Nikolai Nikitin
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters". Nikolai Vasilyevich Nikitin (Template:Langx; 15 December 1907 – 3 March 1973) was a Soviet architect, structural designer and construction engineer, best known for his monumental structures.
Biography
Early life
Nikolai was born in Tobolsk, Russian Empire to the family of a typographical engineer who later worked as a judicial clerk. His father was Vasily Nikitin (1893-1956), who specialized in welding and other elements of electrical engineering.[1] When Nikolai was 17, a snakebite left him with a permanent foot injury.
Career
In 1930, Nikolai graduated from the Tomsk Technological Institute with training in construction.
In 1932, he designed the train station of Novosibirsk.[2]
By 1937, he was living and working in Moscow. He turned his attention to calculations for the foundation of the monumental Palace of the Soviets which was to be constructed at the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
In 1957, he was appointed chief designer of Mosproekt-2 - Institute for the Planning of Housing and Civil Engineering Construction in the City of Moscow.
Death
Nikolai died on 3 March 1973 and was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.
Selected works
- Moscow State University's 240 m (787 ft) high main building. At the time of its construction it was the tallest building in Europe. Built from 1949 to 1953.
- Palace of Culture and Science, constructed from 1952 to 1955 also in partnership with Lev Rudnev as main architect.
- Luzhniki Stadium 1956.
- Colossal 85 meter statue on the Mamayev Kurgan heights overlooking Volgograd, The Motherland Calls, used 7900 tons of concrete and steel in a dramatic sculpture design by Yevgeny Vuchetich.
- Ostankino Tower, completed in 1967, at 540 metres (1772 ft), the highest freestanding structure in Eurasia.
Awards and honors
- Honored Builder of the RSFSR (1970)
- Lenin Prize (1970) - for the project of the Ostankino television tower
- Stalin Prize, 3rd class (1951) - for the development of a long-span shed coating and a method for its removal
- Order of the Badge of Honour
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
References
External links
- Berlinale Delegate for Eastern Europe and CEE film Expert: Nikolaj Nikitin filmneweurope.com, June 13, 2014
- Pages with script errors
- 1907 births
- 1973 deaths
- 20th-century Russian architects
- People from Tobolsk
- Tomsk Polytechnic University alumni
- Recipients of the Lenin Prize
- Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour
- Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Recipients of the Stalin Prize
- Structural engineers
- Russian architecture writers
- Russian civil engineers
- Soviet engineers
- Soviet inventors
- Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery
- Russian scientists