Eighth Sister

Last updated May 23, 2024

The Eighth Sister is the unbuilt project for a skyscraper in Zaryadye, Moscow. It would have been the eighth sister to the group of Stalinist skyscrapers known as Seven Sisters. The architect was Dmitry Chechulin.

Original 1947 plans included an eighth tower, which would have been among the tallest buildings in the world. Following Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, it was decided that the projected structure would overshadow the Moscow Kremlin and Chechulin's 1967 Rossiya Hotel was erected on the spot. The hotel was demolished in 2006, and the Zaryadye Park was inaugurated on 9 September 2017.

Project description

The final design of the administrative building in Zaryadye was completed and published in 1949, at which time its two authors, the architect Dmitry Chechulin and the engineer Iosif Tigranov, became winners of the Stalin Prize.^[1]^[2]

Soviet stamp "Project for a 32-storey administrative building in Zaryadye" Zariadie-stamp.jpg — Soviet stamp "Project for a 32-storey administrative building in Zaryadye"

A 15-hectare plot was allocated for the construction of an administrative building in Zaryadye. It was bounded by Red Square to the west, Kitaygorodsky Proyezd to the east and Moskvoretskaya Embankment to the south.

The authors of the project had the difficult task of blending the 32-storey high-rise building into the historic buildings of the centre of Moscow. The administrative building in Zaryadye, along with other high-rise buildings, was to serve as a symbol of the greatness of socialist Moscow and the Stalinist era.^[2]

The structure was symmetrical and had a stepped structure. Similar to the Building of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the administrative high-rise started with five-storey buildings in with the surrounding low-rise buildings. The buildings were located diagonally concerning one another and were equipped with lifts. In the lower part of the building, there were to be about 2,000 workrooms and offices for the staff of the department.^[1]

The upper part of the building was separated from the lower part by two intermediate levels. The first of them was to be three storeys high, and the next, a six-storey one, served as a kind of transition to the high-rise tower. This construction, topped with a gilded polyhedral tent with a spire and an emblem with symbols of the USSR, was the main part of the building. The upper floors of the tower were used as a showroom with four pavilions. The radial system of the administrative building contributed to the convenient organisation of the internal premises, the even distribution of wind loads and the strength of the structural links, which increased the building's stability.^[2]

According to the design, the main façade of the building faced the Red Square. The colonnade was to be visible from the courtyard where the entrance to the main lobby was located. From the side of Kitaygorodsky Proyezd a car park was envisaged, and around the building –landscaped public gardens with preserved architectural monuments of Zaryadye. The building was to have three entrances: the main entrance with a broad staircase led to Red Square, the second from the side of the Moskva River and the third from Razina Street. The lower part of the high-rise was more extended along the Moskvoretskaya Embankment.^[3]

The design of the building's main entrance hall envisaged the creation of a grand double-height hall divided into three naves by rows of columns. Cloakrooms for 1,700 people each were arranged in the side aisles, and a lift lobby served as an extension of the middle nave. The building was also planned to have a large assembly hall, cloakrooms, refreshment rooms, and a canteen in a separate building.

Construction and work stoppage

Work on the Eighth Sister started later than the other Sisters and proceeded at a considerably slower pace. The reasons for this were hydrogeological conditions and the need to prepare a huge building site. By the spring of 1953, the foundation and stylobate were completed and the structure reached 15 storeys a year later.^[1]

A technical floor and a two-tiered concrete bunker were added under the stylobate, which, according to historian Nikolai Kruzhkov, could have been used as a bomb shelter.^[4]

In 1954, the construction of the high-rise was stopped by the government, which was a personal tragedy for Dmitry Chechulin. The architect's attempts to modify the building's design based on the existing foundation were not accepted. According to historian Kruzhkov, the reason the construction was stopped was that Chechulin did not support the campaign against architectural excesses initiated by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, which radically changed the direction of the capital's urban planning policy. From the mid-1950s, the main architectural direction was to solve the housing problem, which led to the mass construction of model housing. In these conditions high-rise construction became irrelevant. The erected frame of the administrative building was dismantled and its elements were used in the construction of other buildings.^[4]

At the beginning of the 1960s, it was decided to use the land and the base of the skyscraper for new construction. The idea of building a hotel in Zaryadye was put forward. Between 1964 and 1967, The Rossiya Hotel was built on the foundation of a high-rise building. Specialists under the direction of Dmitry Chechulin worked on the hotel's design. At the time of its completion, Rossiya Hotel was the largest hotel in the world and entered the Guinness Book of World Records in the 1970s.^[5]

Related Research Articles

The White House, also known as the Russian White House and previously known as the House of Soviets of Russia, is a government building in Moscow. It stands on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment. The building serves as the primary office of the government of Russia and is the official workplace of the Russian Prime Minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rossiya Hotel</span> Former hotel in Moscow

The Rossiya Hotel was a hotel in Moscow and was the largest hotel in the world from 1967 to 1980. Until its closure in 2006, it remained the second largest hotel in Europe, with 3,182 rooms. Throughout its existence, the hotel welcomed about ten million guests, including more than two million foreigners. Famous hotel guests included Mikhail Gorbachev, George H. W. Bush and Mike Tyson.

The Seven Sisters are a group of seven skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style. They were built from 1947 to 1953. At the time of construction, they were the tallest buildings in Europe, and the main building of Moscow State University remained the tallest building in Europe until 1990.

Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 and 1955. Stalinist architecture is associated with the Socialist realism school of art and architecture.

Okhotny Ryad is a station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. It is situated in the very centre of Moscow in the Tverskoy District, near the Kremlin, Manezhnaya Square and State Duma. It is named after a nearby street, whose name literally means "hunters' row".

Kitay-gorod, also referred to as the Great Possad in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow in Russia, defined by the remnants of now almost entirely razed fortifications, narrow streets and very densely built cityscape. It is separated from the Kremlin by the Red Square. Kitay-gorod does not constitute a district (raion), as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections are not possible. Rather, the territory has been part of Tverskoy District, and the Central Administrative Okrug authorities have managed the area directly since 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latvian Academy of Sciences</span> Association of Latvian scientists

The Latvian Academy of Sciences is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences. It is located in Riga. The current President of the academy is Ivars Kalviņš.

Zaryadye is a historical district in Moscow established in the 12th or 13th century within Kitai-gorod, between Varvarka Street and the Moskva River. The name means "the place behind the rows", i.e., behind the market rows adjacent to Red Square.

Hotel Moskva is a four star hotel in Belgrade, one of the oldest currently operating in Serbia. The building has been under governmental protection since 1968. Originally operating as a 36-room inn within the multi-purpose Palace Rossiya, whose almost three-year construction and January 1908 opening represented a major investment of the Russian Empire in the Serbian economy, Hotel Moskva eventually expanded its facilities to take up the entire palace.

Moskvoretskaya Embankment is a major street, located in the Kitay-Gorod administrative district in central Moscow, running along the Moskva River.

The Narkomtiazhprom Building is a portmanteau for the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry that was conducting a 1934 architectural design contest for the building of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, constructed in Red Square, Moscow. Notable entrants included Ivan Leonidov, Konstantin Melnikov, Vesnin brothers and Ivan Fomin.

The Lakhta Centre is an 87-story skyscraper built in the northwestern neighbourhood of Lakhta in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Standing 462 metres (1,516 ft) tall, it is the tallest building in both Russia and Europe, and the sixteenth-tallest building in the world. It is also the second-tallest structure in Russia and Europe, behind the Ostankino Tower in Moscow, in addition to being the second-tallest twisted building and the northernmost skyscraper in the world.

The City of Capitals is a mixed-use complex composed of two skyscrapers and an office building located on plot 9 in the Moscow International Business Center in Moscow, Russia with a total area of 288,680 square metres (3,107,300 sq ft). The two skyscrapers are named after the two historical capitals of Russia: Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Construction of the complex began in 2005, with the office building completed in 2008 and the two skyscrapers completed in 2009.

The Moskva Pool was, for a time, the world's largest open air swimming pool.

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building is one of seven Stalinist skyscrapers laid down in September 1947 and completed in 1952, designed by Dmitry Chechulin and Andrei Rostkovsky. The main tower has 32 levels and is 176 metres (577 ft) tall. At the time of construction it was the tallest building in Europe.

Dmitry Nikolaevich Chechulin was a Russian Soviet architect, city planner, author, and leading figure of Stalinist architecture.

Hotel Ukraina, also branded and marketed as the Radisson Collection Hotel, Moscow, is a five-star luxury hotel in the city centre of Moscow, on a bend of the Moskva River. The hotel is one of the "Seven Sisters", and stands 206 metres (676 ft) tall. It is the tallest hotel in Russia, the tallest hotel in Europe, and the 52nd-tallest hotel in the world. It is a Radisson Collection hotel, managed by the Rezidor Hotel Group.

The Red Gate Building is one of seven Stalinist skyscrapers, designed by Alexey Dushkin. Its name comes from the Red Gate square.

The Neva Towers, formerly the Renaissance Moscow Towers, is a complex of two skyscrapers located on plots 17 and 18 of the Moscow International Business Center (MIBC) in Moscow, Russia. Tower 1, at 302 metres tall with 65 floors, is the ninth-tallest building in Europe. Tower 2, at 345 metres tall with 79 floors, is the tallest residential building in Europe and the fourth-tallest building in Europe. The complex was completed in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zaryadye Park</span> Park in Moscow

Zaryadye Park is a landscape urban park located adjacent to Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on the site of the former Zaryadye district. The park was inaugurated on 9 September 2017 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

References

1 2 3 Rogachev, A. V.; Рогачев, А. В. (2017). Shosse Ėntuziastov : doroga velikikh sversheniĭ : slavnai︠a︡, no nelegkai︠a︡ sudʹba vostochnogo radiusa Moskvy. Moskva. ISBN 978-5-227-06621-3. OCLC 1022462408.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
1 2 3 "Московские сталинские высотки. История строительства. Виртуальная Ретро Фонотека". retrofonoteka.ru. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
↑ "Газета.Ru - Недоделанная высотка". www.gazeta.ru. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
1 2 Kruzhkov, Nikolaĭ; Кружков, Николай (2014). Vysotki stalinskoĭ Moskvy : nasledie ėpokhi. Moskva. ISBN 978-5-227-04542-3. OCLC 871241146.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ "Высотные здания позднего сталинизма". Архи Ру (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-08-27.

External links

Russian site on Seven Sisters
Moscow Skyscrapers, also contains many drawings and elevation cutout

55°45′05″N37°37′44″E / 55.75139°N 37.62889°E / 55.75139; 37.62889

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 Rogachev, A. V.; Рогачев, А. В. (2017). Shosse Ėntuziastov : doroga velikikh sversheniĭ : slavnai︠a︡, no nelegkai︠a︡ sudʹba vostochnogo radiusa Moskvy. Moskva. ISBN 978-5-227-06621-3. OCLC 1022462408.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[:1-2] 1 2 3 "Московские сталинские высотки. История строительства. Виртуальная Ретро Фонотека". retrofonoteka.ru. Retrieved 2021-08-23.

[3] "Газета.Ru - Недоделанная высотка". www.gazeta.ru. Retrieved 2021-08-23.

[:2-4] 1 2 Kruzhkov, Nikolaĭ; Кружков, Николай (2014). Vysotki stalinskoĭ Moskvy : nasledie ėpokhi. Moskva. ISBN 978-5-227-04542-3. OCLC 871241146.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[5] "Высотные здания позднего сталинизма". Архи Ру (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-08-27.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]