Shchusev Museum: address. Architectural Museum. Shchusev

Signs for the Russian capital buildings - the Bolshoi Theater, St. Basil's Cathedral and others, hide many secrets. To open them, as well as to acquaint the Muscovites with the history of the well-known buildings of the city, the architectural museum of the city sets itself the task. Shchusev. The exhibition in this museum is always a real holiday for true connoisseurs of art.

The place where architecture comes to life

The State Museum named after Shchusev is the only museum institution of such a theme all over the world. It's hard to believe this, but its funds hold about a million (!) Of various exhibits related to both the general chronology of the building of the capital and the history of its individual buildings.

Alas, in order to accommodate all this huge exhibition, the exhibition space is simply not enough. Therefore, the Schusev Museum currently holds only temporary thematic exhibitions. The most interesting and creative of them are most often organized in the wing called "Ruin".

The main activities of this unusual museum at the moment are the following:

• Active scientific research in the field of architecture, urban planning and urban planning;
• Increase of the museum's funds with new exhibits;
• Organization and holding of temporary exhibitions, thematic exhibitions, as well as various excursions;
• Restoration activity.

The Shchusev Museum is the place where architecture revives. From the gray and faceless mass of the stone, it suddenly turns into a true essence, capable of telling its visitors about a lot.

Very worthy personalities at different times headed the architectural museum Shchusev. The director of the institution today is Irina Korobiina, Ph.D. in architecture. Since 2010, she has been actively involved in the development of this institution. But his first director was Alexey Shchusev - a talented Soviet architect. This person should pay special attention to our article.

About the founder of the museum

The architectural museum named after Shchusev is named in honor of the outstanding architect - Shchusev Alexei Viktorovich.

He was born in 1873, in the sunny city of Chisinau (now the territory of Moldova). His work as an architect was evaluated by four Stalin prizes. His teachers were Leontius Benois and Ilya Repin.

In his youth Shchusev took part in an archaeological expedition to Samarkand, where he studied the architectural features of the city. If you look at the many buildings designed later by Shchusev, you can clearly see that this trip has left a big imprint on all his work.

Art deco, modernism, constructivism, neoclassicism - in all these styles the famous architect managed to work. His creative path began with the restoration of the church of the XII century in the town of Ovruch (today the territory of Ukraine). Among the most famous works Shchusev - the building of the Kazan Station, the project of the Mausoleum for Lenin, the theater in Tashkent and many others. In addition, Alexei Shchusev was also engaged in the development of projects to restore Soviet cities after the war. We are talking about Veliky Novgorod, Chisinau and Tuapse.

Foundation of an architectural museum

At the end of the XIX century in the cultural circles of Moscow there was an idea to create a similar institution. It was during this period that the inhabitants of the capital began to appreciate the architectural heritage that surrounded them.

But this magnificent idea was embodied already in the times of the USSR. Architectural Museum. Shchusev was founded in 1934 on the basis of the Donskoi Monastery. At the same time, the Academy of Architecture of the Soviet Union also appeared.

However, all these plans were violated by the Great Patriotic War. And the Schusev Museum was born anew only in 1945, at its end. The initiator of this birth was just Alexey Shchusev. However, he saw the goals of the revived museum somewhat differently.

Architectural Museum. Schuseva: from the 40s to the present day

According to Shchusev, the new museum should not become the base for the work of only a narrow circle of specialists. His goal was henceforth to popularize knowledge in the field of architecture, urban planning, urban studies. Employees of the institution were obliged to bring this knowledge in a simple and accessible form to a wide range of ordinary Soviet citizens. This is exactly what Schusev Museum saw as its first director.

In the sixties the museum changed its registration, placing its exhibits in the old estate of the Talyzins, that is on Vozdvizhenka. Not the best period for the institution began with the arrival of the 90's. The museum selected the buildings of the Donskoy Monastery. Thus, there was simply nowhere to place a huge collection of exhibits. By the way, this problem of the museum has not been solved so far. The institution continues to be located in the estate of the Talyzins, the building of which has long needed major repairs.

Shchusev Museum: address and mode of operation

The museum is located on Vozdvizhenka Street, in a massive three-story building at number 5. It operates every day except Monday, from 11 am to 8 pm. To visit the scientific library or archive of the museum, an additional preliminary record will be required.

250 rubles - this is for today the price of the entrance ticket to this museum. However, for pensioners and students, the ticket will cost only 100 rubles. The right to a free visit is available to schoolchildren, employees of other museums of the country, as well as students of architectural specialties.

Excursion and lecture activities of the Museum. Shchusev

The institution conducts active lecture-excursion activities. All educational activities are organized in the museum by the best specialists in this field. It is interesting that the lecture hall of the Schusev Museum was founded in 1934 and acted even during the war years. Today it is located in the wing of the Ruin, which accommodates up to a hundred visitors.

At the lectures in the museum not only talk about specific architectural styles or stories of the construction of individual buildings. There are also regular meetings with famous contemporary architects - Russian and foreign. The variety of the lecture courses of the museum is enormous: you can get acquainted with their programs in detail on the site of the institution.

In addition to lectures, the museum also conducts regular city tours for those who wish to live in touch with the architectural history of Moscow.

As a rule, such excursions are conducted by museum staff - experienced guides - on weekends, so that everyone could get to them. The cost of such an excursion for one person is 300 rubles (150 rubles - for students and pensioners).

The Schusev Museum constantly replenishes its arsenal of possible excursions. However, the most popular among Muscovites and guests of the capital is associated with the avant-garde architecture of the Arbat or with the construction of the Moscow metro.

House Melnikova - an unusual branch of the museum Shchusev

Melnikov's mansion today is a branch of the architectural museum named after. Shchusev. This is a unique in its architecture building, once belonged to the family of the famous Moscow architect Victor Melnikov. He built this house in the 1920s in avant-garde style.

The Melnikov mansion is two large cylinders with different heights. At the same time, the construction parts (cylinders) are embedded in each other. The building, built by Victor Melnikov, is absolutely rightly ranked among the most unusual structures of the capital.

The Melnikov House became a branch of the Shchusev Museum in 2014. However, this process was accompanied by a loud scandal and a lengthy trial between state structures and heirs of the architect who built the house.

Finally...

In Moscow there is a museum, which has no analogues in the whole world. This is an architectural museum named after Alexei Shchusev, which was founded in the distant 1934. Despite all the problems and difficulties, it still works today, collecting around itself the real admirers of architectural art.