Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev (Russian: Anekce

Bu

kfopoeu y

cee; October 8 [O.S. September 26] 1894, 1873

24 May 1949) was an acclaimed Russian and Soviet architect whose works may be regarded as a bridge
connecting Revivalist architecture of Imperial Russia with Stalin's Empire Style.
Shchusev studied under Leon Benois and Ilya Repin at the Imperial Academy of Arts in 18911897. From
1894 to 1899, he travelled inNorth Africa and Central Asia. Shchusev was a diligent student of old Russian art
and won public acclaim with his restoration of the 12th-century St. Basil Church in Ovruch, Ukraine. He dwelt
on 15th-century Muscovite architecture to design the Trinity Cathedral inPochayiv Lavra and a memorial
church on the Kulikovo Field. He was then commissioned by the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovnato
design a cathedral for Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow. The result was a charming medieval structure of
the purest Novgorodianstyle (19081912).
Shchusev embarked upon his most wide-scale project in 1913, when his design for the Kazan Railway
Station won a contest for a Moscow terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. This Art Nouveau design fused
elements of the Kremlin towers and traditional Tatar architecture in one of the most imaginative Revivalist
designs ever put to execution. The construction of the railway station, however, was not finished until 1940.
After briefly experimenting with Neoclassicism, Shchusev turned to Constructivism in the 1920s. He taught
at Vkhutemas from 1920 through 1924. Upon Lenin's death in 1924, he was asked to design a mausoleum for
him. It took him just several days to come up with an original architectural solution blending Constructivist
elements with features taken from some ancient mausoleums, i.e., the Step Pyramid and the Tomb of Cyrus.
Other notable Constructivist designs of Shchusev were the Ministry of Agriculture or Narkomzem in Moscow
(19281933) and the Institute of Resorts in Sochi (19271931), considered to be a major source for Alvar
Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium.
After the mausoleum commission, Shchusev was cherished by the Communist authorities. In 1926, he was
nominated director of theTretyakov Gallery. He was appointed head of the group that designed major bridges
and apartment complexes in Moscow. His name was attached to the luxurious designs of the Hotel
Moskva just a few steps from the Kremlin (19301938) and the NKVD headquarters on Lubyanka
Square (19401947). Somesay that he was the first to come up with the idea of Gothic skyscrapers in
Moscow.
It is debatedwhether these Stalinist designs were really Shchusev's or if they were actually executed by his
disciples. The discussion of their artistic merits was exacerbated when the Moscow authorities announced
their intention to demolish the Hotel Moskva in 2004. Actually, all these designs, whether executed for
Moscow, Tbilisi, or Tashkent, featured Shchusev's trademark blend of Neoclassical elements with national
architectural traditions.
In 1946, Shchusev established the Museum of Architecture, which helped to preserve remnants of
demolished medieval churches and monasteries. His last works of importance were
the Komsomolskaya station of the Moscow Metro, whose decoration was stylized after 17th-century
Muscovite churches, and the plan for reconstruction of Novgorod after the ancient city had been destroyed by
the Nazis (in recognition of that, one of Novgorod's modern streets was named after him). Shchusev died four
years after the end of the World War II and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Shchusev was awarded the Stalin Prizes in 1941, 1946, 1948, and posthumously in 1952; the Order of
Lenin and other orders and medals.
The Shchusev State Museum of Architecture in Moscow has been named after him.