General Staff Building
Carlo Rossi · Saint Petersburg, Russia · 1829
Carlo Rossi’s General Staff Building defines the sweeping southern edge of Palace Square with an enormous curved classical façade. Two wings are joined by a triumphal arch aligned with the Winter Palace, turning administrative architecture into an urban-scale ceremonial composition. The repeated colonnades and carefully controlled curvature create a coherent wall around one of Europe’s most famous public spaces. Completed in 1829, the building originally housed military and government ministries; its eastern wing is now part of the Hermitage Museum and contains major modern-art galleries.