Ivan Ilyich Leonidov (russian: Иван Ильич Леонидов; 9 February 1902 – 6 November 1959) was a Soviet constructivist

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

, painter and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Early life

Leonidov was raised on an isolated farmstead in the province of

Tver Oblast Tver Oblast (russian: Тверска́я о́бласть, ''Tverskaya oblast'', ), from 1935 to 1990 known as Kalinin Oblast (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inh ...

. The son of a farmer and woodsman, he went to work as a casual labourer at the docks in Petrograd. When an icon painter noticed Leonidov's drawing skills, he became his apprentice.

Career

In 1919 Leonidov attended the Svomas free art studios in

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

. From 1921 to 1927 he studied at the VKhUTEMAS in Moscow under the tutelage of

Alexander Vesnin Alexander Aleksandrovich Vesnin (russian: Александр Александрович Веснин) (28 May 1883, Yuryevets – 7 September 1959, Moscow), together with his brothers Leonid and Viktor, was a leading light of Constructivist ar ...

at which point his attention switched from painting to architecture. His unexecuted diploma project in 1927 for the Lenin Institute and Library, Moscow, brought him international recognition. The scheme was prominently displayed at the Exhibition of Contemporary Architecture, Moscow, and was published in the

OSA Group The OSA Group (Organization of Contemporary Architects) was an architectural association in the Soviet Union, which was active from 1925 to 1930 and considered the first group of constructivist architects. It published the journal ''SA'' (''Sovre ...

journal Sovremennaya arkhitektura. He then went on to teach at the VKhUTEMAS between 1928 and 1930. From 1931 to 1933 he worked in the Giprogor and Mossovet and from 1934–41 he joined the studio of

Moisei Ginzburg Moisei Yakovlevich Ginzburg ( be, Майсей Якаўлевіч Гінзбург, russian: Моисей Яковлевич Гинзбург; , Minsk – 7 January 1946, Moscow) was a Soviet constructivist architect, best known for his 1929 ...

at the People's Commissariat for heavy industry. Leonidov's only materialized design was the 1938 staircase in

Kislovodsk Kislovodsk (russian: Кислово́дск, lit. ''sour waters''; ; krc, Ачысуу) is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas. Population: History ...

Selected works

*1926 – Design for

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...

printworks in Moscow ( VKhUTEMAS studio with

) *1927 – Thesis (diploma) Lenin Institute and Library in Moscow (unexecuted) *1928 – Competition entry for the building of the Centrosojuz in Moscow *1928 – Club of the New Social Type. Variant BLeonidov I.
utopia.ru *1929 – Design for the Columbus monument in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

*1929–-1930 – Competition entry for the House of Industry in Moscow *1930 – Competition entry for the culture palace of the proletarian district in Moscow *1930 – Competition entry for the socialist city Magnitogorsk (director/conductor of a group of students of the VChUTEIN) *1934 – Competition entry for the Narkomtiazhprom building (The People's Commissariat for heavy industry in Moscow), Red Square, Moscow. *1937–-1938 – Outside staircase in the Ordzonikidze sanatorium in Kislovodsk *1937–-1941 – Pioneer palace in Kalinin (Tver) *1950s – Sketch drafts for the "sun city" and the seat of the United Nations

References

Sources

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External links