Icon of the Soviet avant-garde – monographic exhibition by Konstantin Melnikov in the MUAR

The Shchusev State Museum of Architecture hosts the largest exhibition in recent decades dedicated to Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov.

The monographic exhibition of one of the most famous Russian architects of the 20th century is the most complete collection of the master’s creations, including original samples of sketches and drawings of both completed projects and unrealized ideas. The opening of the exhibition, scheduled for 2020, was timed to coincide with the 130th anniversary of the architect, but was postponed for two years due to the pandemic.

The icon of the Soviet avant-garde Konstantin Melnikov was born on August 3, 1890 in Moscow and lived here until his death in 1974. He was the fourth child in a poor family that survived on agriculture and their own dairy farm. On one “golden day”, Melnikov’s early drawings and sketches were noticed by a milk delivery lady. She also served the family of an engineer named Vladimir Chaplin and once showed him the work of the young Melnikov. A wealthy man was impressed by the talent of the creator. He placed the boy in his trading house and agreed to pay for his art education. Although Melnikov failed his first grammar test and was not accepted to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, in just a year he acquired the necessary knowledge and skills, thanks to which he was eventually able to receive a higher education in the field of art and architecture. By the time Melnikov entered architecture classes in 1917, he had already established himself as a talented artist.

After the 1917 revolution, he taught at the VKhUTEMAS (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops), developing a new urban plan for Moscow and designing workers’ clubs outside the city. Melnikov wanted revolutionary Soviet values ​​to be expressed in his buildings, while at the same time on many occasions he publicly defended the “right and need for personal expression”, which he claimed to be the only source of “subtle design”.

His designs were unpredictable, unusual and ultra-original, sometimes described as “unreal and fantastic” and criticized. He used bold geometric shapes both in the design of facades and in the shapes of the buildings themselves. Melnikov took the path of organically connecting space with a simple three-dimensional form, thinking of his architecture as “transparent walls” and putting facades in second place.

In the MUAR (State Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev), visitors can get acquainted with the work of Melnikov at different stages of his career path. For the first time, more than 200 exhibits will be presented at the exhibition – graphics, architectural and artistic student works, portraits, archival documents, paintings, personal belongings of Konstantin Stepanovich and photographic materials from the archive of the Melnikov House, which was preserved by the son of the architect Viktor Konstantinovich. Among the exhibits are unique memorial items related to the first trip of Konstantin Melnikov to Paris to build the famous USSR Pavilion in 1925: a Kodak camera and a medal for participation in the International Exhibition. A special place in the exposition is occupied by architectural models of unrealized projects of the master, made especially for the exhibition.

Anyone can see the implemented projects of Melnikov outside the museum – for example, the garage of Intourist on Suschevsky Val; Bakhmetevsky bus garage (now the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center); and the Rusakov Workers’ Club, with three projecting box-shaped façades that are actually seating areas in the auditoriums.

And of course, the most famous building is his own house near the Arbat, built in 1929 and consisting of two intersecting cylinders with a row of hexagonal windows. Melnikov lived there until his death in 1974. His son, also an architect, continued to live in the house many years later. After a long struggle of the heirs, in 2014 the museum of Konstantin and Viktor Melnikov was established in the house.

The exhibition itself at the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture will be open to visitors until January 23, 2023.

Prepared by Ulyana Lekarkina.