Karl Gippius was a Moscow architect who worked in the styles of Eclecticism and Art Nouveau. Born in St. Petersburg into the family of a chemistry professor. From 1882 to 1889, he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, graduating with a silver medal and the title of artist-architect. He began his career in the workshop of Roman Klein. From the mid-1890s, he collaborated with the Moscow merchant families of the Bakhrushins and the Perlovs. He designed the façade and interiors of the Perlov Tea House on Myasnitskaya Street, as well as the mansion of A.A. Bakhrushin, apartment buildings, and charitable institutions. Between 1896 and 1917, he served as a district architect for the Moscow City Administration. From the late 1890s onward, he turned to the Franco-Belgian Art Nouveau style. Gippius was also known as an aquarist and photographer. He was involved with the Moscow Zoo and, after the Revolution, became its staff architect. In 1925-1927, he designed the main structures of the zoo’s new territory, including the “Island of Animals”, the “Polar World”, and the Monkey House. In the late 1920s, he built the dacha settlement “Solomennaya Storozhka”, where he later lived. Drawings and sketches by Karl Gippius are held in the collection of the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum.