underground, so one of the objectives was to make these pylons look slimmer. Dushkin proposed an interesting solution - decorate the pylons with wider arches, filling the gap between the fake and real arch with sculpture. This, he presumed, would narrow the perceived width of pylons. His original draft called for bas relief sculptures of life-size standing figures on the corners and lace-like Gothic ornaments on the main vault. This, however, did not materialize. Instead, Matvey Manizer, a sculptor with a political backing, preferred classical, larger-than-life bronze sculptures, crouched between fake arches and the plinth. As a result, the station became heavyweight and dark. Mayakovskaya (1938) Mayakovskaya, 33 meters under ground, was the first deep alignment station of columnar type (numerous columnar stations of the first stage, including Kropotkinskaya, were shallow alignment type, built by open pit methode). Dushkin's design, although a Stalinist classic, is within the lines of Art deco. Columns are faced with stainless steel and pink rhodonite, floors and walls are finished in four different shades of granite and marble. 35 (33 visible) ) ceiling mosaics by Alexander Deineka "A day in the Soviet Sky". These mosaics are sometimes criticized as being inadequately small for this station and awkwardly placed in recessed soffits. Dushkin recalled later, "Mayakovskaya could have been more impressive. [We] failed to materialize all design plans". Dushkin's wife remembered that when he projected the station in 1936-1937, he asked her to play him Bach or Prokofiev. The station was awarded Grand Prize of the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1941, it was used as a bomb shelter. November 6, 1941 it housed the Mossovet meeting were Joseph Stalin delivered his Brothers and Sisters... patriotic speech. Avtozavodskaya (1943) On January 1, 1943, in the middle of Battle of Stalingrad, Moscow Metro opened a new station, extending the Gorkovsko-Zamoskvoretskaya (now Zamoskvoretskaya) Line from Ploshchad Sverdlova (now Teatralnaya) to Zavod imeni Stalina (now Avtozavodskaya). (Two intermediate stations, Novokuznetskaya and Paveletskaya, were opened on November 20, 1943.) Planners chose Dushkin's simple columnar concept, proven by prewar practice. The columns of Avtozavodskaya are narrower than earlier (and later) examples of this type, giving the station an "airy" feel. Dushkin expressed his opinion on the project: "I like this station because it is made with one breath. It clearly manifests the constructive essence and, as with Russian temples, the clearness of the working shape" As Dushkin's wife revived, the