Melnikov, Konstantine Stepanovich (1890–1974)

Russian architect. One of the leading members of the Russian avant-garde during the 1920s and 1930s, he was the first Soviet architect to gain an international reputation.

Style In his total rejection of traditional styles in favour of a highly functional architecture exploiting modern materials and building techniques, Melnikov was close to constructivism, though his approach was too individualistic to be neatly classified. In some designs – including his own house in Moscow 1927 – he used an ingenious system of intersecting cylinders. During the 1930s, when socialist realism was made the official style in all the arts, his individualistic approach to architecture was condemned by the Soviet authorities and he was unable to work after 1934.

Early life and work Melnikov was born in Moscow and studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, graduating in 1917. He was a keen supporter of the Russian Revolution, and saw architecture as having a vital role to play in creating a new society. His early works apply innovative designs to factories, workers' housing, and social centres. He came to prominence with his design for the Soviet Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925, a design that brought international recognition of Soviet architecture. During the late 1920s and the early 1930s he continued to develop a highly original style, designing social clubs, garages, and offices. Among the most original works of this period was his own house. He stressed intuition in the creation of a design, with a single organizing concept capturing a building's practical and symbolic social function. The cylinder became the dominant form in many works. In his bold proposal for a military academy 1930, he created barracks consisting of 12 cylindrical blocks arranged vertically in three rows. The originality of his designs suggests that if his career had not been ended so early, he might have become one of the major architects of the 20th century.