Review article

Compositional structure of the facades of buildings in Saint Petersburg in the XVIII century features an architectural uniformity regardless of the style solutions, which has contributed to the formation of the whole urban ensemble environment of Saint-Petersburg. The compositional structure of the facades referring to this period was based on the classical Western European theory of architectural forms. The main principles of this theory (such as arrangement of the background and accent planes on the building facade, horizontal and vertical articulation system, multiple-element hierarchic system of the architectural form types possessing various degrees of the accent significance, etc.) were perceived, assimilated, and developed by the architects of Saint Petersburg during the XVIII century.