View of one of the passenger elevators in the shopping centre “Magnus”, which were without a doubt the beauty of its interiors. Wooden, polished, and embellished with carneze. With carved decorative elements, with glassed walls, the cabin of the elevator moved openly along two metal cables between storeys. On the outside on each storey, a two-metre wrought iron decorative enclosure, with a screen for safety, was built around the cabin. Today the contemporary elevators ride in metal-glass shafts, the wrought iron side enclosures over the banisters remain but the front wrought iron “portals” have disappeared. It is interesting to note- on the steps there are fastenings for a carpetted path, which was the norm for public buildings of that time. The building of the “Magnus” Shopping centre was built in 1912-1913 by the renowed Polish architect Roman Felinskyi. The project was brought to fruition by the building firm of the architect Mihal Uliam, where R. Felinskyi held the position of director of the architectural department. Architecture historians believe that the model for the architect was the structure of the shopping centre in Berlin on Leipziger Strasse built in 1896, according to the plans of architect Alfred Messel. The structure “Magnus” is a shining example of world industrial-commercial architecture of the early 20th c.; its construction was realized thanks to the private investor-engineer Skibnievskyi and co. Dmytro Zavrazhyn
