Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov

Born July 22 (Aug. 3), 1890, in Moscow. Soviet architect. Honored Architect of the RSFSR (1972).

Mel’nikov graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in 1917. He taught at the Moscow Vkhutemas (State Higher Arts and Technical Studios) from 1921 to 1925, Vkhutein (Higher Art and Technical Institute) from 1927 to 1929, and the Moscow Architectural Institute from 1934 to 1937. He has also taught at the V. V. Kuibyshev Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering (from 1951; professor) and the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Civil Engineering (from 1960). Mel’nikov was a member of the Asnova (Association of New Architects).

In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Mel’nikov designed new types of public buildings and other structures and was one of the first to propose the idea of transforming internal space. His works are marked by dynamic, expressive forms and by bold, sometimes paradoxical design solutions. Examples of Mel’nikov’s architecture in Moscow are the Makhorka wooden pavilion at the First All-Russian Exhibition of Agriculture and Cottage Industry (1923), the I. V. Rusakov Club (1927-29), the architect’s house on Krivoi Arbat Lane (1927-29), and the club of the Burevestnik Factory (1929).