House Sirius
address: 3 Dežmanova StreetPeriod: Secession/Art Noveau
Kind: Immovable material heritage
Century: 20
Year: 1912
Purpose: residental
The house Sirius was built in 1912 according to the designs by Giovanni Rubinich. It is famous as the seat of the freemasons in Rijeka, which is witnessed by the decoration on the façade selected by Rubinich. Rubinich himself was a member of the loggia.
This multiple-storey building is abundant with interesting façade sculpture inspired by the freemason symbolism – the lizard, a winged creature, a whale, a lion, the swastika, hearts, various floral details.
The entrance to the edifice is adorned by a decorative frieze, while the ground floor windows are set into semi-circular niches between which there is an animal head symbol. The piano nobile includes the second and the third floor. It is adorned with freemason details – spirally bent snakes and ears of grain within a garland. Within the building, there is a red-black five-pointed star with the inscription Sirius, the name of the freemason loggia in Rijeka.
Today the building has a residential purpose, and the freemason loggias are closed for the public.
Valorization:
The house is a valuable example of Art Nuveau in Rijeka. The typology of the façade form was stylistically subjected to the demands of the commissioner. The building is not included in the List of Protected Immobile Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia.
Bibliography:
Arhitektura secesije u Rijeci, ed. Daina Glavočić, MMSU, Rijeka, 2007.
Lozzi Barković, Julija, Secesija u arhitekturi Rijeke, Publishing Centre Rijeka, Rijeka, 2010.
Lozzi Barković, Julija, Arhitektura secesije u Rijeci, Hrvatskom primorju i Istri, in: Galić, Anđelka i Gašparović, Miroslav, Secesija u Hrvatskoj, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb, 2004.
Pustišek, Deborah, Giovanni Rubinich, City Museum of Rijeka, Rijeka, 2014.
