Domesticity and surveillance: the Melnikov’s house example

Abstract

Konstantin Melnikov designed his house in 1927. At the time he was an internationally renowned architect, but the political changes gradually withdrew him from his architectural practice. After being banned Konstantin Melnikov lived nearly in seclusion in his house the rest of his life. The inscription on the top of his house – Konstantin Melnikov Architect – contradicts the socialist spirit that then ruled. The inhabitant’s individual affirmation reveals a dissonant spirit with its context and the epoch he belongs. With this inscription, he underlines his right to individuality, as shown by several rooms conceived to the individual labor in this house. On the other hand, the analysis of this house allows the identification of different kinds of surveillance. One refers to the interior vigilance and mutual control between family members and the other is related to the possibility the house’s inhabitant was given to surveil the exterior surroundings. In his studio Konstantin Melnikov could observe the exterior space. Nevertheless, we can also recognize the will of interior surveillance in the conception of several rooms, such as the dining room, the dressing room or the bedroom. Especially in the last one similarity to the Jeremy Bentham's panoptical model principles can be recognized. The architectonic inventiveness recognized in several solutions developed in this house is a motive of growing interest when confronted with the contradictions that involve the inhabiting practices of this house.