Russakov Club

Moscow, Russia
1929
Konstantin Melnikov wanted to design a theater whose function and plan would be immediately discernible from the outside. His Russakov Club, built as a theater for workers who labored in the nearby factories, featured three massive galleries that projected high above the street and were equally spaced along the semi-circular envelope of the building. The theater is one of the finest examples of late Constructivist architecture and its interior is noted for its adaptability to different seating and staging arrangements. Although the theater was leased in 1996 to the prominent Russian theater director Roman Viktiuk for use as a performance arena, the building is in an unstable state. The structural integrity of the long, flat roof is in question and the building's foundations may need work. Interior columns in the fan-shaped auditorium need to be rebuilt and brick walls are cracking. The only maintenance performed on the building since construction has been an exterior replastering and repainting in the late 1980s. A structural analysis needs to be carried out so that a plan for restoration can proceed.

Listed in 1998