The Melnikov House, Moscow (1927 - 1929): Konstantin Melnikov (Historical Buildings, No 4) - Hardcover

Pallasmaa, Juhani

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1854904132 ISBN 13: 9781854904133

Publisher: Academy Press, 1996

Synopsis

* One of the most important constructivist style buildings
* No other critical documentation on this building
* Unique design within the early modern design theory

About this title

From the Back Cover

The Historical Buildings Monographs series features buildings of historical significance, focusing on individual buildings from every period, from the prehistoric to the contemporary, which are influential for a variety of reasons. Some are cult buildings, whilst others have had a major effect on students at a certain point in time but have since returned to obscurity. Most importantly, all the buildings are considered to be unique whether in the context of time, geography, society or aesthetic impact. The titles in this series are: The How House; The Faculty Club, University of California; Manikata Church; The Architecture of Ludwig Wittgenstein; Viipuri Library and Christchurch Priory. The Melnikov House is a detailed account of the unusual cylindrical house built by Konstantin Melnikov for himself and his family in Moscow from 1927 to 1929. The house is explored in two essays and in photographs and drawings ranging from Melnikov's original plans to photographs taken during construction and detailed renovation drawings. In his analytical essay Juhani Pallasmaa investigates the genealogy of the Melnikov House, looking at precedent and discussing the use of the cylindrical form. Andrei Gozak's essay contains important new information about the original use of colour in the house and gives an account of the plight of the Melnikov House since 1929.

About the Author

Juhani Pallasmaa, Professor of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, has been engaged in architectural practice, graphic design and town planning since 1963. Over the past two decades, he has been appointed Associated Professor at the Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa (1972-74); Director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture (1978-83); State Artist Professor (1983-88); and a visiting professor at Yale University (1993). He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a member of the CICA International Committee of Architectural Critics. He has designed exhibitions on Finnish architecture, planning and the visual arts; contributed to articles and lectures on cultural philosophy; and edited several books and catalogues. He is author of The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, (1996), a title in Academy's Polemics series. Andrei Gozak worked in architectural practice before concentrating on writing and teaching. His book Alvar Aalto, published in Moscow in 1976, was a pioneering introduction for the Soviet architectural readership. It was followed in 1978 by a larger volume of texts and projects entitled Alvar Aalto: Arkhitektura i gumanizm (Alvar Aalto: Architecture and Humanism), as a result of which he was awarded the Medal of the Museum of Finnish Architecture. Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 he was chief designer of the professional journal Arkhitektura SSSR, as well as a regular contributor, and has also written widely for architecture journals in the West. In 1988 Academy Editions published his monograph on another Soviet pioneer of the 1920s, Ivan Leonidov: The Complete Works which he co-authored with Andrei Leonidov. He has been acquainted with the Melnikov family for many years.

Edition details

• Publisher: Academy Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1854904132
• ISBN 13: 9781854904133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 81