Georgii Orlov

Born Mar. 26 (Apr. 8), 1901, in Kursk. Soviet architect. People’s Architect of the USSR (1970).

From 1921 to 1926, Orlov studied under V. A. Vesnin at the Moscow Higher Technical School. From 1961 to 1963 he was the vice-president of the Academy of Construction and Architecture of the USSR. In 1963, Orlov became first secretary of the administrative board of the Architects’ Union of the USSR. He was appointed vice-president of the International Union of Architects in 1967, becoming the organization’s president in 1972. Since 1966 he has taught at the Moscow Architectural Institute (professor, since 1969); he was previously on the faculty of this institution from 1933 to 1938.

Orlov’s work is devoted principally to the construction of hydraulic systems and housing. His designs are marked by the artistic expressiveness of functional elements and by a severity and simplicity of form. In Zaporozh’e, Orlov participated in the design and construction of Dneproges (Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant, 1927–32) and residential districts (1930–36 and 1938). From 1944 to 1952 he helped in the reconstruction of Dneproges (power station, main control building, dam, and other structures). In the same years he was the chief architect of Dneprostroi (State Dnieper Construction; State Prize of the USSR, 1951). Orlov was the architect of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (1951–55) and the 50th Anniversary of Great October Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Plant (1960–68; State Prize of the RSFSR, 1969). Between 1955 and 1961 he directed the architectural design of a number of hydroelectric power plants on the Dnieper, Volga, and Neman rivers. Orlov has been awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, three other orders, and various medals.