Wir freuen uns auf die Begleitveranstaltung im Rahmen der Ausstellung «Konstantin Melnikov».
Ein Vortrag von und mit Pavel Kuznetsov und anschliessender Diskussion mit Christian Sumi und Marianne Burkhalter.

Lecture and talk with Pavel Kuznetsov, curator of the exhibition. 

The Melnikov House: A Manifesto of Low-Tech Avant-Garde

How can one build a «dream house» on a modest budget in a cold climate? Is low-tech architecture the solution? Can we trace the birth of architectural masterpiece from idea to realization?

Pavel Kuznetsov explores these questions through the lens of the Melnikov House (1927–1929, Moscow), an iconic monument of Soviet Avant-garde. Newly discovered information helps uncover the architectural, engineering, and philosophical ideas behind Melnikov’s ambitious plan to build an architectural manifesto in 1920s Soviet Russia. The history of the house also reflects the tragic life of this solo architect in a collectivist society.

Pavel Kuznetsov is a guest researcher at the University of Kassel, the founding director of the State Museum of Konstantin and Viktor Melnikov in 2014-2022, and the author of The Melnikov House: Icon of the Avant-Garde, Family Home, Architecture Museum (Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2021). He is also the co-editor of Melnikov. Investigation Through the Architectural Models, with Marianne Burkhalter and Christian Sumi (Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2025). Since 2014 he oversaw the collections and archives of the Melnikov House and its transition from a private home to a public museum.