Luxury and technology: the seven Stalinist skyscrapers at "The Birth of Scale" exposition

Models of high-rise buildings from Soviet Moscow are on display at "The Birth of Scale" exposition at the National Centre RUSSIA. Special attention is drawn to the seven Stalinist skyscrapers.

Tour guides note that after World War II, Joseph Stalin sought to demonstrate that the victorious country was capable of constructing grand and powerful structures. In 1947, to mark Moscow's 800th anniversary, the foundation was laid for eight high-rise buildings.

"The first to be built was the skyscraper at Krasnye Vorota (Red Gates). It was the most technically complex because it was intended to be integrated with the Krasnye Vorota metro station. At that time, soil freezing technology was used. Its construction was completed in 1952," said Nataliya Zunneke, a tour guide at the National Centre RUSSIA.

That same year, but slightly later, the high-rise on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment was completed, intended for cultural workers. It featured a shared ventilation system, air conditioning, and even a built-in vacuum cleaner that directed dust into the sewage system. The building housed a post office, a cinema, and a store, and among its residents were Faina Ranevskaya and Alexander Shirvindt.

In 1953, the construction of the Moscow State University building was completed. Standing at 240 meters, it was the tallest of the high-rises and remained the tallest building in Europe until the 1990s. Initially, architect Boris Iofan planned to build it closer to the edge of the slope to provide a view of the river, but later, Lev Rudnev finalized the project. The side wings housed dormitories and apartments for graduate students and professors, while the tower was adorned with a clock nine meters in diameter, resembling the clock of London’s Big Ben.

The high-rise of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya Square was built between 1948 and 1953. Originally, it was designed without a spire, but Stalin insisted on adding one. As a result, the spire was made decorative, constructed from metal sheeting.

"The high-rise on Kudrinskaya Square was completed in 1954. It was called the 'House of Celestial Beings' because it was home to pilots and cosmonauts. It was built by the young architect Mikhail Posokhin, who later became the chief architect of Moscow," noted Nataliya Zunneke.

The Leningradskaya Hotel was the smallest of the high-rises, with only 17 floors compared to the 20 or more in other buildings. The last of the seven skyscrapers, the Ukraina Hotel, was completed in 1957. After Stalin’s death, its construction continued under Khrushchev, as the building was needed for the World Festival of Youth and Students. An eighth high-rise was planned for the site of today’s Zaryadye Park, but the project was never realized.

"The Birth of Scale" exposition at the National Centre RUSSIA showcases both completed architectural projects and ideas that remained only as concepts. These include unique building models, blueprints, and mock-ups preserved in museums and private collections.

The partners of "The Birth of Scale" exposition include DOM.RF, the Ministry of Construction of Russia, Gazprom, the State Research Museum of Architecture named after A. V. Shchusev, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Yakov Chernikhov Architecture Foundation, and the HSE School of Design.