Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow
The era of post-war restoration of Moscow is characterized by incredible architectural solutions and grandiose construction projects.
Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow have become a symbol of this construction. Stalin's idea of the superiority of the Soviet Union over all capitalist countries was imprinted in the architectural style of that time.
All Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow were built in ten years (1947-1957). In total, seven Stalin skyscrapers were built in Moscow.
| № | Name | Address | Construction period | Architects | Height |
| 1 | Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya Square | Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, 32/34, Smolenskaya metro station | 1948-1953 | V.G. Gelfreikh, M.A. Minkus | 27 floors, 172 m |
| 2 | Hotel Leningradskaya | Kalanchevskaya street, 21/40, Komsomolskaya metro station | 1949-1954 | L.M. Polyakov, A.B. Boretsky | 17 floors, 136 m |
| 3 | House on Barrikadnaya | Kudrinskaya Square, 1, metro station Barrikadnaya | 1948-1954 | M.V. Posokhin, A.A. Mndoyants | 24 floors, 156 m |
| 4 | Kutuzovsky prospect, 2/1 building 1, Kyiv metro station | 1953-1957 | A.G. Mordvinov, V.K. Oltarzhevsky | 34 floors, 206 m | |
| 5 | Sadovaya-Spasskaya street, 21, metro station Red Gate | 1947-1952 | A.N. Dushkin, B.S. Mezentsev | 24 floors, 138 m | |
| 6 | Kotelnicheskaya embankment, 1/15, Taganskaya metro station | 1948-1952 | D.N. Chechulin, A.K. Rostkovsky | 26 floors, 176 m | |
| 7 | Vorobyovy Gory, 1, m. Universitet | 1949-1953 | B.M. Iofan, L.V. Rudnev, S.E. Chernyshev, others | 32 floors, 240 m |
Built in 1953 Consists of 27 floors. The skyscraper was erected and supervised by the Ministry of Industry of Heavy Industry Enterprises. In 1958, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved into the high-rise building, which is located on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square to this day. Associated with this high-rise interesting story: at the stage of completion of construction, passing by a high-rise building, Stalin was furious because the building looked like an American skyscraper. Stalin himself personally ordered to put a spire on the roof of the high-rise building, which is why the architects had to rack their brains for more than one day how to translate his order into reality. But a solution was found: 5 floors were punched down in the building and a support for the spire was installed. The spire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not made of stone, but of tin, otherwise the structure of the building would not have sustained its weight. There is also no five-pointed star on the spire.
Address: Moscow, Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, 32 (metro station Smolenskaya, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line).
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is located on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square in the Stalinist skyscraper, which was being built during 1948-1953.
The Stalinist building houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and the Ministry of Trade of the Russian Federation on 27 floors. The height of the building is 172 meters, the total area of the interior is 65,000 square meters. m.
The skyscraper is equipped with 28 elevators, 18 of which are high-speed. In the construction plan, there was no spire of the building, since, according to the calculations of specialists, the building could not withstand the load. It was decided to install a decorative spire made of steel sheets.
It is worth noting that the process of building a skyscraper was not ordinary. The building began to be built from top to bottom, initially building a frame for the entire length.
The skyscraper owes its tower style to Stalin, who rejected the initial sketches of the buildings and insisted on the tower style, which later became legendary.
At a height of 114 meters, the coat of arms of the USSR was erected on the Foreign Ministry building, which is located there in our time.
Architects note how successful the place for construction was chosen, as well as the integrity and majesty of the composition of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hotel "Leningradskaya" on Kalanchevskaya street.
Built in 1952
The height of the hotel is 136 meters, it is the lowest of the "seven sisters". The hotel today is called the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya. It has the status of a 5* hotel. This is the first Hilton hotel in Russia. A feature of the skyscraper is the unique design and interior decoration, which reflects Russian church architecture. During the construction, Russian baroque, gilding, quartzite and rare woods were used.
Address: Moscow, st. Kalanchevskaya, d. 21/40 (m. Komsomolskaya, m. Krasnye Vorota).
Hotel Leningradskaya
The Leningradskaya Hotel today has a different name: Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya / Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya.
It is the first Hilton hotel in Russian Federation. The Leningradskaya Hilton Hotel is one of the most prestigious hotels in Moscow, it has been awarded the 5* category. The hotel acquired its current status as a result of serious transformations, starting with a detailed reconstruction and ending with the improvement of service.
However, for native Muscovites, a modern hotel is still the same Leningrad hotel, only in a new format.
In terms of architecture, the Leningradskaya Hotel is an example of Stalinist classicism, a style that once gained such popularity. The appearance of modern Moscow, in fact, was shaped by the buildings of this style, which were especially actively erected in the USSR after the war.
If the pre-war buildings were usually 5 stories high and built of brick, then at the end of the 40s the very view of urban planning changed. The architects sought to create a common "canvas" where all the elements would be complementary.
As a result, new buildings become tall and take on other silhouette designs.
It is clear that high-rise buildings were intended to embody the power and inflexibility of the Soviet regime, they in some way symbolized the victory over fascism and the great prospects of the USSR.
It was very important to emphasize that the Soviet state in terms of the strength of architectural thought is in no way inferior to European countries and USA.
Why did new buildings, including the Leningrad Hotel, get the nickname “Stalinka” among the people?
The fact is that it was V.I. Stalin contributed to the fact that high-rise construction began in Moscow. In one of his speeches, he spoke about the fact that the winning country should be ready for the influx of foreign tourists, who will certainly begin to compare what they see with what they have in their hometowns.
Comparisons with Western capitals may not be in favor of Moscow if there are no amazing skyscrapers in the "city on seven hills".
High-rise buildings were supposed to bring the spirit of modernity to the city, and besides this, they also became the compositional centers of new architectural groups. The architectural ensembles of the vast squares of the capital had to line up around grandiose buildings that would be dominant.
In 1947 I.V. Stalin signed an important resolution of the Council of Ministers, connected specifically with the construction of multi-storey buildings. This happened at a time when the state was still in a state of ruin and poverty. However, the development of projects for the construction of skyscrapers, and not the rehabilitation of the national economy, was put at the forefront.
In September of the same year, the foundation was laid for eight multi-storey buildings. So September 12, the day of the 800th anniversary of the Russian capital, became the day the implementation of the grandiose architectural project began.
On this solemn day, numerous rallies were held in Moscow, and a stone slab appeared at the construction site, which was supposed to preserve the memory of this day for posterity.
As a result of work on a new task, seven multi-storey buildings were rebuilt in Moscow: the Foreign Ministry building located on Smolenskaya Square, the head building of Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills, the buildings of the Ukraine and Leningradskaya hotels, as well as two residential buildings (on Kudrinskaya Square and on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment) and administrative and residential building located on Red Gate Square. The skyscrapers were named "Seven Sisters".
The project also included the construction of a multi-storey building in Zaryadye, but due to some circumstances, the project never materialized.
An interesting fact is that at the time of laying the buildings, there were no actual projects yet, so construction began only two years later. The Leningradskaya Hotel and its "sisters" were built in parallel with the design, sometimes adjustments to the project were made directly on the construction site.
For example, the spire that crowned the structure of the Leningradskaya and skyscrapers was the result of the intervention of Stalin, who considered it a good solution to create spiers with five-pointed stars on the roofs of skyscrapers. Initially, finials with a sharp end were not supposed, each of the buildings, according to the project, had a special apex: they planned to decorate the building of Moscow State University with a sculpture, and one of the residential buildings with an octahedron in the shape of a cylinder.
It is clear that such a large-scale construction project required significant financial investments. In general, the implementation of the project was carried out under the heading "secret".
The capital's skyscrapers were presented in the media as entirely civilian buildings, but in fact, some underground premises were intended for other purposes. Therefore, journalists were allowed access to information on construction in strict accordance with the regulations. The department monitored and controlled the lighting of the construction of high-rise buildings. It is noteworthy that the project was supervised by Lavrenty Beria himself.
As a result of such tight control, every person interested in the construction of the Hilton Leningradskaya will not be able to obtain extensive photographic material illustrating the work of building a hotel designed to impress foreign tourists.
The actual decision to build a multi-storey hotel on Kalanchevskaya Street dates back to September 25, 1947. For two years, architects L.M. Polyakov and A.V. Boretsky. The authorship of the design of the Leningradskaya Hotel belongs to E.V. Myatlyukov, who worked in a team with engineers A.N. Stroganov and A.I. Vasiliev.
The site for the construction of a high-rise hotel was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Military and Naval Enterprises of the USSR.
With the transfer of the site, the Ministry was also entrusted with the construction of the building, for which the design assignment was transferred. It was ordered to create a hotel with an original silhouette. In addition, a prerequisite was the link with the already formed "face" of the city, as well as the building of the Palace of Soviets, which was under construction. The uniqueness of the hotel building, its incomparability with high-rise buildings abroad, seemed very important to the project management.
The requirements for the rooms were also spelled out in the construction assignment, their detailed description was attached. According to the plan, the Leningradskaya Hotel was supposed to accommodate 350 rooms, which would be divided into different classes depending on comfort.
The allocated area was small: only 0.54 hectares. Therefore, the project developers built the work taking into account the spatial framework, as a result, the volume of the building was set in a compact, tower format.
The Leningradskaya Hotel was built in difficult conditions: Moscow is a difficult city for high-rise construction. A serious problem that the builders had to face was the peculiarity of the soil: the soil on the site was too saturated with water. The soil in the Kalanchevka area was saturated with quicksand for the reason that the rivers Rybinka and Chechera flowed underground here. Water-saturated soils had to be dealt with by different methods. When the Leningradskaya Hotel was being built, a unique method of vibro-stuffing was used. The pile foundation for the first time in Moscow was carried out in this way precisely in the work on the project of the multi-storey hotel Leningradskaya. Metal pipes were hammered into the ground, equipped with a special cast-iron tip. The pipe was hammered into the ground until it reached the bearing soil, and then a frame made of metal was inserted into it. Concrete was poured into a wide pipe, and the resulting reinforced concrete pile was freed from the pipe: the pile driver pulled it back from the ground with powerful jerks. This is how the piles were formed, which hardened only after a few days and became strong.
A steel frame was also used in the construction of the building of the Leningradskaya Hotel, and reinforced concrete slabs were used for the storey ceiling. In order for the walls of the building to be light, perforated bricks were used. The building was lined with natural stone slabs. The composition of the facade is three-part. The design as a whole corresponds to the general tower composition of the building.
The lower part of six floors serves as the basis for a four-sided tower with a height of 13 floors. The building of the Hilton Leningradskaya Hotel is completed by a three-story cube, on which there is an octagonal tower, gradually turning into a spire 24 meters high with five pointed star and ears. Such a vertical division into parts visually makes the building even taller.
The specific composition of the Hilton Leningradskaya Moscow hotel has a prototype – Kazansky railway station. At the very least, the volume and composition of its façades are largely in line with the decision of the hotel. Undoubtedly, the hotel building is a unique work of architectural art, but the project did not originate from scratch and is largely similar to the towers of the Moscow Kremlin, the Menshikov Tower and some other tower-type buildings of the pre-revolutionary capital.
Details of the facades of the Leningradskaya Hotel were drawn by the artist M.A. Engelke and architect A.G. Rochegov. When finishing the facades, they used various colors ceramic blocks textured like natural stone. Some decorative elements were made from blocks of natural stone: pilasters, sandriks, cornices. The main part of the building at the top is lined with ceramic tiles. The sides of the spire are painted in green color, and the composition crowning it resembles the awards of the Second World War.
The Leningradskaya Hotel is distinguished by the richness of its architectural and artistic performance. The portal of the central entrance is decorated with fancy pediments, cornices, pinnacles. Experts note their similarity with the style of the Naryshkin baroque. The decorative elements undoubtedly resemble the Gothic, to some extent, decoration of Tsaritsyno. The inner vault is painted in gold and red tones, which are typical of the Soviet era as a whole. At the same time, golden patterns also refer to the aesthetics of the Kremlin chambers.
Two staircases to the floors are decorated with marble and wood of different tones. The symmetrical staircases are illuminated by the famous chandelier, which is the longest tiered chandelier in the world. The windows of the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya are decorated with stained-glass windows and a relief depicting George the Victorious. In general, the interior of the hotel was made in a style that refers to the decoration of Russian churches. Such a solution in the spirit Ancient Russia was the result of post-war fashion. The stylization of the Moscow baroque is also characteristic of the interior of the hotel. The decorators tried to bring more grandiosity to the interior, for which the chandelier in the front hall, which illuminates seven floors, worked perfectly.
The developers tried to put the eclectic style at the service of their own interests: after all, the building was supposed to become a symbol of the era and the power of the Soviet state. It is interesting that later the functionaries negatively assessed the "excessive decoration" of the hotel, which entailed additional expenses. In particular, the use of oak and walnut panels, ceiling moldings, gilded gates, bronze chandeliers, as well as the use of bronzing in some rooms of the hotel were classified as excesses.
According to the plan, the construction of the hotel was supposed to be completed in 1953, but it continued for another two years in excess of the planned one, which caused the deprivation of the architects leading the project of the laureate titles received for the sketches of the hotel complex. The case could have ended for Polyakov and Boretsky with even greater hardships, but it was not brought to trial.
As a result of painstaking work on the hotel building in Moscow, an original architectural monument appeared. Today, the Leningradskaya Hilton Hotel has received the status of an architectural monument on a global scale. Some decor elements are listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Restoration work carried out in the 2000s was aimed at preserving the interesting interiors of the 1950s era.
Even when the Leningradskaya Hotel became part of the Hilton chain, the modernization did not affect the most characteristic elements of decoration. The website of Leningradskaya is filled with photographs of the facades and interiors of the hotel, and every visitor of the resource can pay attention to the fact that the aesthetics of the Stalinist era are generally preserved. The building of the first Hilton Hotel in Russia has not lost its significance even against the backdrop of modern new buildings.
Residential building on Kudrinskaya Square (formerly Uprising Square).
Residential building on Kudrinskaya Square (Vosstaniya Square)
Built in 1954 Consists of 24 floors. The skyscraper was built by the Ministry of Aviation Industry. The facade of the building overlooks the Garden Ring. In total, there are more than 450 apartments in the building, which are still in Soviet time received workers of the aviation industry, test pilots and the nomenclature of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Address: Moscow, Kudrinskaya Square, 1 (metro station Barrikadnaya).
House on Barrikadnaya
The first version of the project was made under the guidance of architects Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky and Ivan Kuznetsov. The project was a 17-storey residential tower with a residential building of different heights enveloping it
In the XIV century, this area, which was called Kudrino, was owned by Prince Serpukhov Vladimir Andreevich (Brave), who was a cousin of Dmitry Donskoy. Prince Serpukhovskoy received his nickname "The Brave".
Here, in Kudrino, there was the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God. There is no exact written evidence of her before 1660.
By 1713, permission was obtained to build a new brick church - a small quadrangle with semicircular attics and an octagonal drum under the dome. By 1819, a refectory with a bell tower was added to the church. In this form, the Intercession Church stood until its closure in 1931 and was demolished six years later.
In 1935, after the adoption of the well-known master plan reconstruction of Moscow - on the former Kudrinskaya Square, which by that time was called Vosstaniya Square, it was supposed to create a residential complex of terraced houses that were supposed to descend along Barrikadnaya Street. But this project was never realized.
Only in 1947, work began on clearing the block for the construction of one of the eight new high-rise buildings in the capital. The first version of the project was made under the guidance of architects Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky and Ivan Kuznetsov. The project was a 17-storey residential tower with a residential building of different heights enveloping it. The first floors of the residential complex were supposed to be occupied by a grocery store, a cinema and household services.
But soon this site was transferred to the main workshop No. 9 of the Mosproekt Institute under the leadership of two architects - Ashot Mdoyants and Mikhail Posokhin. They radically change the project, placing the building on a large pedestal, which is not visible from the Vosstaniya Square, but gradually opens up along the traffic along Vosstaniya Street. In it they place technical premises, warehouses of commercial premises, garages and the Flame cinema.
The building itself, as conceived by the architects, is, as it were, divided into three parts - a high residential tower with a height of 24 floors (156 meters) and two symmetrical side buildings that have a variable number of floors. The main building is crowned with a 30-meter spire with a five-pointed star.
Construction as a general contractor was carried out by the trust of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR. Construction and installation work began in the spring of 1949. At the last stages of construction, in connection with the formation of Glavmosstroy, the construction of the building was taken over by the latter and was completed in 1954.
The facades of the residential complex are finished with high-quality ceramic tiles from the Lobnensky and Kharkov factories, and the side buildings and the entrance to the central entrance are decorated with sculptures symbolizing various achievements of the Soviet people. All sculptures are made of concrete blocks according to sketches by artists Nikolay Nikoghosyan and Mikhail Baburin.
The entire residential complex has three large front entrances (one in the central tower and two in the side buildings), as well as a large number of small entrances located in the side buildings. Each entrance is equipped with one or three elevators, depending on the number of storeys of the building. There are four to eight apartments on each floor. All vestibules in the entrances are richly decorated with bronze chandeliers, Venetian plaster, mirrors in wooden frames. Lobbies are special in that they can be locked, isolating the floor from the stairs and the area in front of the elevator. It was planned and made right away. Such a decision will be made massively only from the 1970s in new series of residential buildings in Moscow.
In total, the house initially had 450 apartments. Most of them are two- and three-room apartments with a total area of 50 to 100 square meters. The area of the kitchens is only 9 square meters. All apartments were fully finished and painted walls. The kitchens were equipped with built-in furniture. Because the first contractor was the trust of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR, then most of the apartments were received by well-known test pilots, leading design engineers, academicians, Heroes of Labor and laureates of various state awards.
The upper floors of the building were technical rooms for a long time, and in the 1980s and 1990s there was an opinion that there were “wireapple devices” of the complex of US embassy buildings located on the then Chaikovsky and Konyushkovskaya streets.
It was this house that became the place of temporary residence and the dream of the heroines of the film “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” and, despite the fact that the building is almost 60 years old, the residential “House of Aviators” or “High-rise on Barrikadnaya” remains a bright recognizable symbol of Moscow and prestigious housing of the capital .
2. Hotel "Ukraine" on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.
Consists of 34 floors. On May 25, 1957, the grand opening of the hotel "Ukraine" took place. In 2005, the facade of the building, declared a monument of history and culture, was completely restored. Since April 2010, a new modern hotel has been opened in the renovated building of the Ukraine Hotel - Radisson Royal Hotel - combining the unique spirit of the architectural ensemble of the Stalin era, best traditions service and high-tech innovations in the sphere of comfort.
Address: Moscow, Kutuzovsky prospect, 2/1 (metro Kyiv, Filevskaya line).
Hotel "Ukraine" - "Radisson Royal Hotel"
In the late 1940s, the construction of high-rise buildings began in Moscow.
According to the plan of the city planners, these majestic towers were supposed to recreate the silhouette image of Moscow, which was violated during the reconstruction. historical center capital Cities. High-rise buildings, as Muscovites immediately called them, were built according to a single plan and embodied all the eclectic splendor of the “Stalinist Empire”.
A place of honor among these buildings, which very soon became an integral part of the architectural appearance of the capital, is occupied by the hotel "Ukraine". The hotel building is located on the Dorogomilovskaya bend of the Moskva River, on open area, where two major metropolitan highways intersect - Novy Arbat and Kutuzovsky Prospekt. The 29-storey hotel with a high spire and corner towers is clearly visible from different parts of the city, and at night, with illumination, it is a unique beauty spectacle. The main facade of the hotel faces the Moscow River and the city center. A picturesque green square, where a monument to Taras Shevchenko was erected in 1974, descends from the facade to the granite embankment of the river and stairs that lead to the water itself.
The construction of the hotel "Ukraine" began in 1953, according to the project of architects A. Mordvinov and V. Kalish, engineer P. Krasilnikov. A project of this magnitude required the application of all technical achievements and the latest techniques that would ensure not only the strength and safety of the building, but also the coordinated work of a giant hotel complex.
The high-rise part of the building consisted of 26 residential floors and 3 technical ones and ended with a spire with Soviet symbols - a sickle and a hammer. On both sides, the high-rise part was adjoined by corner towers 9 floors high, designed for apartments. On the first floor of the hotel there were mainly public premises - lobbies, a restaurant, a banquet hall, a living room, a library, a cafe. Two open front staircases, located on both sides of the central lobby, led to the second floor, where the landing went into an elevator hall and then into a winter garden with a fountain. The facade of the building was decorated with stucco and other decorative elements, which also used Soviet symbols - obelisks, attics of five-pointed stars, vases in the form of sheaves of wheat.
The main entrance of the hotel was finished with marble, and the central vestibule was decorated with a round picturesque ceiling "Holiday of Labor and Harvest in Hospitable Ukraine". The interiors of the hotel were also distinguished by splendor - type-setting parquet, bronze chandeliers, massive furniture. The subject of special pride of "Ukraine" was (and still is) a collection of paintings, which has over a thousand paintings. Most of these works were created in the 1950s specifically for the interiors of the Ukraine Hotel - several art workshops worked on the order.
Hotel "Ukraine" received its first guests in 1957 and was immediately recognized as the largest hotel not only in the USSR, but also in Europe.
Administrative and residential building near the Krasnye Vorota metro station.
Built in 1953 Consists of 24 floors.
The building was built on high point Garden Ring. The high-rise building was built by the Ministry of Railways. In parallel with the construction of the skyscraper, underground work was carried out related to the construction of the northern entrance of the Krasnye Vorota metro station. Due to the "double" construction and tight deadlines, it was necessary to build both up and down at the same time. A serious problem was complicated by the soil of the area: it was saturated with water and floating fish. In this regard, the builders suggested that for some time the multi-storey building would be located on the very edge of the pit, therefore, the soil would settle unevenly and the high-rise building would tilt. That is why it was decided to build a skyscraper at an angle. Indeed, upon completion of construction, the task fell into place. However, according to technical experts, it still has a slight slope (about 16 cm).
Address: Moscow, st. Sadovaya-Spasskaya, 21 / Kalanchevskaya, 1 (metro Red Gate).
The administrative and residential building on the Red Gate Square was built in 1952 at the highest point of the Garden Ring of Moscow. The Stalin skyscraper was designed by architects A. N. Dushkin and B. S. Mezentsev, but the construction technology belongs to engineer V. M. Abramov.
The landscape features required an unusual engineering solution, and the structure of the building was erected at an angle so that after the subsidence of the soil it would level out, and the 138-meter structure would be firmly located on the foundation. Despite the difficulties in recreating the construction plan, it took only 7 years for the building to receive its first visitors.
The building has several buildings, which differ in height. The central 24-storey building houses Transstroy Corporation, the other two are residential and have different heights: from 11 to 15 floors. The style of the high-rise building on the Red Gate Square is called "Stalin's Empire".
In the right building of the building on the first floor there is a lobby of the Krasnye Vorota metro station, supermarkets and a jewelry store. On the left side of the complex is a kindergarten.
There are 24 entrances for 270 apartments in residential buildings. The buildings of the high-rise building on Red Gate Square are interconnected only by a basement. After produced in 2000 cosmetic repairs facade of the Stalinist skyscraper, the building has been transformed and looks quite remarkable. In memory of the poet M. Yu. Lermontov, who was born in 1814 and lived in this place, you can see a memorial plaque on the facade of the building, and his monument in the square.
During the construction of the base of a high-rise building on Lermontovskaya Square, a technique was used that had no analogues in terms of technical courage and engineering art. The fact is that the house with a height of 138 meters was built simultaneously with the Krasnye Vorota metro station.
The designers faced a difficult problem: for some time, the multi-storey building will be located on the very edge of the excavation, therefore, the soil will settle unevenly and the high-rise building will tilt. Therefore, it was decided to specifically build with a slope. Before that, the soil along the perimeter of the pit was artificially frozen according to the metro construction technology. When it then melted, the building sank and assumed a strictly vertical position. This method has never been used anywhere else due to the complexity of the calculations.
Built in 1952 Consists of 32 floors. The construction was carried out by the Ministry of the Interior in secrecy.
That is why the skyscraper was completely built by the hands of prisoners and prisoners. In total, the building contains 700 apartments, shops, a post office, an Illusion cinema, a museum-apartment of G.S. Ulanova, where the ballerina moved in 1986.
The most famous residents of the house on Kotelnicheskaya embankment were the writer K.G. Paustovsky, actress F. Ranevskaya, Soviet architect D.N. Chechulin, as well as singer L. Zykina.
Address: Moscow, Kotelnicheskaya embankment, 1 (m. Kitay-Gorod).
The residential building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment is one of the seven Stalinist High-rise Buildings (the height of the building is 176 m, the number of residential floors is 26) built in the period 1938-1940 and 1948-1952 according to the projects of architects: D.N. Chechulin, A.K. Rostkovsky and engineer L.M. Gokhman.
The house on Kotelnicheskaya embankment was founded on September 7, 1947, on the day of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow, at the mouth of the Yauza River, where the building built in 1938–1940 already existed. the "old", 9-storey residential building overlooking the Moscow River, designed by the same authors in 1938 and completed in 1940, which later became the right wing of the skyscraper. The left wing was built in 1948–1952.
The central part of the Vysotka on Kotelnicheskaya embankment reaches a height of 176 m and has 26 residential floors (32 floors including technical ones).
The building has 540 apartments, including 336 two-room, 173 three-room, 18 four-room and 13 one-room apartments. There are 700 apartments in the building.
In Vysotka there are shops, a post office, cafes, beauty salons, the Illusion cinema (the base cinema of Gosfilmofond, which overlooks Bolshoy Vatin Lane), the museum-apartment of Galina Ulanova
Above the arches of the skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya embankment is the figure 1952 - the year the building was completed.
But it's formal. Massive residents settled here at the beginning of 1953. For a very long time, the names of the new settlers of the status house were claimed. Stalin himself was listed as the chief architect of the skyscraper. Supervised the construction of Beria.
Even at the construction stage, a list was made. “Our people will live in our house,” said the “leader of the peoples.” But to completely populate the house with “ours” was risky. Due to eternal intrigues, the skyscraper could suffer the fate of the infamous House on the Embankment, where many residents were repressed in the late thirties. For the heterogeneity of the composition, one wing was given to the military, the other to people of art.
The apartments were rented "turnkey" - with snow-white furniture in the kitchen, bronze lamps, imported plumbing. The rent, albeit as low as possible, was still rather big. Therefore, only the rich and famous drove into the house.
Apartments in the house on Kotelnicheskaya were the object of dreams of the Soviet elite, their luxury was amazing, and the house itself seemed an inaccessible stronghold of “luxury” life. Crystal chandeliers or bronze lamps, ceiling stucco, expensive parquet, "Stalinist" tiles - all this was an integral part of the high-rise apartments on Kotelnicheskaya.
The main building of Moscow State University. Lomonosov
. The main building of Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills.
Main building of Moscow State University
Built in 1953 Consists of 36 floors. All the forces of the country were thrown into the construction of the Main Building of Moscow State University, each ministry was given the task of supplying equipment, parts, labor, etc. According to the plan, the building was supposed to house a hotel for foreign tourists, but in fact it turned out to be a university. Initially, it was planned to put a statue of Lomonosov at the top of the skyscraper, but then he was returned “to the ground”, and a spire was erected on the roof. The building accepted the first students in 1953. The main building of Moscow State University almost completely embodied the architects' idea according to the original skyscraper projects.
Address: Moscow, Leninskiye Gory, 1 (m. University).
The main building of Moscow State University. Lomonosov
This "Stalin skyscraper" is perhaps the most famous of all. The building of the Moscow State University. Lomonosov, located on Sparrow Hills.
It is a monumental building that hides secrets and legends, like any historical building.
In 1948, employees of the department of the Central Committee of the Party, which oversaw science, received a task from the Kremlin: to work out the issue of building a new building for Moscow State University. They prepared a memorandum together with the Rector of the University - Academician A.N. Nesmeyanov, proposing to build a skyscraper for the "temple of Soviet science".
Papers migrated from the Central Committee to the Moscow authorities. Soon Nesmeyanov and a representative of the “scientific” department of the Central Committee were invited to the city committee of the party: “Your idea is unrealistic. Too many elevators for a high-rise building. Therefore, the building should not be higher than 4 floors.
A few days later, Stalin held a special meeting on the "university issue", and the Generalissimo announced his decision: to erect a building for Moscow State University with a height of at least 20 floors on top of the Lenin Hills - so that it could be seen from afar.
“... And to provide each student with a separate room in the hostel! - added the great leader and clarified with Nesmeyanov: - How many students are you supposed to have? Six thousand? So there must be six thousand rooms!” Here Molotov intervened in the conversation: “Comrade Stalin, students are sociable people. They will be bored living alone. Let at least two settle down! - “Okay, we leave three thousand rooms!”
The design of the new university building was prepared by the famous Soviet architect Boris Iofan, who designed the skyscraper of the Palace of Soviets. However, a few days before the approval "at the top" of all the drawings of the architect, this work was removed. The creation of the most grandiose of the Stalinist skyscrapers was entrusted to a group of architects headed by L.V. Rudnev.
Iofan's intransigence is considered the reason for such an unexpected replacement. He was going to build the main building right over the cliff of the Lenin Hills. This exactly corresponded to the wishes of the "father of nations".
But by the fall of 1948, specialist scientists managed to convince the Secretary General that such an arrangement of a huge structure is fraught with disaster: the area is dangerous from the point of view of landslides, and the new University will simply slide into the river! Stalin agreed with the need to move the main building of Moscow State University away from the edge of the Lenin Hills, but Iofan did not like this option at all. Object to "the best friend and teacher of Soviet architects"? - Resign now!
Lev Rudnev moved the building 800 meters deep into the territory, and created an observation deck at the place chosen by Iofan.
In the original draft version, it was supposed to crown the skyscraper with a sculpture of impressive size. The character on the sheets of drawing paper was depicted as an abstract figure - a figure of a man with his head raised to the sky and his arms spread wide to the sides.
Apparently, such a pose should symbolize the craving for knowledge. Although the architects, showing the drawings to Stalin, hinted that the sculpture could get a portrait resemblance to the leader. However, Iosif Vissarionovich ordered to build a spire instead of the statue, so that the upper part of the Moscow State University building would look like the other six skyscrapers being built in the capital.
For high-rise buildings, steel and reinforced concrete frames were used. The steel frame, compared to reinforced concrete, was more industrial, but its use entailed a large consumption of steel. When designing eight high-rise buildings in Moscow, the designers developed a third, intermediate in terms of efficiency and industrialism, a solution - a steel frame reinforced with concrete, the so-called reinforced concrete frame with rigid reinforcement.
The frame system made it possible to reduce the role of the outer walls to only a shell that isolates inner space buildings from external temperature fluctuations. All loads of the building were now transferred to the frame, which is a system of beams and columns that took the weight of the building and transferred it to the foundation.
The Soviet methods of designing steel frames were based on the works of outstanding Russian engineers N.A. Belelyubsky, P.Ya. Proskuryakov, V.G. Shukhov and others, and later - E.O. Paton, B.G. S. Streletsky, who created their own school and rational constructive forms by the beginning of the 20th century. Electric welding, invented in Russia by engineers N.D. Slavyanov and N.I. Benardos in the 80s of the XIX century, became especially widespread after the October Revolution in various fields of industry, including construction.
The successful development of the welding business made it possible to confidently apply welding in the installation of steel structures: the frames of all high-rise buildings in Moscow were not only manufactured, but also completely assembled by welding. The welded structure, first used in the Soviet Union for high-rise construction, had a number of advantages over the construction with riveted field joints that existed in world practice - weight reduction, reduction in the labor intensity of manufacturing elements and reduction in the labor intensity of installation.
The simplest assembly interfaces of columns and frame crossbars were provided, and the columns were delivered to the construction site with interface elements already welded to them for fastening the crossbars and beams during installation. The ends of the column elements were milled at the factory; when joining such columns, temporary fastening in the form of braces was not required; the joining was carried out using bolts that were inserted into special “ribs” welded at the ends, which served as flanges.
The conditions for simplifying and facilitating installation required the maximum reduction of mounting elements. For example, during the construction of the frame of a building on Smolenskaya Square, with a total weight of structures of 5200 tons, the number of mounting elements was only 7900 units. The mounting weight of the columns ranged from 5.0t. up to 1.2 t, crossbars from 4.5 t. to 0.3 t.
The solemn ceremony of laying the first stone of the high-rise building of Moscow State University took place on April 12, 1949, exactly 12 years before Gagarin's flight.
Reports from a shock construction site on the Lenin Hills reported that 3,000 Komsomol-Stakhanovites were building a skyscraper. However, in reality, many more people worked here. Specially "under the university" at the end of 1948, the Ministry of Internal Affairs prepared an order for the parole of several thousand prisoners who had construction specialties from the camps. These lucky ones were to spend the rest of their term at the construction of Moscow State University.
In the GULAG system, there was "Construction-560", which was transformed in 1952 into the Directorate of the ITL of the Special District (the so-called "Stroylag"), whose contingent was engaged in the construction of a university skyscraper. The head of this "gulag island" was first Colonel Kharkhardin, and after him - Colonel Smirnov and Major Arkhangelsky. The construction was personally supervised by General Komarovsky, head of the Main Directorate of Industrial Construction Camps. The number of prisoners in Stroylag reached 14,290 people. Almost all of them were imprisoned under "everyday" articles, they were afraid to bring "political" ones to Moscow. A zone with watchtowers and barbed wire was built a few kilometers from the “object”, near the village of Ramenki, in the area of the current Michurinsky Prospekt.
When the construction of a high-rise building was coming to an end, it was decided "to bring the places of residence and work of prisoners as close as possible." The new camp site was equipped right on the 24th and 25th floors of the tower under construction. Such a decision allowed saving money on security as well: there is no need for either watchtowers or barbed wire - there is still nowhere to go!
As it turned out, the guards underestimated their sponsored contingent. A craftsman was found among the prisoners, who in the summer of 1952 built a kind of hang glider from plywood and wire and ... Further developments rumor interprets differently. According to one version, he managed to fly to the other side of the Moscow River and safely escaped. According to another, the guards shot him in the air. There is a variant with a happy ending to this story: supposedly the “flyer” was already seized on the ground by the Chekists, but when Stalin became aware of his act, he personally ordered the brave inventor to be released ... It is even possible that there were two winged fugitives. At least that's what a civilian builder of a skyscraper claimed, who himself saw two people gliding from the tower on makeshift wings. According to him, one of them was shot, and the second flew away towards Luzhniki.
Another unusual story is connected with the unique "high-altitude camp zone". This incident was even considered then an attempt to assassinate the leader of the peoples. One fine day, vigilant guards, checking the territory of Stalin's "near dacha" in Kuntsevo, suddenly found a rifle bullet on the path. Who was shooting? When? The uproar was serious. They carried out a ballistic examination and found out that the ill-fated bullet had arrived ... from the University under construction. In the course of further investigation, the picture of what happened became clear. At the next change of guard guarding the prisoners, one of the escorts, handing over his post, pulled the trigger of his rifle, in the barrel of which there was a live cartridge. A shot rang out. According to the law of meanness, the weapon turned out to be directed towards a government facility located in the distance, and the bullet nevertheless "reached out" to Stalin's dacha.
The main building of Moscow State University immediately broke many records. The height of the 36-storey skyscraper reaches 236 meters. It took 40 thousand tons of steel for the steel frame of the building. And the construction of walls and parapets took almost 175 million bricks. The spire so beloved by Stalin has a height of about 50 meters, and the star crowning it weighs 12 tons.
On one of the side towers there is a champion clock - the largest in Moscow. The dials are made of stainless steel and have a diameter of 9 meters. The clock hands are also very impressive. The minute hand, for example, is twice as long as the minute hand of the Kremlin chimes and is 4.1 meters long and weighs 39 kilograms.
A unique elevator facility was also created in the high-rise building. Specialists produced 111 elevators of a special design, including high-speed high-speed cabins.
It is very likely that the Main Building of the University holds the record for the number of columns as well. It is almost impossible to count their number. Some of the columns were placed solely for the sake of decoration, and do not carry any constructive load.
Few people know, but the territory of Moscow State University was supposed to be twice the size of the modern one. The site behind Lomonosovsky Prospekt, bounded by Vernadsky Prospekt and Michurinsky Prospekt, up to the modern Udaltsova Street, should be part of Moscow State University. The territory is huge! Already in the 21st century, Inteko built the library of Moscow State University on this territory on Lomonosovsky Prospekt opposite Moscow State University, and before that it built the Shuvalovsky residential complex on the corner of Michurinsky and Lomonosovsky.
The most curious detail in the history of the construction of Moscow skyscrapers is that over time from the moment they were laid to the end of the proposed number of storeys and the purpose of the buildings changed.
According to articles in the newspaper "Soviet Art" dated February 28, 1948, it was planned to build the largest building of 32 floors on the Lenin Hills in the center of the bend of the Moscow River and place a hotel and residential apartments in the building. There is no mention of any university here.
In the original plans for the building, it was planned to install a statue of Lomonosov instead of a spire, similar to the Palace of Soviets. The figure could be 35–40 meters high, but this would give the building the appearance of a giant pedestal for a small sculpture. Therefore, it was removed from above, reduced in size, changed its position and placed by the fountains, where today's students usually celebrate the end of the session. And the building, which received in return a spire 58 meters high, only won.
Such a grandiose construction could not help but acquire a lot of tales and myths. A.N. Feshenkov, a former graduate of Moscow State University and, as he himself writes, an inquisitive student, cites some of these tales in his article.
In the building of Moscow State University - 34 floors plus a spire and reliably - 3 basements down. 29th floor - Museum of Earth Science of Moscow State University, from there there is an elevator to the 32nd floor. 30th and 31st floors are technical. The round meeting room is on the 32nd floor. The 33rd floor is a gallery under the dome, and the last floor, 34, respectively, is again technical. There is an entrance to the spire. What's inside the spire?
One of the tales says that in Soviet times the premises there belonged to the KGB and were used for outdoor monitoring of the movements of high-ranking officials, which, it seems, could be seen from there Stalin's dacha.
Another tale is as follows: on one of the basement floors from -3rd to -16th (depending on the narrator's imagination), there is a 5-meter bronze statue of Stalin, which should have stood in front of the entrance to the Main Building (GZ). But in connection with the 53rd year, this statue was left in the basement of the still unfinished GZ, and so it lies immured there.
What is definitely a tale is that the GCs were built by convicts. This is fundamentally wrong. This is confirmed by witnesses. Would such a responsible construction of a strategic facility, personally supervised by L.P. Beria, be entrusted to convicts, traitors to the Motherland, who have never built anything more complicated than the White Sea Canal? The GZ was built exclusively by the labor of German prisoners of war. The story about a prisoner who flew off a spire on a piece of plywood in Ramenki and (or) fished out of the Moscow River by the NKVD came from an article published in Komsomolskaya Pravda in 1989.
Perhaps the most famous story about the construction of Moscow State University, which is passed from article to article. Its essence is as follows. When planning the construction of the Temple in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, there were several projects, one of them was to build a temple on Sparrow Hills. Construction has not started, as the ground here is very weak, which is not able to withstand a large building. But what the tsarist architects could not do, the Stalinist ones did. They dug a huge foundation, filled it with liquid nitrogen, then put refrigeration units in the place, which later became known as the 3rd basement. This zone has been given the status of a super-secret one, since in the event of a possible sabotage and the failure of the freezers, the GZ will float into the Moscow River in a week. I must say that this story has found a refutation in various sources. Firstly, because of the high cost and unreliability of the method of freezing the soil with liquid nitrogen. Secondly, to make the integrity of Moscow State University dependent on the supply of electricity? It is much easier and cheaper to freeze everything with pipes with a strong brine sub-zero temperature.
With the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the University connects something else besides the unrealized project on the Lenin Hills. The malachite columns removed during the destruction of the temple were lying around in the warehouse of the NKVD for many years, and then L.P. Beria presented them to his offspring. The columns adorn the rector's office. It is said that this is not the only detail of the temple inherited by the temple of science.
In one of the basements, littered with gas masks and dosimeters, in 1989 A.N. Feshenkov saw a map screwed to a wall under plexiglass - later this map was published in the AiF newspaper - and it depicted, among other things, two Metro-2 lines, underground car tunnels, including duplicating the Garden Ring. I remember the exit on Michurinsky Prospekt, the grandiose highway that exits near the Belorussky railway station and also the highway, which was built later by the State Building, all the way to the White House.
One of the secrets of the dungeons was declassified not so long ago - the subway line, the so-called Metro-2, from the Kremlin to Vnukovo Airport. The Metro-2 branch passes directly under the GZ, one of the entrances there is through the checkpoint of zone "B". This branch leads to an underground city in the Ramenok area.
Another legend - when the GZ was designed, it was designed as a spare television center if Shabolovka failed in the event of a war (there was no mention of the Ostankino tower then).
Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow.
History and legends of Stalin's skyscrapers
Stalin skyscrapers, in my opinion, are one of the most mysterious and attractive sights of Moscow, calling card capital, as well as a symbol of Soviet power.
The skyscrapers were built at the insistence of Stalin for the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow as part of the "renewal" (reconstruction) of the capital. The real reason lay in the fact that after the Second World War, Moscow looked more like a squat village than the capital of the victorious state. At this time, Russia simply needed to fix Russian power. The construction of skyscrapers has become a kind of response to American skyscrapers. However, not everything went smoothly: the backlog of the USSR from America in the development of technology played a role, the architects actually invented the “bicycle”, and most of the skyscrapers were built by the hands of convicts and prisoners of war.
All skyscrapers began to be built on the same day: on September 7, 1947, at 13:00, the first stone was laid. Initially, it was planned to build eight skyscrapers, but after Stalin's death, the largest skyscraper was the Palace of Soviets, the project of which formed the basis of all " seven sisters' was never completed. According to eyewitnesses of that time, Khrushchev was skeptical of Stalin (remember at least the exposure of the "cult of personality") and all his ideas, so he ridiculed the construction of skyscrapers and did not take it seriously. There is another version of what happened: they say that the architect Chechulin deliberately delayed the construction of the high-rise building so that it would not be completed and would not overshadow the beauty of the Kremlin's temples. Who knows what really happened, it's all history anyway.
According to the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of January 13, 1947 “On the construction of multi-storey buildings in Moscow”, the projected high-rise buildings in Moscow were not supposed to repeat the samples of foreign high-rise rear. But in fact, this could not be avoided, Stalin skyscrapers often compared to American ones.
According to experts, the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs most of all resembles American architecture, while all other skyscrapers are built according to the principle of Russian monasteries - multi-tiered and five-domed.
After the construction of skyscrapers, the distribution of apartments began, which was led by Lavrenty Beria himself. First of all, housing in high-rise buildings was received by employees of those ministries that oversaw the construction of high-rise buildings. The rest of the citizens could only silently envy. It was fantastic luck to get a separate apartment in Soviet times, and even in a new building, when the whole country lived in communal apartments. Many writers and artists personally wrote to Beria with a request to provide them with an apartment. But there wasn't enough room for everyone.
There are many legends about Stalin's skyscrapers, one of the most famous is that skyscrapers are pyramids, which were supposed to form a circle and accumulate energy at one point - the most powerful skyscraper in the world - the Palace of Soviets. But since this "Stalin's plan" was kept in big secret, high-rise architects had to hide the proportions of the pyramids between the decoration and external details of the buildings. According to astrologers, the start date for the construction of skyscrapers was also not chosen by chance, it was calculated in advance as the most successful one. By order of Stalin, it was forbidden to build other objects on the day the laying of skyscrapers began.
The world-famous ensemble of seven high-rise buildings of the capital is not only an architectural masterpiece, called "Stalin's Empire", but also one of the main symbols of the city. Portal "ZagraNitsa" will tell a few interesting facts about monumental buildings
All "sisters" were laid on the same day - September 7, 1947, when the 800th anniversary of Moscow was celebrated. True, initially they planned to build eight buildings. Worked on the creation of a grandiose creation best architects USSR.
The very eighth skyscraper, which was never destined to grow, is the administrative building in Zaryadye. Its construction was stopped due to the death of Stalin in 1953. And 10 years later, the Rossiya Hotel appeared in its place.
American skyscrapers of the 1910-1930s influenced the appearance of the capital's skyscrapers. However, Soviet architects were faced with the task of erecting high-rise buildings that differed from Western ones (since they were supposed to embody Stalin's idea of the superiority Soviet Union over all capitalist countries). The architects coped with the task with a bang, creating as a result an original architectural style, which they began to call "Stalin's Empire" or "Soviet monumental classicism."
Photo: kartinki24.ru 4 All seven Moscow high-rise buildings were built on the principle of a pyramid, or the so-called wedding cake, which helped to visually increase the height of the buildings.
According to the original design, the tallest building was supposed to rise to 32 floors. However, during construction, all skyscrapers became even higher. So, Moscow State University grew by 36 floors, and the Leningradskaya Hotel - by 26 (whereas in the project it was only 16 floors).
Photo: birdseyeview.ru 6 The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not only added 11 floors, but also received a spire that was missing in the original project. Interestingly, after Stalin's death, the high-rise architect Mikhail Minkus turned to Khrushchev to give the order to remove the spire, since it was not in the original project. However, there is a legend that Nikita Sergeevich refused the architect's request, deciding that the spire would serve as "a monument to Comrade Stalin's great stupidity."
And the building, within the walls of which the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov is located today, was originally supposed to become a hotel.
Fountains at the Moscow State University skyscraper are part of the building's air intake system. For this reason, there are practically no tall trees around - just a concrete slab lies under the square. You can read even more entertaining facts about this Stalinist skyscraper in the article.
Photo: shutterstock.com 9 The Leningradskaya Hotel is the lowest of the "seven sisters". But the small height relative to the "relatives" is fully compensated by its luxurious interior in the Moscow Baroque style.
Hotel "Ukraine" first had to grow in the area of the metro station "Dynamo". She is and residential building: apartments are located in the side buildings of the high-rise building, while a five-star hotel is located in the central part.
Photo: shutterstock.com 11 The residential building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, which today is perceived as a single building, was built in stages: by 1940, one wing appeared, which is an independent building; after the war, another one was built on the Podgorskaya embankment and combined with the first one, building a tower with a spire over them.
The high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment has a record among the "sisters": it has appeared in films more than others.
Photo: Sergey Ershov
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There are rumors that government bunkers were located under the Stalinist skyscrapers. In fact, there were only bomb shelters. One of them, located under the building on Kudrinskaya Square, has an area larger than the high-rise building itself.
The residential building on Kudrinskaya Square was not without reason nicknamed the “house of aviators”. At one time, in addition to actors and high-ranking officials, the apartments in it were occupied by masters of "heavenly" professions: aircraft designers, test pilots and astronauts.
The high-rise building on the Red Gate Square was erected at an angle, as part of it hung over the foundation pit, which was dug for the construction of the metro lobby. The ground had to be frozen to a depth of 27 meters to maintain the slope. At the end of the work, the soil thawed, allowing the skyscraper to take a vertical position.
Photo: panoramio.com 16 Imagine - the garbage chute in residential buildings was right in the kitchen! Many modern tenants wall up its door due to cleaning difficulties.
The Polish Palace of Culture and Science, as well as the building of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, were built in the image of the famous Stalinist skyscrapers. That's why locals sometimes referred to as "Soviet gifts".
The residential complex "Triumph Palace" in the Khoroshevsky district looks very much like the style in which the "seven sisters" were built. However, it has nothing to do with the Stalinist skyscrapers and was built already in 2005.
Photo: lux-estate.ru
Huge pompous buildings, legendary houses, made in a complex combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, the so-called Stalinist Empire style, built from 1947 to 1953, are known as the "seven sisters". Even today they proudly flaunt in the capital, reminiscent of a bygone era. And each of these buildings has its own fascinating history.
The post-war period demanded changes in everything. It was necessary to show the West that the country that defeated fascism has strength and resources. In honor of the victory and in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow, it was decided to build 8 high-rise buildings in Moscow. Interestingly, all the Stalinist skyscrapers were laid on the same day - September 7, 1947. On this day, the 800th anniversary of Moscow was celebrated. The best architects of that USSR worked on creating the appearance of these high-rise buildings. They were tasked with creating skyscrapers that are different from Western skyscrapers. And the architects still managed to create an original architectural style, later called the Stalinist Empire style or Soviet monumental classicism.
The first skyscraper in Moscow was to be the Palace of Soviets, a giant skyscraper 415 meters high, which was also planned to house a 100-meter statue of Lenin.
It was laid in 1931, blowing up the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for this purpose, but due to the outbreak of war, construction was stopped, the frame was dismantled. After the war, they did not finish building the grandiose building, they built a pool on this site, and today the newly rebuilt Temple flaunts here again.
In 1947, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the capital, at the direction of Stalin, eight huge skyscrapers were laid at the same time (but seven of them were built). All projects were personally approved by Stalin.
The building of Moscow State University on Vorobyovy Gory
On September 1, 1953, the 36-story skyscraper on Sparrow Hills accepted its first students. Being the tallest (240 meters) and beautiful building among the "sisters", until 1990 it remained the tallest in Europe. The architect of this project was Lev Rudnev. Due to the huge scale of construction, prisoners of the Gulag were attracted as workers, in order to reduce transport costs, some of them lived here for some time.
Hotel "Ukraine"
The second tallest (206 m) hotel building among the seven “sisters” was built after Stalin's death in 1957, under Khrushchev. The authors of the project are Arkady Mordvinov and Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky. By order of Khrushchev, the original name "Dorogomilovskaya" was changed and the new hotel "Ukraine" was named. In 2005 - 2010, the skyscraper underwent a major reconstruction, and now one of the largest luxury hotels in Europe, Radisson Royal, with 505 rooms, is located here. Soviet symbols - stars, sickles, hammers and wreaths framing them, which have long lost their former political pathos, have been preserved as a highlight of the decor.
Skyscraper without a star
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was erected in 1953, its height is 172 meters. The architects Gelfreich and Minkus were responsible for the construction of this 27-storey skyscraper. Initially, the building was designed and built without a spire; it was added at the direction of Stalin already at the last stage of construction. To reduce the additional load, a light, decorative spire was erected on the building, on which a coat of arms appeared instead of a heavy star.
The most "miniature" skyscraper, the hotel "Hilton Leningradskaya"
The Leningradskaya Hotel, built in 1952 according to the project of L.M. Polyakov and A.B. Boretsky, is the smallest, "miniature" among all the "sisters". Behind its elegant exterior décor lies a splendid luxurious interior, where elements of temple architecture coexist with Moscow Baroque. Subsequently, this architectural luxury of hers was severely criticized by N. Khrushchev, and the architects of the hotel were even deprived of Stalin awards. Since 2008, the 5-star Hilton Hotel has been located here.
House on Kotelnicheskaya embankment
A very beautiful place was chosen for this skyscraper - the confluence of the Moscow River and the Yauza. The building, built in 1952 (architects Chechulin and Rostkovsky), is designed in the Neo-Gothic style; obelisks and bas-reliefs were used as decorations for it. Many apartments in it were occupied by representatives of creative professions. Since the new building was attached to the house in which the Chekists lived, they supervised the construction. Prisoners were also involved in the work here.
House of Aviators
At the end of 1954, the family of Moscow skyscrapers was replenished with one more building on Kudrinskaya Square 156 meters high with a luxurious, sophisticated finish (architects Posokhin and Mndoyants). Its central building consisted of 24 floors, and the adjacent side ones - of 18. The people called it the House of Aviators, since mainly test pilots and other workers associated with aviation, as well as representatives of the nomenklatura, lived here. It was in this house that the scenes in the professor's apartment in the film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" were filmed.
House at the Red Gate
The high-rise at the Red Gate, designed by Alexei Dushkin, is the lowest of all the "sisters" (only 133 m). The central building with 24 floors was used as an administrative building, and apartments were located in the side buildings. During the construction of this building, in order not to block the exit from the metro, a unique engineering solution was used. The pit under its foundation was frozen, and the building was erected with some calculated deviation, later, when the house shrank, everything returned to normal.
The eighth skyscraper in Zaryadye
When Stalin died, all skyscraper work was stopped as Khrushchev crushed Stalin's idea of building "wedding cakes," as he called skyscrapers. Therefore, the project of the last and highest eighth skyscraper (275 m) designed by the architect D. Chechulinane was never implemented. Instead, Moscow began to build up "Khrushchev".
Continuing the theme of the history of Moscow, we have collected.
Moscow skyscrapers. "Seven sisters", "seven Stalin skyscrapers"
There are seven of them - high-rise buildings built in Moscow in the late 40s and early 50s of the twentieth century. They are popularly called "seven sisters", or "Stalin's skyscrapers".
Some experts believe that the buildings of the capitalist skyscrapers of American Manhattan should be considered the architectural prototype of the "proletarian skyscrapers".
One of the reasons for the construction of skyscrapers in Moscow was the confrontation between the two powers: the Soviet Union and the United States in the struggle for world domination. Therefore, the bourgeois name "skyscrapers" was replaced by the word "high-rise buildings", and stepped towers decorated with spiers were opposed to the flat planes of the American giants. The skyscrapers were supposed to symbolize the power of the Soviet people and personify the city of the future. In addition, the vertical dominants of the skyscrapers were supposed to highlight the main landscape points of Moscow.
The building of Moscow University on Sparrow Hills (one of the "seven sisters")
It all started in January 1947. Then, at the suggestion of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Dzhugashvili), the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the construction of multi-storey buildings in Moscow." The resolution outlined plans for the construction of eight high-rise buildings. All eight Moscow skyscrapers were laid on the same day, the 800th anniversary of the capital, September 7, 1947. The number of buildings was supposed to symbolize the 800th anniversary of Moscow. One skyscraper for a century of history.
But all the buildings laid down in 1947 began to be built only in 1949. All this time, the projects of eight high-rise buildings in Moscow were corrected and approved.
However, the construction of one of the buildings, which was carried out on the site of the demolished Zaryadye district in Kitay-Gorod, was stopped after Stalin's death. Instead of the so-called eighth sister, the Rossiya Hotel was later erected on its stylobate, which in turn was demolished in 2006.
The skyscrapers were to become the environment of the tallest building in the world, the Palace of Soviets, which was never built before the war. The place for the four hundred and twenty-meter monster was vacated after the explosion of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The authorities planned to return to the implementation of the Palace of Soviets project. What, in fact, is the decision to build eight skyscrapers after the war.
High-rise buildings are considered the pinnacle of the post-war so-called "Stalinist Empire".
The first skyscraper, the Foreign Ministry building on Smolenskaya Square, was built during Stalin's lifetime. The height of the building is 172 m including the spire. During construction, the 27-storey "giant" was turned in the direction of the opening square and the Borodinsky bridge leaving into the future. The house was supposed to become a landmark of the Garden Ring and the loop of the Moscow River. The building is the most restrained in decor and organic in composition. Metal bars, obelisks and stucco were used in the decoration. There is a legend that the last floor was fake, because the creators could not report to the authorities that the costs of building the building were incorrectly calculated. But experts consider this nothing more than an idle fiction.
By the way, the Foreign Ministry building is the only one of the seven skyscrapers whose spire is not crowned with a five-pointed star. The likely reason for this is that the spire of the building was very fragile and could not bear the weight of the star. But on its facade was installed a huge coat of arms of the USSR. It has become a hallmark of the skyscraper.
Then the smallest among all, but the second "by birth" high-rise building, the 17-storey Leningradskaya Hotel, grew up in Moscow. Together with the imposing tower, its height is 136 meters. The hotel amazed guests with its interior decoration in the Moscow baroque style. By the way, it was precisely for the “architectural excesses” that its creators, architects Leonid Mikhailovich Polyakov and Alexander Borisovich Boretsky, later paid the price, whom the General Secretary of the Communist Party Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev insultingly deprived of the State (Stalin) Prizes.
The building was built with the expectation that in the future it will form a single spatial composition with three stations, completing the perspective of Komsomolskaya Square from the southwest. So, in general, it happened.
Following the space of Moscow was replenished with a skyscraper on the Kotelnicheskaya embankment. The skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya closed the prospect from the Kremlin to the confluence of the Moscow River and the Yauza. The skyscraper harmoniously blended into the complex landscape at the junction of two Moscow rivers. It was the completion of the prospects of small streets and alleys descending the slopes of the hills to the bend of the Yauza.
The central volume has 26 floors (32 including technical floors) and has a height of 176 m. There are 540 apartments in the high-rise. Adjacent to the central volume is the “old”, nine-story residential building overlooking the Moscow River. It was built back in 1940. Therefore, in total, the building turned out to be 700 apartments.
The skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya embankment had a rich internal infrastructure. It housed a large number of shops and cafes, cinema, post office, beauty salons.
The central building of the house is decorated with obelisks, sculptural groups and figured parapets. Three lower towers and side wings protect the building from the flanks.
A high-rise residential building on Kudrinskaya Square in the capital was nicknamed "Gastronom". Here, as in the high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, in addition to 452 apartments, shops, cinemas and garages were located. The building clearly emphasizes the perspective of the Garden Ring and the radial streets diverging from it. The central 22-storey octagonal tower in the form of a tent is crowned with a spire. Height with tower and spire - 156 meters. The side wings of the building surround the central part with steep terraces and ledges and reach 18 floors. The decor of the building contains many sculptural compositions and bas-reliefs.
Another skyscraper has risen on Sadovo-Spasskaya Street. The exit from the Krasnye Vorota metro station is located just in the tower of the building.
The administrative and residential building consists of a 24-storey central building, in Soviet period it was occupied by the Ministry of Transport Construction, and two residential buildings of various heights (from 11 to 15 floors). All three buildings, which do not have ground and attic passages, are connected by a common basement.
The central part crowned with a spire is dissected by massive pilasters. The strict composition of the skyscraper is enlivened by the exterior decor, which combines classical elements and ancient Russian motifs.
The most modest skyscraper in terms of decoration is, perhaps, the hotel "Ukraine". It was built to emphasize an important section along the Moskva River. The building opens Kutuzovsky Prospekt - a new Moscow highway created in the post-war period.
The central high-rise reaches 29 floors. The height together with the spire is 206 meters.
The absolute champion among Moscow skyscrapers was the 36-storey building of the Moscow state university. His silhouette is visible from a distance various points cities. architectural complex The university is the main starting point in the Sparrow Hills area.
And although at the turn of the 21st century new high-rise buildings soared into the capital’s sky, the “seven sisters”, or “seven Stalinist skyscrapers”, remain not only one of the usual symbols of Moscow, but have also become bright sights of the 20th century that has gone forever.
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Moscow is a city on seven hills. One of its symbols - seven skyscrapers or "seven sisters" - masterpieces of monumental Stalinist architecture.
1. In the 1950s, 7 high-rise buildings were built in Moscow, which were called Stalin's skyscrapers.
2. The architecture of Stalin's skyscrapers was influenced by American skyscrapers of the 1910s-1930s.
3. Tour guides like to call Stalin's skyscrapers "seven sisters".
4. Initially, there were to be eight buildings. Their laying was dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Moscow.
5. The unbuilt Palace of Soviets was not included in the original project. It was conceived much earlier, but the skyscrapers under construction had to be architecturally coordinated with the approved project of the Palace of Soviets.
6. The construction of the eighth skyscraper, an administrative building in Zaryadye, was stopped in 1953 due to the death of Stalin. The project was frozen, and 10 years later, the Rossiya Hotel grew on the stylobate.
7. In the original design, the tallest building was supposed to have 32 floors. During the construction process, all skyscrapers "added" in growth. Moscow State University became 36-storey, and the Leningradskaya Hotel became 26-storey (in the project, its height was only 16 floors).
8. During the construction process, the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya grew by 11 floors. Then it acquired a spire, which was not in the original project.
9. After Stalin's death, the architect Minkus, who built the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanded that Khrushchev remove the spire, which was not in the original project. According to legend, Khrushchev refused, believing that the spire should become "a monument to the great stupidity of Comrade Stalin."
10. The building of Moscow State University was originally supposed to be a hotel.
11. In one of the projects, instead of a spire, the building of Moscow State University was supposed to be crowned with a statue, either Lomonosov, or Stalin himself. Students still tell the legend about the bronze statue of the leader, walled up in the basement. In fact, the project was simply reworked, the statue was replaced with a spire, and Lomonosov, significantly reduced in size, was placed as a monument near the walls of the university.
12. Fountains near the building of Moscow State University - part of the air intake system of the building. Therefore, there are few really tall trees around - there is a concrete slab under the square.
13. The spire of the main building of Moscow State University is not gilded. He and the star are lined with yellow glass, which is covered with aluminum on the inside.
14. Until 1990, the building of Moscow State University was the tallest in Europe.
15. Hotel "Ukraine", built at the beginning of Kutuzovsky Prospekt, was supposed to be located in the metro area "Dynamo".
16. Hotel "Ukraine" is also a residential building. The central part is a hotel, and the side buildings are occupied by apartments.
17. During the construction of the Ukraine Hotel and the house on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, groundwater pumps were used. Because of the proximity to the river, this was done all the time.
18. A residential building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment was built gradually. By 1940, one wing was built, which was perceived as an independent building. After the war, a wing was built on the Podgorskaya embankment, after which the old and new buildings were combined, and a tower with a spire was built over them. Today the whole complex is perceived as a single building.
19. The building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment is the record holder among the "sisters" in terms of the number of appearances in films. It appears in at least 16 paintings.
20. When laying the groundwork for the Leningradskaya Hotel, builders stumbled upon a quicksand at a depth of 8.5 meters. For safe construction, workers had to drive huge piles around the perimeter of the entire foundation.
21. The Leningradskaya Hotel, the lowest of the seven skyscrapers, has the most luxurious interior in the Moscow Baroque style.
22. The high-rise building on the Red Gate was built at an angle, as part of it hung over the foundation pit dug for the construction of the metro lobby. To maintain the slope, the ground was frozen to a depth of 27 meters. When the work was completed, the soil thawed and the high-rise took a vertical position.
23. There are legends about government bunkers located under skyscrapers. In fact, there were no bunkers, there were bomb shelters. One of them, under the building on Kudrinskaya Square, is larger than the high-rise building itself.
24. The house on Kudrinskaya embankment is sometimes called the "house of aviators."
25. In 2006, a new high-rise building "Triumph Palace" was built in the Dynamo district. Despite the outward resemblance, it has nothing to do with Stalin's skyscrapers.
26. The building of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and the Palace of Culture and Science in Poland are sometimes called “Soviet gifts” by locals. Both buildings were erected in the image and likeness of Moscow skyscrapers.
27. Many apartments in high-rise buildings were equipped with a "winter" refrigerator.
28. In residential skyscrapers, the garbage chute was located right in the kitchen. Modern residents prefer to wall up the door because of the difficulty in cleaning it.
29. Many ventilation grills and other decorative elements of skyscrapers were made of papier-mâché.
30. Apartments in Stalinist skyscrapers today cost at least 50 million rubles for a one-room apartment.
31. All skyscrapers are built in the style of the pyramids or "wedding cake". This trick allows you to visually increase the height of the building.
32. Conspiracy theorists believe that Stalin's skyscrapers were in a special geometric order. In the center of the figure formed by the "Stalin's sisters" the Palace of Soviets was to be located.
