 After two years of intensive work Lissitzky was taken ill with acute pneumonia in October 1923 . A few weeks later he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis ; in February 1924 he relocated to a Swiss sanatorium near Locarno . He kept very busy during his stay , working on advertisement designs for Pelikan Industries ( who in turn paid for his treatment ) , translating articles written by Malevich into German , and experimenting heavily in typographic design and photography . In 1925 , after the Swiss government denied his request to renew his visa , Lissitzky returned to Moscow and began teaching interior design , metalwork , and architecture at VKhUTEMAS ( State Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops ) , a post he would keep until 1930 . He all but stopped his Proun works and became increasingly active in architecture and propaganda designs . 
