks and amount of usage and consumption in the building.
Conclusion and outcome.
To create a video presentation with a voiceover explaining the presentation.
Topics
■ Structure name and location
■ Basic information and introduction to the building
■ Design overview
■ Material used
■ Properties of material
■ Role of material
■ Manufacturing
■ Reasons for material selection
■ Material performance
■ Quality checks
■ Conclusion
 KIZHI POGOST CHURCH, RUSSIA

■ Located on an island in Lake Onega about 60km north-east of the city of Petrozavodsk, the
capital of the Karelian republic, the Russian Orthodox church is part of an ensemble of
storied wooden buildings known as Kizhi Pogost. A Unesco World Heritage Site since 1990,
the complex also features the nine-domed Church of the Intercession and a bell tower.

■
■ Fig 1 : 18th-century Church of the Transfiguration, topped with 22 domes, is said to have been built without a single nail
■  The builders' names are unknown. A legend tells that the main builder known as Master Nestor,
used one axe for the whole construction, which he threw into the lake upon completion with the
words "there was not and will be not another one to match it“.
■ The Church of the Transfiguration, a visionary wooden wonder with an octagonal frame and 22
domes built in 1714—legend has it without a single nail—has reopened to tourists for the first time
in 40 years after an extensive, and at times contentious, restoration. restoration of 1950 under the
direction of architect A.V. Opolovnikov
■ It was first built in 1694 as a single-dome structure, then reconstructed in 1720–1749 and in 1764
rebuilt into its present 9-dome design as an architectural echo of the main Transfiguration Church.

■ Fig 2: Church of the Transfiguration and is also called a summer church 

Introduction

■ The height of the Church of the Transfiguration, whose central cupola culminates at 37m, is a
masterpiece of a multi-storey, multi-cupola, and single-block structure. Here, over a central
volume covered with three octagonal frames, the architect placed bochkas (roofs whose peak is
shaped like a horizontal cylinder with the upper surface extended into a pointed ridge) topped with
22 bulbous cupolas. Inside, under the so-called 'heaven' - a superb vault shaped like a truncated
pyramid - there is a gilded wood iconostasis holding 102 icons from the 17th and 18th centuries.
■ The Church of the Transfiguration was intended for use only during the summer as the church has
no heating, and winter in Russia is terribly bitter. It was not uncommon in Russia to have paired
churches, for summer and winter. At the Kizhi pogost, the adjoining winter Church of the
Intercession was built in 1764, providing an admirable visual complement to the ensemble.
Whereas the Transfiguration Church soars, the Intercession Church with 9 domes accentuates the
horizontal, with an extended refectory.
 Materials
■ Both churches are made from a combination of Scots pine.
■ Scientific name for Scots pine is Pinus sylvestris.
■ Distribution- Native to Europe and northern Asia;
also planted in New Zealand and Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
■ Tree size- 65-115 ft (20-35 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1 m) trunk diameter

■ Fig 3: scots pine tree also called red wood. Fig 4: Scot pine plank
 Properties and Uses of Scots pine

■ Heartwood is light reddish brown, demarcated sapwood is pale yellow to nearly

white.
■ Grain is straight, with a medium, even texture.
■ Scots Pine has a mild, resinous odor when being worked.
■ Average dried weight- 34 lbs/ft3 (550 kg/m3)
■ Specific gravity-  .39, .55
■ Modulus of rupture- 12,080 lbf/in2 (83.3 MPa)
■ Elastic Modulus- 1,461,000 lbf/in2 (10.08 GPa) Fig 5:
cross section of scots pine log

■ Crushing strength- 6,020 lbf/in2 (41.5 MPa)

■ Shrinkage- Radial: 5.2%, Tangential: 8.3%, Volumetric: 13.6%, T/R Ratio: 1.6
■ Rot resistance- Heartwood is rated as moderately durable to non-durable regarding
decay resistance. Scots Pine is readily treated with preservatives and can thereafter
be used in exterior applications such as posts or utility poles.
■  Workability- Medium - In general, the timber works easily and well with both hand
and machine tools, but ease of working and quality of finish is dependent upon the
size, and number of knots, and degree of resin present. The wood is capable of a
smooth, clean finish, and can be glued, stained, varnished and painted satisfactorily,
and takes nails and screws well.
■ Drying- The timber dries rapidly, and without undue degrade, but owing to its
tendency to develop sap stain, it should either be anti-stain dipped, or dried quickly
after conversion
■ Scots pine timber is one of the strongest softwoods available and is widely used in
the construction industry and in joinery. It is used in the manufacture of telegraph
poles, pit props, gate posts and fencing. The tree can also be tapped for resin to
make turpentine.
 Role of Material

■ Church is entirely made of wood that too without the use of nails. And are rather connected
using locking joints. Wood is used in various forms in various elements in a way that details of
the church that are thought decorative, actually have a protective function.
■ The domes, the barrel vault, the tunnels, the arcades are united not only in an elegant
architectural composition but also in a single technical system, designed to the details of
rainwater drainage and protection from atmospheric precipitation. 
■ Even if a drop of rain were to pass through the roof, the water would not damage the paintings
since a second roof made of massive wooden beams, a layer of birch bark, and a birch net is
inserted inside the octagon.  
■ The interior of the church is simple, but of great beauty: there are no particularly demanding
frescoes or carvings. On the contrary, there are solid log walls, large wooden boards on the floor,
and massive door jambs, only the benches, placed along the temple walls, are slightly carved.
■ The church has no foundation and is placed on a stone plinth, only under the aisle of the western
church, in 1870, a base with lime mortar was prepared.
Manufacturing

■ Felling
■ Selected trees in an area are visually inspected and marked as being ready to be cut down, or felled. If a
road does not already exist in the area, one is cut and graded using bulldozers. If operations are expected to
extend into the rainy season, the road may be graveled, and culverts may be installed across streams to
prevent washouts.
■ Most tree felling is done with gasoline-powered chain saws. Two cuts are made near the base, one on each
side, to control the direction the tree will fall. Once the tree is down, the limbs are trimmed off with chain
saws, and the tree is cut into convenient lengths for transportation.
■ If the terrain is relatively level, diesel-powered tractors, called skidders, are used to drag the fallen tree
sections to a cleared area for loading. If the terrain is steep, a self-propelled yarder is used. The yarder has
a telescoping hydraulic tower that can be raised to a height of 110 ft (33.5 m). Guy wires support the
tower, and cables are run from the top of the tower down the steep slopes to retrieve the felled trees. The
tree sections, or logs, are then loaded on trucks using wheeled log loaders.
■ The trucks make their way down the graded road and onto public highways on their way to the lumber
mill. Once at the mill, giant mobile unloaders grab the entire truck load in one bite and stack it in long
piles, known as log decks. The decks are periodically sprayed with water to prevent the wood from drying
out and shrinking.
 Debarking and bucking
■ Logs are picked up from the log deck with rubber-tired loaders and are placed on a
chain conveyor that brings them into the mill. In some cases, the outer bark of the log
is removed, either with sharp-toothed grinding wheels or with a jet of high-pressure
water, while the log is slowly rotated about its long axis. The removed bark is
pulverized and may be used as a fuel for the mill's furnaces or may be sold as a
decorative garden mulch.
■ The logs are carried into the mill on the chain conveyor, where they stop
momentarily as a huge circular saw cuts them into predetermined lengths. This
process is called bucking, and the saw is called a bucking saw.

Band-sawing small logs

■ Smaller diameter logs are fed through a series of bandsaws that cut them into
nominal 1 in (2.5 cm), 2 in (5 cm), or 4 in (10 cm) thick pieces in one pass.
Headrig sawing large logs

■ If the log has a diameter larger than 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m), it is tipped off the conveyor and
clamped onto a moveable carriage that slides lengthwise on a set of rails. The carriage can
position the log transversely relative to the rails and can also rotate the log 90 or 180 degrees
about its length. Optical sensors scan the log and determine its diameter at each end, its length,
and any visible defects. Based on this information, a computer then calculates a suggested
cutting pattern to maximize the number of pieces of lumber obtainable from the log.
■ The headrig sawyer sits in an enclosed booth next to a large vertical bandsaw called the headrig
saw. He reviews the suggested cutting pattern displayed on a television monitor, but relies
more on his experience to make the series of cuts. The log is fed lengthwise through the
vertical bandsaw. The first cut is made along the side closest to the operator and removes a
piece of wood called a slab. The outer surface of the slab has the curvature of the original tree
trunk, and this piece is usually discarded and ground to chips for use in paper pulp.
The carriage is returned to its original position, and the log is shifted
sideways or rotated
to make subsequent cuts. The headrig sawyer must constantly review the log
for internal defects and modify the cutting pattern accordingly as each
successive cut opens the log further. In general, thinner pieces destined to be
made into boards are cut from the outer portion of the log where there are
fewer knots. Thicker pieces for dimension lumber are cut next, while the
center of the log yields stock for heavy timber pieces.

Re-sawing
• The large cut pieces from the headrig saw, called cants, are laid flat and
moved by chain conveyor to multiple-blade bandsaws, where they are cut into
the required widths and the outside edges are trimmed square. The pieces that
were cut from smaller logs may also pass through multiple-blade bandsaws to
cut them to width. If the pieces are small enough that they do not need further
cutting, they may pass through a chipper, which grinds the uneven edges
square.
 Drying of Scots Pine

■ According to A Handbook of Softwoods (Building Research Establishment, 1977) Scots pine is

dried according to kiln schedule M. However, upon drying discolouration can occur in Scots
pine heartwood to a larger extent and therefore kiln schedule F is recommended if this is a
concern. In practice, kiln schedules need to be modified through local experience.
■ Schedule Moisture content Dry-bulb temp (°C) Wet-bulb temp (°C) Approximate relative humidity (%)
M Green 90 81 70
50 95 78 50
F Green 50 45 75
60 50 44 70
40 50 42 60
30 55 43.5 50
25 60 46 45
20 70 52.5 40
15 75 57.5 40
Choice of Material

■ In the Republic of Karelia , in Lake Onega Transfiguration church is found.

■ Scots pine was chosen as the material as it is easily available in Russia and has
a moderate price.
■ Russians also have a rich heritage of carpentry making it advantageous
material for the builders to work with.
■ Scots pine is also a one of the strongest softwoods available so making
joineries and construction is easy.
■ Also wood as good thermal insulation, hence keeping the inside of the church
warm in the cold weather of Russia.
Expected performance

■ It seems solid, durable, and intricately designed enough to be someone’s grand plan, at
least on first glance.
■ In simple terms, the structure relies upon the strength of interlocking wooden beams held
in place under their own weight. Nails were a relatively expensive commodity in any
case, being hand forged throughout most of their history.
■ It was only in the early 1700s that tentative processes of bulk nail manufacture started to
appear, about the same time that the altar in Kizhi’s largest Church of the Transfiguration
 was laid (1714). Even this date does not provide a true insight into Kizhi Pogost’s origin,
In simple terms, the structure relies upon the strength of interlocking wooden beams held
in place under their own weight. Nails were a relatively expensive commodity in any
case, being hand forged throughout most of their history.
■ It was only in the early 1700s that tentative processes of bulk nail manufacture started to
appear, about the same time that the altar in Kizhi’s largest Church of the Transfiguration
 was laid (1714). Even this date does not provide a true insight into Kizhi Pogost’s origin,
■ Additionally, can also question the wisdom of using nails of the period in
any case; the expansion and contraction of wood over the seasons would
have been completely at odds with the metal employed, aside from issues of
corrosion. Metalwork does however play an important role in Kizhi’s
maintenance, as the World Monuments Fund states:
…The remarkable longevity of wooden architecture depends on the periodic
replacement of decaying timber elements. Thanks to regular repairs, the
Church of the Transfiguration survived into the twentieth century …a steel
scaffold had to be erected in its interior to protect the building from collapse.”
Essentially, the church now has a metal skeleton, leading to the removal of the
external scaffolding that embraced the exterior during recent years..”
Quality Checks

■ Quality checks of a material can be done through visual inspection as well as

laboratory experiments. Some of the quality checks are listed below
■ Checking for Blue stain
■ Checking reaction to Fire
■ Compressive strenght test
■ Static bending test
■ Checking for moisture content
■ Check for defects.
■ Test for determining Modulus of rupture
Materials used

■ There is no specific figure as to how much material was used in making

the transfiguration church or in its restoration but originally it was a
single material structure. During restoration some other materials were
added. Like adding metal sheeting on domes to protect from bad weather.
■ List of materials used
■ Scots pine
■ Metal sheets
■ Spruce planks
■ aspen
Conclusion and Learning

■ Since the building was very old and back then there were not enough
modern technical advancements for preservation of timber so much
maintenance and restoration was required. But today if something similar
was to be made with correct treatment and appropriate quality material it
would have a better performance.

■ From this case study we can conclude that Scots pine is a material with
good workability and can be used in various forms in various building
elements. Is also touch friendly material and creates ambient temperature
spaces.
■ It has good durability and has a fairly acceptable life span. It is also
biodegradable material and reducing the waste generation and causing less
negative impact on the environment.
Biblioraphy
■ https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/documents/7106/FCRP029_YFdfInO.pdf
■ https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/designing-for-typologies/a3808-wooden-arch
itecture-of-kizhi-island-russia
/
■ https://www.trada.co.uk/wood-species/pine-scots/
■ https://www.wood-database.com/scots-pine/
■ https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Kizhi+Pogost
■ https://
www.amusingplanet.com/2012/02/kizhi-pogost-300-years-old-multi-dome.html
■ https://
www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/07/16/nailed-it-kizhi-pogost-church-is-finally-rest
ored-on-russian-island-of-remarkable-wooden-buildings
■ http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Lumber.html
■ https://historydaily.org/kizhi-pogost
■ http://
openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1656/1/Conservation_of_Historic_Tim
ber_Structures-2.pdf
■ https://www.proquest.com/docview/2461837661
■ Scots pine timber quality in north Scotland– market development study
■ https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/277611655_Tests_of_Wooden_Specim
ens_from_Scots_Pine_Pinus_sylvestris_with_the_Help_of_Anisotropic_
Plasticity_Material_Model
■ https://bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu/resources/comparison-of-micro-and-sta