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

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

; it was established on August 12, 1967 by

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...

. It was bestowed by the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...

could possibly refuse these designations. A diploma of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...

's presidency was given to those who were appointed ''People's Architect of the USSR'' jointly with the medal and its concerning certificate. The title was bestowed upon architects who had achieved significant results in Soviet

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

's development either applying their expertise and creativity to the

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

or to the design of important building compounds for civil, industrial or rural use. Following the

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

(1991), by a decree of the Russian presidency, it was created the new title of '' Meritorious Architect of the Russian Federation''.

Design

The medal was made of

tombac Tombac, or tombak, is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5–20% zinc content. Tin, lead or arsenic may be added for colouration. It is a cheap malleable alloy mainly used for medals, ornament, decoration and some munitions. In older u ...

and its shape was quadrangular (22,5 x 23,5 mm) with twisted corners. The central part was occupied by the inscription "Народный архитектор СССР" (''People's Architect of the USSR'') and, below, the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...

symbol. Symbol and inscription and were embossed, with convex letters. The medal was suspended to a single red silk fringe (18 mm × 21 mm) to whom it was attached by a metallic buckle decorated with

bay laurel ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. I ...

leaves.

Some awardees

Dmitry Chechulin Dmitry Nikolaevich Chechulin (russian: Дми́трий Никола́евич Чечу́лин; , in Shostka – 29 October 1981, in Moscow) was a Russian Soviet architect, city planner, author, and leading figure of Stalinist architecture. Li ...

; awarded in 1971 * Ignaty Ivanovich Fomin (1904–1989); awarded in 1971; a prominent member of the Soviet Art Academy. * Valentin Alexandrovich Kamensky (1907–1975); awarded in 1970; author of significant town plans among which the

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

city plan; he also directed the post-war reconstruction works in several USSR places. * Vladimir Korol (1912–1980); architect,

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

and later politician of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. *

Boris Iofan Boris Mikhailovich Iofan ( rus, Борис Михайлович Иофан, p=ɪɐˈfan; April 28, 1891 – March 11, 1976) was a Soviet architect of Jewish origin, known for his Stalinist architecture buildings like 1931 House on the Embankment ...

; awarded 1970; designer of 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 ...

* Georgi Mikhailovich Orlov (1901–1985), awarded in 1970; mainly active in industrial building design, he directed in particular the

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

exploitation projects of Kakhovskoy (

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

river, 1951–1955) and

Bratsk Bratsk ( rus, Братск, p=bratsk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Etymology The name sounds like the Russian word for "brother" ("", '' ...

(1960–1967); he also was elected first secretary of the USSR Architect Union.''Biography Orlova Georgi Mikhailovich'', o
peopleofrussia.com
(accessed in September 2010) *

Mikayil Useynov Mikayil Alesger oglu Huseynov ( az, Mikayıl Ələsgər oğlu Hüseynov; 1905–1992) was a Soviet Azerbaijani architect and historian of architecture. He was People’s Architect of the USSR (1970), Professor (1939); Academician of the Academy of ...

(1905–1992); leading architect of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

during its Sovietic period.''The Soviet Period of Architecture in Azerbaijan'', Ilham Aliyev, o
azer.com
(accessed in September 2010) * Aleksandr Rochegov, constructivist architect and designer of the Soviet Embassy in Havana; awarded 1991 *

Felix Novikov Felix Aronovich Novikov (russian: Феликс Аронович Новиков, 3 August 1927 – 18 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian architect. In 1991, he was awarded the honorary title of People's Architect of the USSR, becoming the last ...

, the last awardee (1991).

References

*The initial version of this article was based on a translation o
its equivalent
on the

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia ( it, Wikipedia in italiano) is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of , , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is t ...

, as retrieved on September 14, 2010.

Design

Some awardees

References

See also