His private archives were lost in World War II; all recorded information relies on two statements made by the architect himself: In 1915, when the School celebrated its 50th birthday, Ladovsky became a speaker for a group of students demanding change in their training program.

The group, in particular, voiced aversion to the decadent Art Nouveau (already obsolete), and the need to invite the best architects of the new movement - that is, Neoclassical Revival, - like Ivan Zholtovsky and Alexey Shchusev.

Despite future rivalry for the VKhUTEMAS chair, Ladovsky retained deep respect for Zholtovsky - for his practical achievements as well as his teaching style.

To survive, Zholtovsky and his graduates accepted the Bolshevik's invitation to head the architectural department of Mossovet, engaged mostly in street repairs and temporary propaganda decorations.

[7] In 1920 these public statements and a series of Zhivskulparch shows suddenly established an unknown Ladovsky as the leader of a new school, clearly opposed to Zholtovsky's neoclassicism and the emerging constructivist architecture.

In December 1920[8] Ladovsky became a regular speaker at the Institute of Artistic Culture (Inkhuk); here in the course of a five-month convention of architects he forged the doctrine of "rationalism," an approach emphasizing human perception of space and shape, and placing art of architecture above bare engineering.

Heads of two other departments, Alexey Shchusev and Ivan Rylsky, and MVTU professors Leonid Vesnin and Fyodor Schechtel[9] also came under fire.

Ladovsky and his associates, Vladimir Krinsky and Nikolay Dokuchaev, were granted full freedom to set their own training program for the season of 1921–1922.

Their first public success came with winning the 1924 contest for the International Red Stadium in Sparrow Hills, Moscow (lead designer: Vladimir Krinsky).

[14] In 1925 Ladovsky teamed with El Lissitzky to design new housing for Ivanovo; their plans were based on arranging residential blocks at 120° in zigzag or star patterns.

In fact, it became a showcase of constructivism (Vesnin brothers) and symbolic romanticism (Ilya Golosov); constructivists quickly took the lead while Ladovsky dedicated all his time to teaching.

As a result, fresh graduates (Arkady Mordvinov) and old masters (Alexey Shchusev) easily integrated themselves into constructivist movement, and by 1926-1928 its domination was absolute.

[16] The 1932 crackdown on avant-garde artists that preceded the rise of Stalinist architecture did not mean that Ladovsky or Constructivist leaders became instantly unemployed.

The part beyond Garden Ring, with a single lean tower and a half-circle of offices facing the canal, is surprisingly similar to what was actually built there in 1990s-2000s (Swissotel Krasnye Holmy and adjacent business park).

Metro stations, completed in 1935, and a presentation of Zamoskvorechye plan in July 1935 issue of Architecture of Moscow (Russian: Архитектура Москвы) became his last public statements.