Oleh Holovchak

Biography

Oleg Holovchak was born in the village of Novychka, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. Family circumstances (among other things) highly contributed to Oleh's choosing of the career after school: his brother Volodymyr is a civil engineer, brother Petro is a painter, brother Jaroslaw also is an architect.

He graduated from the Department of Architecture of Lviv Polytechnic Institute in 1974. Immediately after he moved to work in Ternopil. He started his career in Ternopil branch of the "Dniprotsyvilprombud" institute. He became the director of the Architectural Group in 1983.

He worked as the chief architect of the project at JSC "Terno-Kors". Now Oleh Holovcak is the Chief Architect of Ternopil collective creative production company "Ternopilarhproekt".

In 1981 he was elected a secretary of the Ternopil Oblast branch of the Architect's Union of USSR. Since 1990 to 1999 he headed the Ternopil Oblast branch of the Architect's Union of Ukraine.

Oleg Golovchak said about his profession:

The architect always is a little dreamer, but a dreamer who remembers about reality. We serve for one of the most difficult kinds of art that requires a combination of polar properties - mind of the rational mathematician and passionate soul of the artist.

Main projects

Most of the buildings designed by Oleg Golovchak are located in Ternopil.

In 1977, being a member of the creative team of architects, he worked on the interior of the Palace of Culture "Octyabr" (now it is the Palace of Culture "Berezil" of Les Kurbas). For this work, the creative team were awarded with the certificates of the USSR State Construction Committee.

On December 30, 1982 four-storeyed building of the Ternopil Regional Museum designed by Oleg Golovchak was unveiled. For this work, the architect received a diploma from the IX Republican view of the works of young architects by the Architect's Union of the USSR, which was held in 1985 in Kyiv.

In 1984 a newly built Ternopil Regional Academic Theatre of actors and puppets was opened.

Oleh Holovchak projected an residential complex on the Luchakivskoho street in Ternopil (1987-2003).

The church of St. Josaphat, designed by the architect, was built in 1999-2002 in Ternopil.

In 2000, in the Sichovykh Striltciv street diocesan house of Ternopil-Zboriv Archdiocese was built. The same year, in front of the diocesan house a monument of Andrey Sheptytsky, created in collaboration of Oleg Golovchak and his brother, a painter and sculptor Petro Golovchak, was unveiled. On October, 27 the unveiling event was attended by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar and Bishop of Ternopil-Zboriv Archdiocese Mykhaylo Sabryha.

Another work of the architect is the bell tower of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Dolyna.

Ternopil Oblast Universal Scientific Library

In the early 1980s, Oleg Golovchak drafted a new building of Ternopil Oblast Library. However, the construction which started in 1986, has not yet been completed due to lack of funds. Initially it was planned that the building would be completed by the end of 1989. However, construction activities were suspended, they recovered only sporadically. Occasionally a question of changing the destination of the building was on agenda.

According to Oleg Golovchak if the project was annually allocated at least 500 thousand hryvnias since 1991, it would have been already completed. If the current situation is saved, there is a danger of the chaotic development of Square of the Euromaidan Heroes (formerly Square of Arts), where the unfinished library is located. This can significantly spoil the look of the center of Ternopil.