RUSSIA: The descendants of one of Moscow's most famous architects, Konstantin Melnikov, are locked in battle for the rights to his house, a Constructivist masterpiece in the heart of the city. Consisting of two interlocking grey cylinders, Melnikov House remains one of the most radical designs for a family home ever built and is a key world heritage site.
On Sunday, the sole inhabitant, Melnikov's son Victor (91), died, triggering a battle for possession. Victor's daughter, Ekaterina Karinskaya, found the body when she came to visit, but hours later found herself hemmed in by four security guards and two lawyers sent by Victor's other daughter, Yelena, and his grandson, Alexei Ilganayev.
"Victor died in the morning. At six in the evening my sister Yelena came with the guards," a tired-looking Yekaterina told me yesterday.
As she made tea inside the house, a car full of security guards outside filmed everyone entering or leaving. They would not say who had hired them.
Ilganayev, as son of Victor's late sister Lydmila, is entitled to half the building. He has joined with Yelena, who claims the rights to the other half. Neither has said what they plan to do with the property, although the land on which it sits is worth several million dollars.
Last September a Moscow court ruled that Yelena had tricked her father, who was blind, into signing a contract giving her his half of the house, but Yelena insists there was no trick and is appealing against the decision next Monday.
Yekaterina is refusing to move.
"It is not very comfortable to live in this situation," she said. "Each time I go out of the house they film me. I hold up my hands to show them I am not removing any possessions."
For the moment, she has the protection of constables from the next door police station, who have warned the security guards not to break in. "This is a unique space," she said. "I want to make sure Victor's will is respected and that it is given to the state to turn into a museum."
Melnikov was one of the leading figures in the Constructivist movement, which blossomed in Russia after the 1917 revolution. Excited by the possibilities for design using reinforced concrete, the architects were called on by the Soviet Union to build a brave new world.
Melnikov stunned the 1925 Paris Expo by showing how concrete - described by some as "liquid stone" - could be used to create the sweeping lines and walls of glass that are today central features of world architecture.
His house has become a regular stopping-off point for architects from around the world, and, despite poor health,Victor would give guided tours of the house to visitors.
"This is an international icon," says Clem Cecil, the British spokeswoman of the Moscow Architectural Preservation Society. "It encapsulates one of the most creative movements in world architecture."