People's Architect of the USSR (), 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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

; it was established on August 12, 1967 by

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

. It was bestowed by the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

of the USSR owing proposals addressed by the ''State Construction Committee'' or by the ''Soviet Architects' Union''. The

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

could possibly refuse these designations. A diploma of the

'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 construction, constructi ...

's development either applying their expertise and creativity to the

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

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

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

(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 ...

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: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

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. According to Flora Cretica (Kleinsteuber Books, 2024, ISBN 978-3-9818110-5-6) the stem can be 1 ...

leaves.

Some awardees

Dmitry Chechulin Dmitry Nikolaevich Chechulin (; , in Shostka – 29 October 1981, in Moscow) was a Russian Soviet architect, Urban planning, city planner, author, and leading figure of Stalinist architecture. Life Born in Shostka (Sumy Oblast, today in Ukraine ...

; 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, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

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 ...

and later politician of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. *

Boris Iofan Boris Mikhailovich Iofan (, ; April 28, 1891 – March 11, 1976) was a Soviet architect of Jewish origin, known for his Stalinist architecture buildings like the 1931 House on the Embankment and the 1931–1933 winning draft of the Palace of t ...

; awarded 1970; designer of the

Palace of the Soviets The Palace of the Soviets () 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 palace was to house sessions of the Supreme Soviet in its ...

Georgi Mikhailovich Orlov Georgi may refer to: * Georgi (given name) * Georgi (surname) See also *Georgy (disambiguation) *Georgii (disambiguation) Georgii may refer to: ;Given name * Georgii Zantaraia (born 1987), Ukrainian judoka of Georgian origin *Georgii Karpechenko ...

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

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

exploitation projects of Kakhovskoy (

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

river, 1951–1955) and

Bratsk Bratsk (, ; ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara, Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. It had population of . Etymology The name of the city, which is from the same ro ...

(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 Alasger oghlu Huseynov (; 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 Sciences of the USSR (1945), full member ...

(1905–1992); leading architect of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

during the Soviet period.''The Soviet Period of Architecture in Azerbaijan'', Ilham Aliyev, o
azer.com
(accessed in September 2010) *

Aleksandr Rochegov Aleksandr Grigoryevich Rochegov (; 19 February 1917 in Baku – 2 December 1998 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian architect, and from 1992 to 1998 president of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences. In 1991 he was awarded t ...

, constructivist architect and designer of the Soviet Embassy in Havana; awarded 1991 * Felix Novikov, 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 () is the Italian language, Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on 10 May 2001, and first edited on 11 June 2001. As of , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is the -largest W ...

, as retrieved on September 14, 2010.