He was one of the few architects born in the 1860s who integrated into the Soviet establishment, earning the Order of Lenin for various resort projects and for redesigning the interiors of the Grand Kremlin Palace in the 1930s.

His early works, such as the orphanage in Devichye Pole (1893), now housing Embassy of Vietnam, belong to the tradition of 19th century eclecticism, and do not stand out among hundreds of similar buildings.

Unlike the extravagant Belgian Art Nouveau practiced by Kekushev, Ivanov's art appealed equally to financial institutions and charities; in fact, most of his works were undertaken for these two groups of clients: After the revolution of 1905, his buildings become more rationalist, yet they clearly belong to the same style: Between 1908 and 1928, Ivanov-Schitz was officially employed as the architect of Botkin Hospital in Moscow.

In 1922-1925, when most architects were unemployed, he had real construction jobs, expanding apartment buildings in Tverskoy Boulevard and the Eye Hospital on the Garden Ring.

He completed various high-profile resorts in Sochi and Barvikha and was allowed to rebuild the halls of the Grand Kremlin Palace so it could seat the assemblies of the Supreme Soviet.