Kazakov was one of the most influential Muscovite architects during the reign of Catherine II, completing numerous private residences, two royal palaces, two hospitals, Moscow University, and the Kremlin Senate.

Bazhenov received a formal European education, while Kazakov learned his trade repairing Kremlin relics and never traveled far from Moscow.

By this time, Kazakov was already working on private orders; architects were in high demand after a 1773 fire razed the wealthy Tverskaya Street.

Kazakov stepped out of Bazhenov’s shadow, receiving his first personal royal commission to design a temporary Prechistenka palace for Catherine II.

These were very simple classicist structures consisting of a symmetrical rectangular core with portico and very modest exterior decoration.

The descriptor of "Gothic" is not exactly appropriate here, since Kazakov borrows heavily from Naryshkin Baroque and earlier Russian themes like the oversized bottle-shaped pillars by the main entrance.

[7] The building remained a royal hotel until 1918, but also housed a variety of non-royal residents; Lermontov used to stay in the castle at his friends' apartment.

City Hall plans to convert it either to a unique luxury hotel or another President's lodge, which may destroy whatever is left by the military.

Preservation advocate Alexei Komech reported from the site, "crushed walls, ripped air ducts and piles of 200 year old bricks remind me of wandering around ruins of Berlin in 1946".

Assembly of the Nobility (Благородное собрание, later dubbed "House of Unions", Дом Союзов) was built as a clubhouse between 1784 and 1790.

Despite numerous exterior alterations (the last from 1903–1908), the Pillar Hall (Колонный зал, 1784–1787) inside is very close to Kazakov's original.

In the Soviet era, it housed party congresses and Vladimir Lenin's and Joseph Stalin's funeral services.

In the process of construction, Kazakov was indicted for fraud; he was spared from criminal persecution but lost his license,[11] which barred him from state-funded projects.

[13] Kazakov's most successful students and assistants were Joseph Bové, Ivan Yegotov (1756–1814), Fedor Sokolov (1752–1824), and Alexei Bakarev (1762–1817).