Milka Tcherneva Bliznakov ( Bulgarian: Милка Близнаков; September 20, 1927 – November 4, 2010) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n architect and architectural historian. She was regarded as an authority on the avant-garde and Russian

Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in the Soviet Union in t ...

. Her work focused on the often overlooked role of

women in architecture Women in architecture have been documented for many centuries, as professional (or amateur) practitioners, educators and clients. Since architecture became organized as a profession in 1857, the number of women in architecture has been low. At ...

and she founded the

International Archive of Women in Architecture The International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) was established in 1985 as a joint program of the Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies, College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the University Libraries at Virginia ...

. She was Professor Emerita of Architecture at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

from 1974 to 1998.

Early life and education

Milka Bliznakov was born on September 20, 1927, in

Varna, Bulgaria Varna (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, t ...

to Ivan Dimitrov Tchernev and Dr. Maria Kesarova Khorosova. She earned a master's degree in architecture from the State Polytechnic University of Sofia in 1951.

Career

Bliznakov started an architecture practice in Bulgaria in 1952. Political circumstances forced her to move her practice to France in 1959. She immigrated to the United States two years later, in 1961. She worked as an architect and studied early Soviet architecture during the 1960s. After earning a PhD in

architectural history The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1971, she taught at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

from 1972 to 1974. There she co-founded the Institute of Modern Russian Culture in 1972. Bliznakov joined the faculty of

's School of Architecture and Design in 1974, teaching in the urban design program. She became recognized as an authority on the avant-garde and Russian

. In 1985, she established the

(IAWA) as a joint program of Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the University Libraries. She chaired IAWA's Board of Advisors from 1985 to 1993. Bliznakov retired in 1998, the same year that the Milka Bliznakov Prize was established. The prize is awarded for research that furthers knowledge of women's contributions to architecture and design. Bliznakov died at her

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg and the surrounding county is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia T ...

, home on November 4, 2010.

Awards

Bliznakov received the Bulgarian government's Parthena Medal for Excellence in Architecture in 1985. She was the recipient of two International Research and Exchange grants and two Fulbright Hays Fellowships. She was also named a Wilson Center of the Smithsonian Institution Scholar in 1988 and was awarded a grant from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Publications

*''From Theory to Practice in Constructivist Architecture'' (1979). Division of Architecture and Environmental Design, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. *''History and Theory of Urban Form'' (1985). College of Architecture & Urban Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. *"A Bibliographical Guide to Their Work: Soviet Women Architects, 1917–1937" (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliznakov, Milka 1927 births 2010 deaths Bulgarian architects Bulgarian emigrants to the United States Columbia University alumni People from Varna, Bulgaria Technical University, Sofia alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Virginia Tech faculty Bulgarian women architects People from Blacksburg, Virginia