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 ...

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 r ...

, 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 inv ...

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

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

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 successf ...

. 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 unde ...

, 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 Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building is one of seven Stalinist skyscrapers laid down in September 1947 and completed in 1952, designed by Dmitry Chechulin (then Chief Architect of Moscow) and Andrei Rostkovsky. The main tower has 32 levels (includi ...

, 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 The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(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 b ...

, 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 tourist ...

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 file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

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 Nikolai Vasilyevich Tomsky (russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич То́мский b. , Ramushevo, Novgorod Governorate d. 22 November 1984 - Moscow) was a much-decorated Soviet sculptor, designer of many well-known ceremonial monumen ...

), 1943 * the Stalinist skyscraper at the

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Kotelnicheskaya Embankment (russian: Котельническая набережная) is a street on the northern bank of Moskva River in central Tagansky District of Moscow, Russia. It spans from the mouth of Yauza River (west) to the point on ...

(one of the Seven Sisters), 1947–1952 * the

Peking Hotel The Peking Hotel (russian: links=no, гостиница Пекин) is a building in Moscow which houses a four-star hotel and an office complex. The building, which was designed in the Stalinist classicism style, was constructed between 1939 and ...

, 1955 *

Moskva Pool The Moskva Pool (Moscow Pool) was, for a time, the world's largest open air swimming pool. It was built in Moscow in 1958 on the foundation of the abandoned Palace of the Soviets, to the designs of Moscow architect Dmitry Chechulin. Constructio ...

, 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 NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, 1965–1981 * the

Rossiya Hotel, Moscow The Rossiya Hotel (russian: Гостиница «Россия») was a five-star international hotel in Moscow. It was the largest hotel in the world from 1967 to 1980. Until its closure in 2006, it remained the second largest hotel in Europe ...

, 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