{{Short description|Museum in Moscow, Russia}} thumb|right|250px|The Talyzin House thumb|right|250px|Inside the "Ruin" exhibition hall [[File:Вид на Дом Мельникова из сада. Май 2020.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The Melnikov House]] The '''Shchusev<ref>The official site of the museum prefers the spelling ''Schusev''.</ref> Museum of Architecture''' is a national museum of Russian Architecture located in Moscow the capital of Russia and also a research centre to study and promote the architectural and urban heritage. The museum was founded in 1934 and is located on the Vozdvizhenka Street.<ref name="Shchusev">[http://www.muar.ru/eng/about/history_m.htm Shchusev State Museum of Architecture: About the Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011014752/http://muar.ru/eng/about/history_m.htm |date=2011-10-11 }}, retrieved 11 November 2011</ref> The collections include more than 800000 items.<ref name=MUARH/> The museum is named after Russian and Soviet architect Alexey Shchusev.
==History==
The original museum of the Academy of Architecture, established in 1934 was located in the secularized Donskoy Monastery.<ref name=MUARH/> The sprawling fortified monastery housed hundreds of fragments of art salvaged from the demolished buildings.<ref name=MUARH/> The museum was dedicated, at least officially, to worldwide architecture of all periods and styles, although most tangible exhibits were Russian.<ref name=MUARH>{{cite web | url=http://muar.ru/en/2014-01-13-08-50-54/history-of-the-museum | title=History of the Museum | language=en | publisher=Shchusev State Museum of Architecture | access-date=2021-07-04 | archive-date=2021-07-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190542/http://muar.ru/en/2014-01-13-08-50-54/history-of-the-museum | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In the summer of 1945 Alexey Shchusev began campaigning for the establishment of a museum of Russian national architecture. The new museum was established in 1946, with Shchusev as its first director. He personally picked the {{ill|Talyzin House (Moscow)|lt=former Talyzin House|ru|Дом Талызина}}, then occupied by the NKVD, and used his connections within the organization to free it up for the museum.{{sfn|Vaskin|2015|pp=419–420}} Under Shchusev's management the museum became a refuge for the unemployed Jews hit by the anti-cosmopolitan campaign, like {{ill|David Arkin (architect)|lt=David Arkin|ru|Аркин, Давид Ефимович}}, {{ill|Abram Efros|ru|Эфрос, Абрам Маркович}} and {{ill|Alexander Gabrichevsky|ru|Габричевский, Александр Георгиевич}}.{{sfn|Vaskin|2015|pp=418–421}} The Baldin Collection of German art was secretly deposited in the museum, with Shchusev's consent, in 1948.{{sfn|Vaskin|2015|pp=421–422}} However, the main purpose of the museum, as envisaged by Shchusev himself, was the recording and archiving of Russian heritage that was destroyed or damaged during the war.{{sfn|Vaskin|2015|p=420}} For the first ten years, it operated primarily as a research and archive institution; the first permanent public exhibition opened in 1957.<ref name=MUARH/>
In 1964, after Nikita Khrushchev had disbanded the Academy of Architecture, the two museums were merged into the Shchusev Museum of Architecture.<ref name=MUARH/> The Donskoy Monastery and the Talyzin House exhibited pre-revolutionary Russian and post-revolutionary Soviet exhibits, respectively.<ref name=MUARH/> In 1991 the government expelled the museum from the monastery. Some exhibits were evacuated to the Talyzin House, others remained within the monastery walls. The Talyzin House, meanwhile, was falling apart after decades of poor maintenance and vibration from subway trains, and had to be closed for a lengthy restoration.<ref name=MUARH/>
In the 21st century, the museum operates three main exhibition sites in Vozdvizhenka Street: the reconstructed Talyzin House, the nearby "Ruin" building, and the 17th-century building of the former {{ill|Medicinal Prikaz|ru|Аптекарский приказ}}. The Melnikov House became part of the museum in 2018.<ref name=MUARH/>
== Directors ==
* Alexey Shchusev (1945 – May 1949) * Naum Minkin (acting, June 1949 – November 24, 1949) * Sergey Chernyshyov (November 24, 1949 – January 1, 1954) * Nikolai Vinogradov (acting, January 25, 1954 – July 30, 1956) * Naum Kabukovsky (July 30, 1956 – February 1962) * Elena Panfilenko (February 1962 – July 15, 1963) * Victor Baldin (July 15, 1963 – 1987) * Vladimir Rezvin (1990–2000) * David Sargsyan (2000–2010) * Irina Korobina (2010–2017) * Irina Chepkunova (acting, January 2017 – March 2017) * Elizaveta Likhacheva (2017–2023) * Natalia Shashkova (March 2023 – present)
==Sources== * {{ cite book | last=Vaskin | first=A. | author-link1=:ru:Васькин, Александр Анатольевич | title=Щусев: Зодчий всея Руси | trans-title=Shchusev: The architect of All Russia | publisher=Молодая гвардия | date=2015 | isbn=9785235038073 }}
==References== {{reflist}}
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== External links == {{Commons category|Schusev State Museum of Architecture}} * [http://www.muar.ru/index.php?lang=en Shchusev State Museum of Architecture]
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Category:Museums in Moscow Category:National museums Category:Architecture museums Category:Architecture in Russia Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1934 Category:1934 establishments in Russia