The Melnikov House: Icon of Modernism, Family Home, Architecture Museum

The Melnikov House, a building designed by the architect Konstantin Melnikov in Moscow for his family (1927 – 1929), is an icon of the architectural avant-garde. The house was originally built as an experimental cylindrical house to test out Konstantin Melnikov’s very own concept of mass construction of residential estate. The original layout, elegant spatial arrangement, and smart engineering techniques made this masterpiece world famous. According to the words of Melnikov, the essence of the house lies in its ‘even distribution of weight, light, air, and heat’. Being of a unique architectural form, it still looks modern while retaining the authentic memorial atmosphere of the twentieth century, thus reflecting the tragic life of this maverick architect. This book covers the house in its current condition – during its transformation from a family home to the State Melnikovs Museum, awaiting an in-depth survey by specialists and conservation works. The book contains rich archival materials as well as recent photographs. It describes the challenges and choices that need to be made during the process of museumification. Many of the memorial objects from the house linked to the professional life of the architect will be published for the first time.