1. Konstantin Melnikov's father, Stepan Illarionovich Melnikov, originally from Nizhny Novgorod region, was a road maintenance foreman, employed by the Moscow Agricultural Academy.
22 Facts About Konstantin Melnikov
1. 2.
Konstantin Melnikov later praised his father, who noticed the little boy's addiction to drawing and regularly brought him scrap paper for drawing from the academy.
3.
Konstantin Melnikov met his "golden day in life" through a milk delivery woman, who happened to serve the family of Vladimir Chaplin, a wealthy engineer.
4.
Konstantin Melnikov recommended Konstantin's drawings to Chaplin, who was so impressed that he hired the teenager to his firm and paid for his art studies.
5.
Chaplin overestimated Melnikov's basic education, and Konstantin failed his grammar test at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1904.
6.
Konstantin Melnikov studied at the School for 12 years, first completing General Education, then graduating in arts and Architecture.
7.
Konstantin Melnikov married Anna Yablokova in 1912; they had two children, born in 1913 and 1915.
8.
Konstantin Melnikov's first success in architecture was a 1922 entry to a workers' housing contest.
9.
In 1925 Konstantin Melnikov designed and built the Soviet pavilion at the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes.
10.
Still in Paris, Konstantin Melnikov designed two privately commissioned versions of a ramped garage that never got past the conceptual drawing stage.
11.
The second In Moscow, Konstantin Melnikov saw a new fleet of Leyland buses hoarded in a yard in Zamoskvorechye, and immediately proposed his concept to the city.
12.
Konstantin Melnikov later called this project "the start of my Golden Season".
13.
Konstantin Melnikov won five of these ten projects.
14.
Absence of public contests for these buildings was favorable to Konstantin Melnikov, who was promoted by enthusiastic trade union commissioners, regardless of design complexity or political and artistic affiliations.
15.
Konstantin Melnikov had a chance to build practically exactly as planned, with very little changes by the client.
16.
Konstantin Melnikov's clients were not competent in exact functions of these buildings, thus each Konstantin Melnikov draft is a functional program with different balance between main hall and other space.
17.
Konstantin Melnikov preferred to work at home, and always wanted a spacious residence that could house his family, architectural and painting workshops.
18.
Konstantin Melnikov's final public statement was a 1936 contest entry for the Soviet pavilion at 1937 World Expo in Paris.
19.
Konstantin Melnikov was not exactly forgotten; on the contrary, his Rusakov Club and Arbat house were present in many Soviet textbooks as examples of Formalism.
20.
Konstantin Melnikov retained his Arbat house and lived there, safely, with his family until his death.
21.
Konstantin Melnikov returned to portrait painting and lectured at engineering colleges.
22.
Konstantin Melnikov died at the age of 84 and was interred in the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in the Lefortovo District of Moscow.