Nikita was born on August 4, 1954 in Leningrad in the family of I. G. Yaveyn, a constructivist architect. In 1977 graduated from the faculty of architecture of Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineering, from 1977 to 1992 worked in the governmental design institutes. In 1992 founded a personal art studio.
From 1994 to 2003: the chairman of the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Monuments of Saint Petersburg. Since 2003: the head of the Studio 44 architectural bureau.
Professor of St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. The author (with co-authors) of more than 100 projects, of which the third part was implemented. Major buildings: Ladozhsky Rail Terminal (2003); business centers: Atrium on Nevsky, 25 (1997), Nevsky 38 (2004), Linkor (2009); Sberbank on 5, Furshtatskaya Street (1998); New Peterhof hotel (2010); Schoolchildren Art Center in Astana, Kazakhstan (2011); Boris Eifman Dance Academy (2012); Olympic Park rail terminal in Sochi (2013); museum complex of the State Hermitage Museum in the Central Staff building (2014); Kazakh National Academy of Choreography in Astana (2016), country campus of the Graduate School of Management of SPbSU in Peterhof (2017), Russian Railways Museum (2017), etc.