Architect Ignatius Milinis. From constructivism to modernism. Issue 6

This book is dedicated to the heritage of one of the most interesting and little famous figures in the history of Soviet architecture - Ignatius Frantsevich Milinis (1899-1974) One of the creators of the famous Moscow community houses - Narkomfin on Novinsky Boulevard and RZHSKT in Gogolevsky - Milinis receives an initial architectural education in Kyiv, participates in the construction of the State Special Forces in Kharkov and, finally, enters the Architectural Department of Vchutemas, to the workshop of Alexander Vesnin. The decisive for Milinis is a acquaintance in Moscow with Moses Ginzburg: architects become co-authors and together develop a new type of Soviet housing-"transition houses" houses" with multi-levels, ribbon glazing, light corridors operated by flat roofs. A strict functional approach, a harmonious combination of simple volumes and the absence of any decorative excesses will be characteristic of many Milinis buildings, including the Club of the Sickle and Hammer in Moscow, and the Government House in Alma-Ata. In the post -constructivist and neoclassical period of development of Soviet architecture, Milinis designs typical canteens, sanatoriums in the Crimea and Moscow Region, the Krasny Stone area in Nizhny Tagil and the ZIS residential complex in Moscow. Plastically enriching the facades of his buildings with columns, rotunds and arches, Milinis at the same time does not overload the architecture with details, capitals and stucco molding. The projects of Milinis of the 1960-1970s, the era of Soviet modernism or the second vanguard, are strict and functional again: these are new experiments with affordable housing, two-level apartments and collective services.
The publication presents materials from the collection of the State Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchuseva: Author"s graphics and historical photographs. About the creative fate of Milinis, his successes and defeats, family and life in the houses built by him: the commune in Gogolevsky and the cottage in the village of the Soviet Architect is told by researchers Irina Chepkunova and Yuri Volchok and the granddaughter of Milinis Evgeny Bishkoposov.
Compiled by Irina Chepkonova, Maria Ametova