Academy of Architecture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

the highest scientific institution in the field of architecture.

The academy functioned in Moscow between 1934 and 1956. Its statutes and first staff were confirmed in 1939. The academy’s tasks were to generalize the work of architecture, to elaborate the theory of Soviet architecture, to study the artistic heritage, to assist in socialist construction, to train scholars, and to develop research and experimental work. The Academy of Architecture of the USSR contained six research institutes—city construction and community planning, the architecture of housing, the architecture of public and industrial installations, the history and theory of architecture, construction technology, and the architecture of kolkhoz and rural construction—a museum of architecture, a library, a laboratory, and workshops. There was a Leningrad branch of the academy. In response to changes in the orientation of Soviet architecture, the academy was reorganized in 1956 as the Academy of Construction and Architecture of the USSR.

The presidents of the academy have been V. A. Vesnin (1939–49), A. G. Mordvinov (1950–55), and A. V. Vlasov (1955–56).