Vladimir Alekseevič Ščuko (or Vladimir Shchuko) was a Russian architect, and a member of the Saint Petersburg school of Russian neoclassical revival. He studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts, graduating in 1904. Early in his career, he was inspired by a number of state-sponsored study tours in Italy and Greece. His commission for the Markov apartment buildings at 63 / 65, Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, was his first opportunity concretize his vision of classical forms on a monumental scale. The earlier of the two buildings (No. 65, built 1908-1910) features a giant order of four massive columns covering four floors of the main facade, topped by an ornate Corinthian capital. The second (No. 63, 1910-1911) shows a Palladian influence, with slender columns supporting the balconies, and gray granite facades decorated with bas reliefs. After the Russian revolution in 1917, he developed a version of modernized neoclassicism with a collaborator, Vladimir Gelfreikh. Together, they created a number of high-profile buildings, such as the Lenin library in the Stalinist architectural style. He designed the empire-style Russian Pavilion for Turin 1911. At the end of the Twenties, he developed an interest in the modern Russian constructivism, which is evident in the Gorkij theatre in Rostov (1930-1935). He was also a stage designer for operas, ballet productions, and plays.