The architectural ensemble of Shevchenko University is not limited to the famous Red Building — it is an entire story of the city’s development. Along Volodymyrska Street stand the university’s academic buildings, and on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard rises another gem — the Yellow Building, which is sometimes referred to simply as the “Yellow University.”
Its construction was overseen by Oleksandr Beretti, the son of architect Vincenzo Beretti. He continued his father’s work and left behind a rich architectural heritage in Kyiv. Many of his buildings have survived to this day and have become part of the city’s historical character.
Originally, the Yellow Building served as a male educational institution — the first boys’ gymnasium in Kyiv. Here, the sons of wealthy families studied, including future scholars, writers, artists, and statesmen. The atmosphere of the institution combined the discipline of classical education with the spirit of a new era — it was here that Kyiv’s intellectual class of the 19th and early 20th centuries began to form.
Today, the university ensemble buildings form a unified historical and architectural complex that shapes the appearance of central Kyiv. Together with Shevchenko Park, they create a harmonious spatial axis — from the Red Building to the green avenues of the boulevard. This is a place where history, architecture, and scholarship blend into a single symphony of the city.