played a large role in the architectural life of 1920s Russia. One of these was the Association of New Architects (ASNOVA), formed in 1923, which promoted the idea of synthesising architecture and other creative arts to give buildings an almost sculptural feeling. These buildings were to serve as visual points for the orientation of a human in space. Members of ASNOVA also designed Moscow's first skyscrapers, none of which were realised at the time (1923–1926). Another innovation from post-revolutionary Russia was a new type of public building: the Workers' Club and the Palace of Culture. These became a new focus for architects, who used the visual expression of large elements combined with industrial motifs. The most famous of these was the Zuev Workers' Club (1927–29) in Moscow by Ilya Golosov (1883–1945), whose composition relied on the dynamic contrast of simple shapes, planes, complete walls and glazed surfaces. Symbolic expression in construction was a feature in works designed by Konstantin Melnikov (1890–1974), notably the Rusakov Workers' Club (1927–1929) in Moscow. Visually, the building resembles part of a gear; each of the three cantilevered concrete "teeth" is a balcony of the main auditorium, which could be used individually or combined into a large theatre hall. The sharpness of its composition and the "transition" of internal space (called by Melnikov a "tensed muscle") made it one of the most important examples of Soviet architecture. Post-war Stalinist architecture put a premium on conservative monumentalism. During the 1930s there was rapid urbanisation as a result of Stalin's policies, and there was an international competition to build the Palace of the Soviets in Moscow at that time. After 1945, the focus was on both rebuilding structures destroyed in World War II and erecting new ones: seven high-rise buildings were built at symbolic points in the Moscow area. The construction of Moscow University (1948–1953), by Lev Rudnev and associates, is particularly notable for its use of space. Another example is the Exhibition Centre in Moscow, built for the second All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV) in 1954. This featured a series of pavilions, each decorated in representative style. Other well-known examples are the stations of the Moscow and Saint Petersburg Metros built during the 1940s and 1950s, famous for their extravagant design and vivid decoration. In general, Stalinist architecture changed the appearance of many post-war cities; much survives to this day in central avenues and public buildings. Following Stalin's