In 1895 Pomerantsev was appointed chief architect of the 1896 All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod, an event heralded as the guiding light for the upcoming 20th century. Master plan and principal pavilions of the exhibition are credited personally to Pomerantsev. Most pavilions relied on novel steel frame load-bearing structures designed by Shukhov; they "represented the most advanced use of metal-frame construction for their time and possibly the first use of a metal membrane roof" (Shukhov Rotunda). Pomerantsev's "Pavilion of Arts" was based on traditional structure, but stylistically predated Charles Girault's Petit Palais (1900) and is considered the forerunner of emerging Russian Art Nouveau. When the Pavilion was eventually torn down, its framing and finishes were reused for the "People's House" theater in Saint Petersburg.