Shchusev Museum of Architecture facts for kids
The Shchusev Museum of Architecture is a special place in Moscow, the capital of Russia. It is a national museum dedicated to Russian Architecture. The museum also works as a research center. It helps people learn about and protect important buildings and city designs from the past.
This museum started in 1934. You can find it on Vozdvizhenka Street in Moscow. It holds a huge collection of items, more than 800,000 in total! The museum is named after a famous Russian architect, Alexey Shchusev.
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History of the Museum
Early Beginnings (1934-1945)
The very first version of this museum began in 1934. It was part of the Academy of Architecture. This early museum was located in an old monastery called the Donskoy Monastery. This large, strong monastery held many pieces of art. These pieces were saved from buildings that had been taken down. The museum was meant to show architecture from all over the world. But most of the things on display were about Russian buildings.
Alexey Shchusev's Vision (1945-1964)
In 1945, a famous architect named Alexey Shchusev had a big idea. He wanted to create a museum especially for Russian architecture. His dream came true in 1946, and he became its first director. Shchusev personally chose the Talyzin House for the new museum. This building was being used by a government office at the time. Shchusev used his connections to get the building for the museum.
Under Shchusev's leadership, the museum became a safe place for many people. It also worked to record and save information about Russian buildings. Many of these buildings were damaged or destroyed during the war. For its first ten years, the museum mostly focused on research and keeping records. The first time it opened a public exhibition was in 1957.
Merging and Moving (1964-Present)
In 1964, two museums joined together to form the Shchusev Museum of Architecture. One was the original museum from the Donskoy Monastery. The other was Shchusev's new museum in the Talyzin House. The Donskoy Monastery showed older Russian buildings. The Talyzin House showed newer Soviet-era buildings.
However, in 1991, the government asked the museum to leave the monastery. Some items were moved to the Talyzin House. Others stayed within the monastery walls. The Talyzin House itself was getting old and needed a lot of repair work. It had to close for a long time to be fixed.
Today, the museum has three main places where you can see exhibits on Vozdvizhenka Street. These include the repaired Talyzin House and a nearby building called the "Ruin." There is also a 17th-century building that used to be a pharmacy. In 2018, The Melnikov House, another famous building, also became part of the museum.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Estatal de Arquitectura Schusev para niños
