Dmitry Nikolaevich Chechulin (russian: Дми́трий Никола́евич Чечу́лин; , in Shostka – 29 October 1981, in Moscow) was a Russian Soviet architect,

city planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and leading figure of

Stalinist architecture Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace o ...

Life

Born in Shostka (

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast ( uk, Сумська́ о́бласть, translit=Sumska oblast; also referred to as Sumshchyna – uk, Су́мщина) is an oblast (province) in the northeastern part of Ukraine. Population: The oblast was created in its most ...

, today in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

) to a working-class family, after service in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

Chechulin enrolled in the state school Vkhutemas and graduated in 1929, doing post-graduate work under

Alexey Shchusev Alexey Victorovich Shchusev (academic spelling), german: Schtschussew, french: Chtchoussev, pl, Szchusiew. (russian: Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев; – 24 May 1949) was a Russian and Soviet architect who was success ...

. In the 1930s Chechulin was awarded commissions for four stations of the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first und ...

, and developed his career to design a list of familiar Moscow landmarks. From 1945 through 1949 he served as chief architect of Moscow. Chechulin's work intersects with the

Palace of the Soviets The Palace of the Soviets (russian: Дворец Советов, ''Dvorets Sovetov'') was a project to construct a political convention center in Moscow on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The main function of the p ...

competition (the major event in Soviet architectural history) at multiple points. He was among the twelve finalists in the final round. He is credited for the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building, one of the seven Moscow ''vysotki'' (tall buildings) commissioned by Stalin after World War II as a "frame" for, and then in lieu of, the unbuilt Palace. Chechulin had produced plans for the unbuilt eighth tower, the Zaryadye skyscraper, in 1947. And when, after decades of neglect and delay, the huge excavation for the Palace of the Soviets finally became the world's largest open-air swimming pool in 1958, he was the architect. Chechulin wrote nearly 40 books, pamphlets, monographs and articles on architecture, urban planning and design issues. Among his many awards were Hero of Socialist Labour (1976),

People's Architect of the USSR People's Architect of the USSR (russian: Народный архитектор СССР), also sometimes translated as National Architect of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to architects of the Soviet Union; it was established on August 12 ...

(1971), two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of Honour, and three Stalin Prizes (1941, 1949, 1953). He died 29 October 1981 and is buried at

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular touris ...

Work

The following works are in Moscow unless otherwise indicated: * Komsomolskaya (Sokolnicheskaya Line) station, Moscow Metro, 1935 * vestibules for Okhotny Ryad Metro station, 1935 * Kievskaya (Filyovskaya Line) Metro station, 1937 * vestibules for the

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundat ...

Metro station, 1938 * the Moscow Pavilion at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition, now the

All-Russia Exhibition Centre Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (russian: Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, ''Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva'', abbreviated as VDNKh or VDNH, russian: ВДНХ, ) is a perman ...

, 1939 * Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, 1940 * the Victory Bridge (with sculptor Nikolai Tomsky), 1943 * the Stalinist skyscraper at the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment (one of the Seven Sisters), 1947–1952 * the Peking Hotel, 1955 * Moskva Pool, 1958 * the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

, 1965–1981 * the Rossiya Hotel, Moscow, on the site of the unbuilt Zaryadye tower, 1967 (razed 2006)

Sources

Chechulin's Palace of the Soviets entry

list of buildings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chechulin, Dmitry 1901 births 1981 deaths Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Recipients of the Order of Lenin Soviet architects Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts Stalin Prize winners Vkhutemas alumni 20th-century Russian architects Heroes of Socialist Labour