Konstantin Melnikov 2833844 223273585 2008-07-03T10:30:34Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Infobox Architect |image=melnikov kauchuk club.jpg |caption=1920s photo: Konstantin Melnikov in front of his Kauchuk Club |name=Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov |nationality=[[Russia]] |birth_date=August 3, 1890 |birth_place=[[Moscow]] |death_date=November 28, 1974 |death_place=[[Moscow]] |practice_name=Own practice (1923-1933)<br /> Mossover Planning Workshop No.7 (1933-1937) |significant_buildings=[[Rusakov Workers' Club]] and 5 other trade union clubs in Moscow and [[Likino-Dulyovo]] |significant_projects= |awards= |}} '''Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov''' (Russian: ''Константин Степанович Мельников''; {{OldStyleDate|August 3|1890|July 22}}, [[Moscow]] - [[November 28]] [[1974]], ''id.'') was a Russian [[architect]] and [[painter]]. His architectural work, compressed into a single decade (1923-1933), placed Melnikov on the front end of 1920s [[avant-garde]] architecture. Although associated with the [[Constructivist architecture|Constructivists]], Melnikov was an independent artist, not bound by the rules of a particular style or artistic group. In 1930s, Melnikov refused to conform with the rising [[stalinist architecture]], withdrew from practice and worked as a [[portrait painter]] and teacher until the end of his life. ==Biography== ====Childhood==== [[Image:Melnikov Stairs Svoboda Club Moscow BW.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Svoboda Club in northern Moscow was Melnikov's tribute to the land of his childhood]] Konstantin Melnikov was born a fourth child in a family. His father, Stepan Illarionovich Melnikov, originally from [[Nizhny Novgorod]] region, was a road maintenance foreman, employed by the Moscow Agricultural Academy. Mother, Yelena Grigorievna (nee Repkina), came from the peasants of [[Zvenigorod]] district. The whole family occupied a single room of a state-managed working class barrack in Hay Lodge (Соломенная Сторожка),<ref>Common English translation of ''Hay Lodge'' is incorrect; actually, it is ''Straw'', not hay. The name refers to [[Cob (material)|cob]] or [[adobe]] walls of those workers' barracks.</ref> then a quiet northern suburb of Moscow. Melnikovs tried hard to rise above bitter poverty, to return to farming and eventually relocated to their own small house and set their own dairy farm. Konstantin Melnikov later praised his father, who noticed little boy's addiction to drawing and regularly brought him scrap paper for drawing from the Academy. However, all the education they could afford was a two-year parish school (completed in 1903)<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.29-30</ref>. ====Education==== Konstantin met his "golden day in life" ("это был золотой день в моей жизни") <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.32, quotes Melnikov's own writing</ref> through a milk delivery woman, who happened to serve the family of Vladimir Chaplin, a wealthy engineer. She recommended Konstantin's drawings to Chaplin, who was so impressed that he hired the teenager to his firm and paid for his art studies. Chaplin overestimated Melnikov's basic education, and Konstantin failed his grammar test at the [[Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture]] in 1904. One year later, he passed the admissions that selected a class of 11 out of 270 applicants. Melnikov studied at the School for 12 years, first completing General Education (1910), then graduating in Arts (1914) and Architecture (1917)<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.32-34</ref>. Despite Chaplin's calls to concentrate on architecture, Melnikov leaned to painting; by the time he joined the Architecture classes, he already was a well-recognized portrait painter. Later, he recalled [[Konstantin Korovin]], [[Sergey Malyutin]] and [[Abram Arkhipov]] as his mentors in art; as for architecture, he gave his regards only to [[Ivan Zholtovsky]], his professor in 1917-1918. <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.44</ref> Melnikov married Anna Yablokova in 1912; they had two children, born in 1913 and 1915. ====Early career==== During [[World War I]] and the first years after [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], Melnikov worked within the Neoclassical tradition. Before the Revolution, he was involved in [[Zavod Imeni Likhacheva|AMO Truck Plant]] project. In 1918-1920, he was employed by the ''New Moscow'' planning workshop headed by Zholtovsky and [[Alexey Shchusev]], designing [[Khodynka]] and [[Butyrsky District]] sectors of the city. <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:melnikov paris pavilion.jpg|Paris Pavilion, 1925|thumb|150px|right|1925 Paris Pavillion]] --> Meanwhile, the Russian educational system collapsed; the new art college, [[VKhUTEMAS]], was formed in 1920. Its architectural faculty was split between three factions: An Academic Workshop (Ivan Zholtovsky), left-wing United Workshops ([[Nikolai Ladovsky]]), and a joint workshop of Melnikov and Ilya Golosov, known as New Academy and Workshop No.2. Melnikov and Golosov resisted both the academic and left-wing camps; in 1924, when the management merged New Academy with Academic Workshop, Melnikov quit VKhUTEMAS.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.52</ref> In 1923-1924, Melnikov temporarily associated himself with the [[ASNOVA]] and [[LEF (Journal)|LEF]] artistic groups, however, he was not involved in public disputes and made no public statements. In particular, he clearly distanced himself from the [[Constructivist architecture|Constructivist]] group, led by [[Moisei Ginzburg]] and [[Alexander Vesnin]]. His first success in architecture was a 1922 entry to a workers' housing contest. Codenamed ''Atom'', Melnikov's design employed the sawtooth arrangement of units that became his trademark in later works. Unlike other, "revolutionary" projects, ''Atom'' was based on traditional single-family [[Terraced house|townhouse]] and apartment units.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.58</ref> Melnikov's first materialized works were short-lived, temporary buildings. The first, a 1923 pavilion for the All-Russian Agriculture and Handicraft Exhibition, featured more Melnikov trademarks: * Raised cubical shapes are offset from supporting columns * Combination of single-sloped [[roof]]s * Glazed corners<ref>Khan-Magomedov, pp.59, 71</ref> The latter feature is shared with the Constructivists; single-sloped, angled roof was against the constructivist canon but a good match to existing technologies: Soviet industry of 1920s did not have the technology for reliable flat roofing.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.71</ref> ====Melnikov Garage==== [[Image:Melnikov garage floorplan.GIF|thumb|left|200px|Melnikov's concept floorplan, Bakhmetevsky Garage]] In 1925 Melnikov designed and built the Soviet pavilion at the Paris [[Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes]]. The wooden pavilion, employing a combination of single-sloped roofs of different sizes, was regarded as being one of the most progressive buildings at the fair. Unlike other Paris pavilions, it was completed in less than a month, employing not more than 10 workers.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.102</ref> Still in Paris, Melnikov designed two privately-commissioned garages that never got past the conceptual drawing stage. However, Melnikov found a useful pattern of placing cars in a garage (again, a sawtooth pattern) where cars could park and leave without using reverse gear. In Moscow, Melnikov saw a new fleet of [[Leyland Bus]]es hoarded in a yard in [[Zamoskvorechye]], and immediately proposed his concept to the city. The result, [[Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage]], housed 104 buses on 8500 [[square meter]]s of an unconventional, [[parallelogram]]-shaped floorplan with [[Vladimir Shukhov]]'s roof system.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.108</ref> [[Image:Melnikov garage intourist 1200px wide.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Intourist Garage, the only facade remaining to date]] Melnikov later called this project "the start of my Golden Season".<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.106</ref> Bakhmetevsky Garage, sometimes incorrectly called a ''constructivist'' landmark, was very modestly styled in an indefinite "industrial" red brick. Melnikov's later garage buildings, on the contrary, possessed a clear avant-garde external styling (which has become badly damaged over time): * 1926-1929: [[Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage|Horseshoe-shaped truck garage]], Novo-Ryazanskaya Street (with [[Vladimir Shukhov]]) * 1933-1936: [[Intourist]] car garage, Suschevsky Val Street (with Andrey Kurochkin) * 1934-1936: [[Gosplan]] car garage, Aviamotornaya Street<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.110-119</ref> ====Melnikov Clubs==== [[Image:ref pfanner14.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Rusakov Workers' Club|Rusakov Club]], 1927]] The "golden season" of 1927 continued with a chain of trade union commissions for workers' clubs. "Beginning in 1927, my influence developed into a [[monopoly]] takeover... that's how love will treat you if she really loves you" ("Начиная с 1927, мой авторитет вырос в монопольный захват... вот так поступит любовь и с Вами, если она Вас полюбит").<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.124</ref> Nation-wide construction of new, dedicated buildings for workers' clubs (combining propaganda, educational and [[community center]] functions) was launched in 1926 and peaked in 1927, when trade unions commissioned 30 clubs in Moscow region (10 in the city of Moscow). Melnikov won five of these ten projects (his sixth club is located in [[Likino-Dulyovo]]). Absence of public contests for these buildings was favorable to Melnikov, who was promoted by enthusiastic trade union commissioners, regardless of design compexity or political and artistic affiliations. He had a chance to build practically exactly as planned, with very little changes by the client (notably, omission of swimming pools). <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.118-121, 139</ref> All six workers' clubs of this period differ in shape, size, and functional set. Melnikov's clients (the unions) were not competent in exact functions of these buildings, thus each Melnikov draft is also a functional program with different balance between main hall and other space. The club, according to Melnikov, is not a single fixed theater hall, but a flexible system of different halls that may be united into a single, large volume when necessary. His larger main halls can be divided into three (Rusakov Club) or two (Svoboda Club) independent halls. One common feature of his clubs - bold use of exterior stairs - is actually a consequence of 1920s building codes that required wide internal staircase for fire evacuation. Melnikov, in an attempt to save interior space, connected the main halls to exterior galleries, which was not regulated by the code. <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.138</ref> ====Melnikov House==== [[Image:Melnikov House photo by Arssenev.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Rear of the Melnikov House]] [[Image:Melnikov house front.jpg|thumb|left|150px|The Melnikov House, as seen from Krivoarbatsky Street]] The finest existing specimen of Melnikov's work is his own Krivoarbatsky Lane residence in Moscow, completed in 1927-1929, which consists of two intersecting cylindrical towers decorated with a pattern of hexagonal windows. His flow of commissions in 1926-1927 provided enough money to finance a three-story house of his dreams. At this time, many well-to-do Russians were lured into building their own city houses; Melnikov was one of the few who managed to retain his property after the fall of [[New Economic Policy]]. His request for land (790 square meters) had few chances to pass the district commission; to his surprise, a working class commissioner supported him, saying that "we can build public buildings anytime and anywhere, but we may never see this unusual house completed if we reject Melnikov".<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.181</ref> The city endorsed Melnikov's draft as an experimental, one-of-a-kind project. Melnikov preferred to work at home, and always wanted a spacious residence that could house his family, architectural and painting workshops. As the Russian idiom says, he designed the house starting "from the oven"; existing white oven in his living room dates back to his 1920 drawings.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.162</ref> Floorplan evolved from a plain square to a circle and an egg shape, without much attention to exterior finishes. Melnikov developed the concept of intersecting cylinders in 1925-1926 for his [[Zuev Workers' Club]] draft (he lost the contest to [[Ilya Golosov]]). Twin cylinder floorplan was approved by the city in June, 1927 and was revised during construction. <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.177</ref> The towers, top to bottom, are a [[honeycomb]] lattice made of brickwork. 60 of more than 200 cells were glazed with windows (of three different frame designs), the rest filled with clay and scrap. This unorthodox design was a direct consequence of material [[rationing]] by the state - Melnikov was limited to brick and wood, and even these were in short supply. The wooden ceilings have no supporting columns, nor horizontal [[girder]]s. They were formed by a rectangular grid of flat planks, in a sort of [[orthotropic deck]]. The largest room, a 50 square meter workshop on the third floor, is lit with 38 hexagonal windows; equally large living room has a single wide window above the main entrance.<ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.191</ref> In 1929, Melnikov proposed the same system of intersecting cylinders and cheap honeycomb structure for apartment blocks, which did not materialize. ====End of career==== Throughout 1933-1937, Melnikov, as a leader of [[Mossovet]] Seventh Planning Workshop, was involved in city planning projects for the south-western sector of Moscow ([[Arbat Square]] and [[Khamovniki District]]); none of them materialized. The assignment looked like an appreciation of his talent, but in fact separated Melnikov from actual construction projects. His final public statement was a 1936 contest entry for the Soviet pavilion at [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)|1937 World Expo in Paris]]; he lost the contest to [[Boris Iofan]]. By 1937, mounting criticism against ''[[formalism]]'' led to virtual excommunication of Melnikov from practice. He was not exactly forgotten; on the contrary, his Rusakov Club and Arbat house were present in many Soviet textbooks as examples of formalism. Despite the damning status of ''alien artist'', Melnikov retained his Arbat house and lived there with his family, safely, until his death. He returned to portrait painting and lectured at engineering colleges. Melnikov also designed privately commissioned, unimportant architectural jobs - summer houses, shop interiors, some of which materialized. <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.248</ref> Melnikov returned to the public contest stage four times: *1954 - for the [[Pantheon, Moscow|Pantheon]] and ''300 years of Russian-Ukrainian Unity'' monument *1958 - [[Palace of Soviets]] (post-[[World War II|WWII]] contest) *1962 - Soviet Pavilion at the [[1964 New York World's Fair]] *1967 - Cinema on Arbat Street (next to his own house) In 1960s, Melnikov enjoyed a brief revival of interest in his architecture. His 75th birthday (1965) was officially celebrated by the House of Architects in Moscow; in 1967 and 1972 he was awarded honorary titles of Doctor of Architecture and [[Meritorious Artist|Meritorious Architect]]. Melnikov died at 84 and was interred at [[Vvedenskoye Cemetery]] in [[Lefortovo District]] of Moscow. His son, Viktor, also a painter, lived and worked at the Arbat house, and fought to have it preserved as a museum until his death in February 2006. The house contains a significant portion of Konstantin S. Melnikov's archive. ==Buildings== Years are referenced to <ref>Khan-Magomedov, p.291-293</ref> ====Completed buildings==== [[Image:Melnikov Colors Svoboda Club Moscow.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Melnikov's original color scheme of recently restored Svoboda Club]] *[[1915 in architecture|1915]]&ndash;[[1917 in architecture|1917]] - Junior architect for the AMO Truck Plant housing and offices, Moscow (destroyed) *[[1923 in architecture|1923]] - [[Makhorka Pavilion]] for the All Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Industries Exhibition, Moscow (destroyed) *[[1924 in architecture|1924]]&ndash;[[1925 in architecture|1925]] - New Sukharev Market in Moscow (destroyed) *[[1925 in architecture|1925]] - Competition entry for the USSR Pavilion of the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes]], Paris (destroyed) *[[1926 in architecture|1926]]&ndash;[[1927 in architecture|1927]] - [[Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage]], 11 Obraztsova Street, Moscow (destroyed in part, expecting major redevelopment) *[[1927 in architecture|1927]]&ndash;[[1929 in architecture|1929]]: The "Golden Season" of Melnikov **[[Kauchuk Factory Club]], 64 Plyuschikha Street, Moscow **[[Burevestnik Factory Club]], Moscow **[[Svoboda Factory Club]], 41 Vyatskaya Street, Moscow (also known as [[Gorky Palace of Culture]]) **[[Rusakov Workers' Club]], 6 Stromynka Street, Moscow **[[Frunze Workers' Club]], 28, Berezhkovskaya Embankment, Moscow (endangered) **Porcelain Factory Club, [[Likino-Dulyovo]] (also referred to simply as Dulyovo) **Melnikov's own residence, Krivoarbatsky Lane, Moscow **[[Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage]] (Horseshoe Garage), 27 Novoryazanskaya Street, Moscow *[[1930 in architecture|1930]]&ndash;[[1931 in architecture|1931]] - Reconstruction of Kamerny Theater in Moscow *[[1934 in architecture|1934]]&ndash;[[1936 in architecture|1936]] - Intourist Garage, Aviamotornaya Street, Moscow *[[1934 in architecture|1934]]&ndash;[[1936 in architecture|1936]] - Gosplan Garage, 33 Suschevsky Val Street, Moscow *[[1937 in architecture|1937]]&ndash;[[1938 in architecture|1938]] - Novinsky Boulevard planning, Moscow *[[1945 in architecture|1945]]&ndash;[[1947 in architecture|1947]] - Exterior paint scheme design for Mikoyan Slaughterhouses, Moscow (destroyed) ====Selected competition entries and concepts==== [[Image:Melnikov commisariat.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Narkomtiazhprom]] concept for [[Red Square]], 1934]] *[[1918 in architecture|1918]]&ndash;[[1920 in architecture|1920]] - Drafts of workers' housing, Alexeyevskaya Hospital housing and the People's House in Moscow (not related to his 1922 drafts) *[[1921 in architecture|1921]]&ndash;[[1923 in architecture|1923]] - Competition entry for workers' housing and for the [[Palace of Labour]], Moscow (never built) *[[1921 in architecture|1921]]&ndash;[[1923 in architecture|1923]] - Butyrsky District and [[Khodynka]] planning for the ''New Moscow'' master plan (never completed) *[[1924 in architecture|1924]] - Design of [[Lenin's mausoleum|Lenin's sarcophagus]] (awarded to [[Alexey Shchusev]], author of first, temporary Mausoleum) *[[1924 in architecture|1924]]&ndash;[[1925 in architecture|1925]] - Competition entry for the Moscow bureau of the newspaper ''Leningrad Pravda'' [http://www.utopia.ru/english/item.phtml?id=166&type=graphics&sortby=view&start=0] (won by [[Vesnin brothers]], never built) *[[1925 in architecture|1925]] - Garage concepts for the new [[Seine]] bridges in [[Paris]] *[[1927 in architecture|1927]] - Zuev Workers' Club, Moscow (awarded to [[Ilya Golosov]], see [[Zuev Workers' Club|executed building]]) *[[1929 in architecture|1929]] - Competition entry for the Monument of Christopher Columbus, [[Santo Domingo]].[http://www.utopia.ru/english/item.phtml?id=97&type=graphics&sortby=view&start=0] (never built) *[[1932 in architecture|1932]]&ndash;[[1933 in architecture|1933]] - Competition entry for the [[Palace of the Soviets]] (project awarded to [[Boris Iofan]] and [[Vladimir Shchuko]], never built) *[[1934 in architecture|1934]] - Competition entry for the [[Narkomtiazhprom]] building, Red Square, Moscow (never built) *[[1934 in architecture|1934]]&ndash;[[1936 in architecture|1936]] - Planning drafts for [[Luzhniki (locality)|Luzhniki]], [[Kotelnicheskaya Embankment]] and other city planning proposals *[[1936 in architecture|1936]] - Competition entry for the Soviet Pavilion at the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)]] (awarded to [[Boris Iofan]], completed and destroyed in 1936) *[[1954 in architecture|1954]]&ndash;[[1955 in architecture|1955]] - Competition entries for the Pantheon and the monument to 300 years of Russian-Ukrainian Unity (never built) *[[1958 in architecture|1958]]&ndash;[[1959 in architecture|1959]] - Competition entry for the [[Palace of the Soviets]] (post-war round, never built) *[[1962 in architecture|1962]] - USSR Pavilion for the World Expo in New York City *[[1967 in architecture|1967]] - Competition entry for the cinema in Arbat Street (never built) ==External links== * [http://www.melnikovhouse.com Melnikov House Museum] * [http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Melnikov_House.html Melnikov House, Additional Info] * [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/gallery/2005/09/28/melkinside.jpg Photo of Melnikov House] *[http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1580263,00.html On preserving Moscow's heritage of revolutionary architecture] *[http://agram.saariste.nl/scripts/index.asp?dir=melnikof&pics=me&tekst=K.%A0Melnikov Agram Saariste archive] * [http://www.russianavantgarde.co.uk Russian Avant-garde Heritage Preservation Foundation] ==References== ====Sources==== <div class="references-small"> *{{cite book | last = Starr | first = S. Frederick| title = Melnikov: solo architect in a mass society| publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] | date = 1978 | |id = ISBN 0-691-03931-3 }} *{{cite book | last = Cooke | first = Catherine, (et al)| title = Architectural Drawings of the Russian Avant-Garde| publisher = [[The Museum of Modern Art]] | date = 1990 | |id = ISBN 0-87070-556-3 }} * Russian 2006 biography: Хан-Магомедов, С.О., "Константин Мельников", М, 2006 ISBN 5-9647-0095-0 (''Khan-Magomedov'') </div> ====Footnotes==== {{reflist}} ==Gallery== ====Completed buildings==== <gallery> Image:Kauchuk_club_moscow_architect_melnikov.jpg||Kauchuk Club (2007 photo) Image:melnikov pravda workers' club 1927.jpg|Likino-Dulyovo Club (1965 photo, Melnikov in the foreground) Image:Melnikov_Svoboda_Club_Moscow.jpg|Svoboda Factory Club (2007 photo) Image:Moskow_melnikow_house1.jpg|Own house, main entrance and living room window </gallery> [[Category:Russian architects|Melnikov, Konstantin]] [[Category:Russian avant-garde|Melnikov, Konstantin]] [[Category:Constructivist architects|Melnikov]] [[Category:Russian avant-garde]] [[Category:1890 births|Melnikov, Konstantin]] [[Category:1974 deaths|Melnikov, Konstantin]] [[Category:Modernist architects]] [[de:Konstantin Stepanowitsch Melnikow]] [[es:Konstantin Melnikov]] [[nl:Konstantin Melnikov]] [[ja:コンスタンチン・メーリニコフ]] [[pl:Konstantin Mielnikow]] [[pt:Konstantin Melnikov]] [[ru:Мельников, Константин Степанович]] [[sv:Konstantin Melnikov]]