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Svoboda Factory Club, conceived as Chemists Trade Union Club, also known as Maxim Gorky Palace of Culture, is a listed memorial avant-garde building in Moscow, Russia, designed by Konstantin Melnikov in 1927 and completed in 1929. It is located at 41A, Vyatskaya Street, in Savyolovsky District.Evolution of designUpon his return from Paris in 1925 and completion of Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, Melnikov enjoyed a rush of commissions from trade unions, who launched a nationwide campaign to build workers' clubs in 1926. After negotiations with the Communal Workers Unions, who accepted his concept for Rusakov Workers' Club and rejected his Zuev Workers' Club (awarded to Ilya Golosov), Melnikov was employed by the Chemists' Union who planned to build one large (Svoboda Factory) and one small (Frunze Factory) club. The larger project was set in a remote working-class neighborhood north-west from Savyolovsky Rail Terminal, not far from Melnikov's birthplace at Hay Lodge (Соломенная Сторожка).Initial concept for Svoboda Club was a flat elliptical tube raised above ground floor pilotis. The main hall inside the tube could be used as a single arena, or partitioned into two independent halls (500 seats each). Each end of the tube terminated in a cubical block housing stage mechanisms and smaller halls. A perfectly symmetrical structure was visually centered with two curvilinear staircases connecting the raised main hall to the ground. These were actually fire escapes, never intended for regular use: building code required very wide internal evacuation stairs, and Melnikov bypassed the code by adding exterior escape stairs
