Architectural decision
Volumetric composition of the house is a two vertical cylinder of identical diameter incut each other by one-third radius, thus forming an unusual form of the plan in the form of figure "8", oriented in the direction of "the north - south". The lower cylinder is cut vertically from the southern part of finished flat roof with an open terrace. Towering above the rear cylinder has a sloping roof, downward from the center of the building to its northern part.
As of lectures at the Department of Architecture of Military Engineering Academy, where at one time taught KS Melnikov, Architect detailed rationale for the benefits of a cylindrical design:
"Savings materials: Direct contact with the geometry of the architectural study of economic benefit. The challenge is to ... floor area was surrounded by the minimum perimeter walls. The required area of, say, 1600 square meters. The height?? value of the constant ... Take parallelepiped, cube and cylinder ... So, on the perimeter of the three options will be respectively 200, 160 and 140 m. It is a real savings of the form of volume".
The call to the main facade Krivoarbatskomu Lane home-front shop is strictly symmetrical composition. The center cut of the small cylinder is the only entrance to the house, on the sides of which there are two large rectangular windows. The main plane of the facade is the great window-screen, extending the entire height of the second floor. Above the window is placed the inscription "architect Konstantin Melnikov".
The side walls of the front cylinder almost deaf - only on the first floor, they cut a number of hexagonal windows, and one octahedral (the only one in the house), the window is arranged on the west side at the second floor.
More freely solved the rear elevation, northern cylinder. Its walls of slot 57 of the hexagon with vertical windows that form a single pattern with a peculiar rhythm of repetitive elements of the five tiers. The bottom row of windows separated by a high segment blank wall of the top four. The second tier corresponds to the second floor, three upper-tier - the third one. The dynamics in the overall composition of the northern facade makes an unusual pattern sash of three types: one of the first-tier boxes, the other in the second and fourth layers and the third - the third and fifth tiers of windows.