Claim: Vladimir Shchuko and his junior partner Gelfreikh reconstructed the square in front of the Smolny Institute between 1923 and 1924.
Evidence: Their first extant practical work, the reconstruction of the square in front of the Smolny Institute, was executed in 1923–1924. Vladimir Gelfreikh, Shchuko's junior partner in the Soviet period, graduated from the same Academy class of Leon Benois in 1914.