Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov (Russian: Константин Степанович Мельников; – November 28, 1974) was a Russian architect and painter. His architectural work, compressed into a single decade (1923–33), placed Melnikov on the front end of 1920s
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
architecture. Although associated with the
Constructivists, Melnikov was an independent artist, not bound by the rules of a particular style or artistic group. In 1930s, Melnikov refused to conform with the rising
Stalinist architecture, withdrew from practice and worked as a
portraitist
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...
and teacher until the end of his life.
Biography
Childhood
Konstantin Melnikov was born and died in Moscow. He was the fourth child of the family. His father, Stepan Illarionovich Melnikov, originally from
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
region, was a road maintenance foreman, employed by the Moscow Agricultural Academy. Mother, Yelena Grigorievna (née Repkina), came from the peasants of
Zvenigorod
Zvenigorod (russian: Звени́город) is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population:
History
The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a hydronym (cf. the Zvinech, Zvinyaka, Zveniga Rivers) ...
district. The whole family occupied a single room of a state-managed working class barrack in Hay Lodge (Соломенная сторожка), then a quiet northern suburb of Moscow. Melnikovs tried hard to rise above bitter poverty, to return to farming and eventually relocated to their own small house and set their own dairy farm. Konstantin Melnikov later praised his father, who noticed the little boy's addiction to drawing and regularly brought him scrap paper for drawing from the academy. However, all the education they could afford was a two-year parish school (completed in 1903).
Education
Konstantin met his "golden day in life" ("это был золотой день в моей жизни") through a milk delivery woman, who happened to serve the family of Vladimir Chaplin, a wealthy engineer. She recommended Konstantin's drawings to Chaplin, who was so impressed that he hired the teenager to his firm and paid for his art studies. Chaplin overestimated Melnikov's basic education, and Konstantin failed his grammar test at the
in 1904. One year later, he passed the admissions that selected a class of 11 out of 270 applicants. Melnikov studied at the School for 12 years, first completing General Education (1910), then graduating in arts (1914) and Architecture (1917). Despite Chaplin's calls to concentrate on architecture, Melnikov leaned to painting; by the time he joined the Architecture classes, he already was a well-recognized portrait painter. Later, he recalled
Konstantin Korovin
Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (russian: Константи́н Алексе́евич Коро́вин, first name often spelled Constantin; 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter.
Biography
Youth and education
Konstan ...
,
Sergey Malyutin
Sergey Vasilyevich Malyutin (russian: Сергей Васильевич Малютин; 4 October 1859 – 6 December 1937) was a Russian painter of fine crafts, (scenic) designer, illustrator and architect; initially associated with the Arts a ...
and
Abram Arkhipov
Abram Efimovich Arkhipov (russian: Абра́м Ефи́мович Архи́пов; – 25 September 1930) was a Russian realist artist, who was a member of the art collective The Wanderers as well as the Union of Russian Artists.
Biogr ...
as his mentors in art; as for architecture, he gave his regards only to
Ivan Zholtovsky, his professor in 1917–1918.
Melnikov married Anna Yablokova in 1912; they had two children, born in 1913 and 1915.
Early career
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the first years after
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, Melnikov worked within the Neoclassical tradition. Before the Revolution, he was involved in
AMO Truck Plant project. In 1918–1920, he was employed by the ''New Moscow'' planning workshop headed by Zholtovsky and
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 ...
, designing
Khodynka and
Butyrsky District
Butyrsky District (russian: Бутырский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion) of North-Eastern Administrative Okrug, and one of the 125 raions of Moscow, Russia. It is 6 km north of the Moscow city center, located just outside ...
sectors of the city.
Meanwhile, the Russian educational system collapsed; the new art college,
VKhUTEMAS, was formed in 1920. Its architectural faculty was split between three factions: An Academic Workshop (Ivan Zholtovsky), left-wing United Workshops (
Nikolai Ladovsky), and a joint workshop of Melnikov and Ilya Golosov, known as New Academy and Workshop No.2. Melnikov and Golosov resisted both the academic and left-wing camps; in 1924, when the management merged New Academy with Academic Workshop, Melnikov quit VKhUTEMAS. In 1923–1924, Melnikov temporarily associated himself with the
ASNOVA
ASNOVA (russian: АСНОВА; abbreviation for russian: АСсоциация НОВых Архитекторов, ''Association of New Architects'') was an Avant-Garde architectural association in the Soviet Union, which was active in the 1920s ...
and
LEF artistic groups, however, he was not involved in public disputes and made no public statements. In particular, he clearly distanced himself from the
Constructivist group, led by
Moisei Ginzburg
Moisei Yakovlevich Ginzburg ( be, Майсей Якаўлевіч Гінзбург, russian: Моисей Яковлевич Гинзбург; , Minsk – 7 January 1946, Moscow) was a Soviet constructivist architect, best known for his 1929 ...
and
Alexander Vesnin
Alexander Aleksandrovich Vesnin (russian: Александр Александрович Веснин) (28 May 1883, Yuryevets – 7 September 1959, Moscow), together with his brothers Leonid and Viktor, was a leading light of Constructivist ar ...
.
His first success in architecture was a 1922 entry to a workers' housing contest. Codenamed ''Atom'', Melnikov's design employed the sawtooth arrangement of units that became his trademark in later works. Unlike other, "revolutionary" projects, ''Atom'' was based on traditional single-family
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
and apartment units.
Melnikov's first materialized works were short-lived, temporary buildings. The first, a 1923 pavilion for the All-Russian Agriculture and Handicraft Exhibition, featured more Melnikov trademarks:
* Raised cubical shapes are offset from supporting columns
* Combination of single-sloped roofs
* Glazed corners
The latter feature is shared with the Constructivists; single-sloped, angled roof was against the constructivist canon but a good match to existing technologies: Soviet industry of 1920s did not have the technology for reliable flat roofing.
Melnikov Garage
In 1925 Melnikov designed and built the Soviet pavilion at the Paris
. The wooden pavilion, employing a combination of single-sloped roofs of different sizes, was regarded as being one of the most progressive buildings at the fair. Unlike other Paris pavilions, it was completed in less than a month, employing not more than 10 workers.
Still in Paris, Melnikov designed two privately commissioned versions of a ramped garage that never got past the conceptual drawing stage. In the second version of this project, Melnikov found a useful pattern of placing cars in a garage (again, a sawtooth pattern) where cars could park and leave without using reverse gear. The second In Moscow, Melnikov saw a new fleet of
Leyland buses hoarded in a yard in
Zamoskvorechye
Zamoskvorechye District (russian: райо́н Замоскворе́чье) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population:
The district contains the eastern half of historical Zamoskvorechye ...
, and immediately proposed his concept to the city. The result,
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage was a public bus garage in Moscow, designed in 1926 by Konstantin Melnikov (floorplan concept and architectural design) and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering). The building, completed in 1927, was an example of app ...
, housed 104 buses on 8500 square meters of an unconventional,
parallelogram-shaped floorplan with
Vladimir Shukhov
Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Шу́хов; – 2 February 1939) was a Russian Empire and Soviet engineer-polymath, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new ...
's roof system.
Melnikov later called this project "the start of my Golden Season". Bakhmetevsky Garage, sometimes incorrectly called a ''constructivist'' landmark, was very modestly styled in an indefinite "industrial" red brick. Melnikov's later garage buildings, on the contrary, possessed a clear avant-garde external styling (which has become badly damaged over time):
* 1926-1929:
Horseshoe-shaped truck garage, Novo-Ryazanskaya Street (with
Vladimir Shukhov
Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Шу́хов; – 2 February 1939) was a Russian Empire and Soviet engineer-polymath, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new ...
)
* 1933-1936:
Intourist
Intourist (russian: Интурист, a contraction of , "foreign tourist") was a Russian tour operator, headquartered in Moscow. It was founded on April 12, 1929, and served as the primary travel agency for foreign tourists in the Soviet Uni ...
car garage, Suschevsky Val Street (with Andrey Kurochkin)
* 1934-1936:
Gosplan
The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan),
was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...
car garage, Aviamotornaya Street
Melnikov Clubs
The "golden season" of 1927 continued with a chain of trade union commissions for workers' clubs. "Beginning in 1927, my influence developed into a monopoly takeover... that's how love will treat you if she really loves you" ("Начиная с 1927, мой авторитет вырос в монопольный захват... вот так поступит любовь и с Вами, если она Вас полюбит").
Nationwide construction of new, dedicated buildings for workers' clubs (combining propaganda, educational and
community center
Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...
functions) was launched in 1926 and peaked in 1927, when trade unions commissioned 30 clubs in Moscow region (10 in the city of Moscow). Melnikov won five of these ten projects (his sixth club is located in
Likino-Dulyovo). Absence of public contests for these buildings was favorable to Melnikov, who was promoted by enthusiastic trade union commissioners, regardless of design complexity or political and artistic affiliations. He had a chance to build practically exactly as planned, with very little changes by the client (notably, omission of swimming pools).
All six workers' clubs of this period differ in shape, size, and functional set. Melnikov's clients (the unions) were not competent in exact functions of these buildings, thus each Melnikov draft is also a functional program with different balance between main hall and other space. The club, according to Melnikov, is not a single fixed theater hall, but a flexible system of different halls that may be united into a single, large volume when necessary. His larger main halls can be divided into three (
Rusakov Club) or two (Svoboda Club) independent halls.
One common feature of his clubs – bold use of exterior stairs – is actually a consequence of 1920s building codes that required wide internal staircase for fire evacuation. Melnikov, in an attempt to save interior space, connected the main halls to exterior galleries, which was not regulated by the code.
File:Melnikov Stairs Svoboda Club Moscow BW.jpg, Svoboda Club in northern Moscow was Melnikov's tribute to the land of his childhood
File:Melnikov Kauchuk club.jpg, 1920s photo: Konstantin Melnikov in front of his Kauchuk Club
File:ref pfanner14.jpg, Rusakov Club, 1927-1929
Melnikov House
The finest existing specimen of Melnikov's work is his own Krivoarbatsky Lane residence in Moscow, completed in 1927–1929, which consists of two intersecting cylindrical towers decorated with a pattern of
hexagonal window A hexagonal window (also Melnikov's or honeycomb window) is a hexagon-shaped window, resembling a bee cell or crystal lattice of graphite. The window can be vertically or horizontally oriented, openable or fixed. It can also be regular or elongately ...
s. His flow of commissions in 1926-1927 provided enough money to finance a three-story house of his dreams. At this time, many well-to-do Russians were into building their own city houses; Melnikov was one of the few who managed to retain his property after the fall of
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
. His request for land (790 square meters) had few chances to pass the district commission; to his surprise, a working class commissioner supported him, saying that "we can build public buildings anytime and anywhere, but we may never see this unusual house completed if we reject Melnikov". The city endorsed Melnikov's draft as an experimental, one-of-a-kind project.
Melnikov preferred to work at home, and always wanted a spacious residence that could house his family, architectural and painting workshops. As the Russian idiom says, he designed the house starting "from the hearth"; existing white oven in his living room dates back to his 1920 drawings. Floorplan evolved from a plain square to a circle and an egg shape, without much attention to exterior finishes. Melnikov developed the concept of intersecting cylinders in 1925-1926 for his
Zuev Workers' Club
The Zuyev Workers' Club (russian: Клуб имени Зуева) in Moscow is a prominent work of constructivist architecture
Constructivist architecture was a constructivist style of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Unio ...
draft (he lost the contest to
Ilya Golosov
Ilya Alexandrovich Golosov (Russian: Илья Александрович Голосов; 31 July 1883 – 21 January 1945) was an architect from the late Russian Empire and early Soviet Union. A leader of Constructivism in 1925-1931, Ilya Golos ...
). Twin cylinder floorplan was approved by the city in June 1927 and was revised during construction.
The towers, top to bottom, are a
honeycomb lattice
The hexagonal lattice or triangular lattice is one of the five two-dimensional Bravais lattice types. The symmetry category of the lattice is wallpaper group p6m. The primitive translation vectors of the hexagonal lattice form an angle of 120° ...
made of brickwork. 60 of more than 200 cells were glazed with windows (of three different frame designs), the rest filled with clay and scrap. This unorthodox design was a direct consequence of material
rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
by the state – Melnikov was limited to brick and wood, and even these were in short supply. The wooden ceilings have no supporting columns, nor horizontal
girder
A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ...
s. They were formed by a rectangular grid of flat planks, in a sort of
orthotropic deck
An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is typically one whose fabricated deck consists of a structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally with ribs or transversely, or in both directions. This allows the fabricated deck both t ...
. The largest room, a 50 square meter workshop on the third floor, is lit with 38 hexagonal windows; equally large living room has a single wide window above the main entrance.
In 1929, Melnikov proposed the same system of intersecting cyliitecture – is a
honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.
Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey ...
lattice shell made of bricks with hexahedral cells.
The similar lattice shells out of metal were patented and
built by
Vladimir Shukhov
Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Шу́хов; – 2 February 1939) was a Russian Empire and Soviet engineer-polymath, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new ...
in 1896. Melnikov built his house in 1927–1929, and by that time in Russia there had been already built about 200 Shukhov's steel lattice shells as the overhead covers of buildings, hyperboloid water and other towers,
including the famous
160 meter radio tower in Moscow (1922). Since Melnikov and Shukhov were well acquainted with each other and made joint projects (
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage was a public bus garage in Moscow, designed in 1926 by Konstantin Melnikov (floorplan concept and architectural design) and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering). The building, completed in 1927, was an example of app ...
,
Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage), it is not surprising that the Melnikov's house in Krivoarbatsky pereulok was built in the form of an original lattice shell. The overhead covers of the own Мelnikov's house are the
honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.
Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey ...
lattice shells made of wooden boards placed edgewise.
End of career
Throughout 1933–1937, as a leader of the
Mossovet
The Mossoviet (Russian: Моссовет), an abbreviation of Moscow Soviet, (Московский Совет) was established following the February Revolution . Initially it was a parallel, shadow city administration of Moscow, Russia run by lef ...
Seventh Planning Workshop, Melnikov was involved in city planning projects for the south-western sector of Moscow (
Arbat Square
Arbatskaya Square or Arbat Square () is one of the oldest squares of Moscow, located on the junction of Gogolevsky Boulevard, Znamenka Street and Arbat Gates Square (in 1925–1993 – part of Arbatskaya Square).
The square is home to the Arbats ...
and
Khamovniki District
Khamovniki District (russian: Хамо́вники) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population:
The district extends from Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge into the Luzhniki bend of Moskva River; nor ...
). None of them materialized. These assignments looked like an appreciation of his talent, but in fact separated Melnikov from actual construction projects.
His final public statement was a 1936 contest entry for the Soviet pavilion at
1937 World Expo in Paris. He lost the contest to
Boris Iofan. By 1937, mounting criticism against "
formalism
Formalism may refer to:
* Form (disambiguation)
* Formal (disambiguation)
* Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary
* Formalism (linguistics)
* Scie ...
" led to the virtual excommunication of Melnikov from practice. He was not exactly forgotten; on the contrary, his Rusakov Club and Arbat house were present in many Soviet textbooks as examples of Formalism.
Melnikov retained his Arbat house and lived there, safely, with his family until his death. He returned to portrait painting and lectured at engineering colleges. Melnikov also designed privately commissioned, unimportant architectural jobs – summer houses, shop interiors – some of which materialized.
Melnikov returned to the public contest stage four times:
*1954 – for the
Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
and ''300 years of Russian-Ukrainian Unity'' monument
*1958 –
Palace of 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 pa ...
(post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
contest)
*1962 – Soviet Pavilion at the
1964 New York World's Fair
*1967 – Cinema on Arbat Street (next to his own house)
In the 1960s Melnikov enjoyed a brief revival of interest in his architecture. His 75th birthday (1965) was officially celebrated by the House of Architects in Moscow; in 1967 and 1972 he was awarded the honorary titles of Doctor of Architecture and
Meritorious Architect.
Melnikov died at the age of 84 and was interred in the
Vvedenskoye Cemetery in the
Lefortovo District
Lefortovo District ( rus, райо́н Лефо́ртово, a=Ru-Lefortovo.ogg, p=lʲɪˈfortəvə) is a district of South-Eastern Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Its area is . Population:
History
The Lefortovo Dis ...
of Moscow. His son, Viktor, also a painter, lived and worked at the Arbat house, and fought to have it preserved as a museum until his death in February 2006. The house contains a significant portion of Konstantin S. Melnikov's archive.
Buildings
Years are referenced to
[Khan-Magomedov, p.291-293]
Completed buildings
*1915–1917 - Junior architect for the AMO Truck Plant housing and offices, Moscow (destroyed)
*1923 –
Makhorka Pavilion for the All Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Industries Exhibition, Moscow (destroyed)
*1924–1925 - New Sukharev Market in Moscow (destroyed)
*1924–1925 - Office of New Sukharev Market in Moscow
*1925 – Competition entry for the USSR Pavilion of the
, Paris (destroyed)
*1926–1927 -
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage was a public bus garage in Moscow, designed in 1926 by Konstantin Melnikov (floorplan concept and architectural design) and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering). The building, completed in 1927, was an example of app ...
, 11 Obraztsova Street, Moscow
*1927–1929: The "Golden Season" of Melnikov
**
Kauchuk Factory Club
Kauchuk Factory Club (russian: Клуб завода «Каучук») is a 1927-1929 russian avant-garde public building designed by Konstantin Melnikov, located in Khamovniki District of Moscow, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Fed ...
, 64 Plyuschikha Street, Moscow
**
Burevestnik Factory Club, 17 s1 3-ya Rybinskaya Street, Moscow
**
Svoboda Factory Club, 41 Vyatskaya Street, Moscow (also known as
Gorky Palace of Culture)
**
Rusakov Workers' Club, 6 Stromynka Street, Moscow
**
Frunze Workers' Club, 28, Berezhkovskaya Embankment, Moscow (endangered)
**Porcelain Factory Club,
Likino-Dulyovo (at the time Dulyovo)
**Melnikov's own residence, Krivoarbatsky Lane, Moscow
**
Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage (Horseshoe Garage), 27 Novoryazanskaya Street, Moscow
*1930–1931 - Reconstruction of Kamerny Theater in Moscow
*1934–1936 - Intourist Garage, 33 Suschevsky Val Street, Moscow
*1934–1936 - Gosplan Garage, 63 Aviamotornaya Street, Moscow
*1937–1938 - Novinsky Boulevard planning, Moscow
*1945–1947 - Exterior paint scheme design for Mikoyan Slaughterhouses, Moscow (destroyed)
Selected competition entries and concepts
*1918–1920 - Drafts of workers' housing, Alexeyevskaya Hospital housing and the People's House in Moscow (not related to his 1922 drafts)
*1921–1923 - Competition entry for workers' housing and for the
Palace of Labour, Moscow (never built)
*1921–1923 - Butyrsky District and
Khodynka planning for the ''New Moscow'' master plan (never completed)
*1924 – Design of
Lenin's sarcophagus (awarded to
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 ...
, author of first, temporary Mausoleum)
*1924–1925 - Competition entry for the Moscow bureau of the newspaper ''Leningrad Pravda'
(won by
Vesnin brothers
The Vesnin brothers: Leonid Vesnin (1880–1933), Victor Vesnin (1882–1950) and Alexander Vesnin (1883–1959) were the leaders of Constructivist architecture, the dominant architectural school of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. E ...
, never built)
*1925 – Garage concepts for the new
Seine bridges in Paris
*1927 – Zuev Workers' Club, Moscow (awarded to
Ilya Golosov
Ilya Alexandrovich Golosov (Russian: Илья Александрович Голосов; 31 July 1883 – 21 January 1945) was an architect from the late Russian Empire and early Soviet Union. A leader of Constructivism in 1925-1931, Ilya Golos ...
, see
executed building)
*1928 –
Gorky Park (Moscow), landscape project
*1929 – Competition entry for the Monument of Christopher Columbus,
Santo Domingo
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, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional)
, webs ...
br>
(never built)
*1932–1933 - Competition entry for 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 pa ...
(project awarded to
Boris Iofan and
Vladimir Shchuko
Vladimir Alekseyevich Shchuko ( rus, Влади́мир Алексе́евич Щуко́, p=ɕːʉˈko; October 17, 1878 – January 19, 1939) was a Russian architect, member of the Saint Petersburg school of Russian neoclassical revival notable ...
, never built)
*1934 – Competition entry for the
Narkomtiazhprom building, Red Square, Moscow (never built)
*1934–1936 - Planning drafts for
Luzhniki,
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 ...
and other city planning proposals
*1936 – Competition entry for the Soviet Pavilion at the
(awarded to
Boris Iofan, completed and destroyed in 1936)
*1954–1955 - Competition entries for the Pantheon and the monument to 300 years of Russian-Ukrainian Unity (never built)
*1958–1959 - Competition entry for 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 pa ...
(post-war round, never built)
*1962 – USSR Pavilion for the World Expo in New York City
*1967 – Competition entry for the cinema in Arbat Street (never built)
References
Bibliography
* Ginés Garrido: ''Mélnikov en París, 1925''. Barcelona: Fundación Caja de Arquitectos 2011 / ''La casa de Mélnikov. La utopía de Moscú''. Barcelona: Fundación Caja de Arquitectos 2009 / ''K.S. Mélnikov''. Madrid: Electa 2001 / ''K.S. Mélnikov. Escritos''. Madrid: Ministerio de Fomento 2001 / ''Mélnikov en París 1925. Del Pabellón soviético a los garajes''. PhD Thesis
ETSAM Madrid 200
PhD Thesis/ Kuznetsov Pavel: ''The Melnikov House. Icon of the Avant-Garde, Family Home, Architecture Museum''. Berlin-Moscow: DOM publishers,
Shchusev Museum of Architecture
The ShchusevThe official site of the museum prefers the spelling ''Schusev''. Museum of Architecture is a national museum of Russian Architecture located in Moscow the capital of Russia and also a research centre to study and promote the architec ...
2017
References
*
*
* Russian 2006 biography: Хан-Магомедов, С.О., "Константин Мельников", М, 2006 (''Khan-Magomedov'')
Footnotes
External links
Melnikov House MuseumPhoto of Melnikov House*
ttp://agram.saariste.nl/scripts/index.asp?dir=melnikof&pics=me&tekst=K.%A0Melnikov Agram Saariste archiveRussian Avant-garde Heritage Preservation Foundation
Gallery
Completed buildings
Image:Kauchuk_club_moscow_architect_melnikov.jpg, Kauchuk Club (2007 photo)
Image:Melnikov_Svoboda_Club_Moscow.jpg, Svoboda Factory Club (2007 photo)
Image:Moskow_melnikow_house1.jpg, Own house, main entrance and living room window
Image:Гаражгосплана1936авангард.jpg, Gosplan Garage (2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melnikov, Konstantin
Russian avant-garde
Constructivist architects
Russian architects
20th-century Russian painters
Russian male painters
Soviet artists
Modernist architects
1890 births
1974 deaths
Vkhutemas faculty
Modernist architecture in Russia
Articles containing video clips
Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery
20th-century Russian male artists
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni