The house with a DragonPavel Andrikevich (b. late 1950s)

As a young man Pavel Andrikevich studied at the Civil Aviation Technical School in Leningrad, Russia (known after 1991 as St Petersburg).  After completing his studies, he worked as a dispatcher for the traffic services of the Rivne regional airport in northwestern Ukraine. In the 1980s he obtained a job at the new Volyn regional airport, which opened in 1984 not far from the city of Lutsk, where he went to live.

Around 1986 Andrikevich became interested in working with metal, perhaps because of his proximity to aircraft as part of his job. His metalwork includes both decorative items and functional objects; these latter are also nicely decorated and more interesting to view than standard examples of these genres.

Although the Volyn regional airport was successful in the 1980s, it encountered problems following the dissolution of the USSR in December, 1991. It officially closed in 1997, but Andrikevich may have lost his job earlier. He was then able to obtain a new position at the TechnoModul company in Lutsk, which makes equipment for ventilation. On the side, Andrikevich focused upon the manufacture of metal domes for churches, monasteries and other buildings in Lutsk and in the surrounding Volyn region. One example is the one installed on the chapel at the site of a fire brigade in Lutsk.

He also made a special series of decorated helmets for motorcyclists, made from stainless steel and adorned with various colorful stones. These helmets indeed are suitable to wear when driving a motorcycle, but Andrikevich rarely does so in order to prevent possible problems with the police.

In addition to these helmets, Andrikevich's house and garden contain many more metal objects, including a shield and sword, but also a swing for children, storage boxes, and various other decorative items. However, his most spectacular creation is the dragon on the roof of his two-story house.

Andrikevich had been thinking about constructing such a creature for some time, but it actually took shape when he had to rest for weeks due to an accident when he broke his thigh. Made of aluminum in order to lighten the load, it rests on a base of galvanized steel, and the five-meter-long dragon turns with the direction of the wind. It is flanked by decorated chimneys crowned with pigeons. With the help of his two sons, Andrikevich installed the creation on June 7, 2009. Visible from afar, it attracts a lot of public interest, and it has also resulted in various articles in the local and regional press.

Although public visits to the house and garden are not offered, the dragon and other decorative objects are viewable from the street.

~Henk van Es

Lutsk, Volyns'ka oblast ua
Latitude/Longitude: 50.747233 / 25.325383

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