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Theme Week Moscow – The Seven Sisters

Saturday, 3 January 2015 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Russia / Russland
Category/Kategorie: General, Architecture, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  7 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post The Seven Sisters are a group of seven skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style. The term “Seven Sisters” is neither used nor understood by the local population, Muscovites call them Vysotki or Stalinskie Vysotki, meaning “(Stalin’s) high-rises” (or “Stalinist skyscrapers”). They were built from 1947 to 1953, in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, and the technology used in building American skyscrapers.

Lomonosov Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University, previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU, is one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia. Founded in 1755, the university was renamed in honor of its founder, Mikhail Lomonosov, in 1940. The main tower, which consumed over 40,000 metric tons of steel, was inaugurated September 1, 1953. At 787.4 feet or 240 metres tall, it was the tallest building in Europe from its completion until 1990. It is still the tallest educational building in the world.

Hotel Ukraina – Radisson Royal Hotel
Ukraina by Arkady Mordvinov and Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky (leading Soviet expert on steel-framed highrise construction) is the second tallest of the “sisters” (198 meters, 34 levels). It was the tallest hotel in the world from the time of its construction until the Peachtree Plaza Hotel opened in Atlanta, Georgia in 1975. Construction on the low river bank meant that the builders had to dig well below the water level. This was solved by an ingenious water retention system, using a perimeter of needle pumps driven deep into ground. The hotel reopened its doors again after a 3-year-renovation on April 28, 2010, now called Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow, with 505 bedrooms and 38 apartments.



Ministry of Foreign Affairs
This 172 meter, 27 story building was built between 1948 and 1953 and overseen by V.G.Gelfreih and A.B.Minkus. Currently, it houses the offices for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation. The Ministry is covered by a light external stone wall with projecting pilasters and pylons. Its interior is splendidly decorated with stones and metals. According to the 1982 biography of Minkus, draft plans were first drawn up in 1946 and ranged from 9 to 40 stories. In 1947 two designs were proposed: one utilized layered setbacks while the other called for a more streamlined construction which culminated into a blunt rectangular top. The second proposal was accepted but as the Ministry’s completion neared, a metal spire, dyed to match the building’s exterior, was hastily added to tower’s roof, assimilating its silhouette with those of the other Sisters.



Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel
Originally known simply as the Leningradskaya Hotel, this relatively small (136 meters, 26 floors, of which 19 are usable) building by Leonid Polyakov on Komsomolskaya Square is decorated with pseudo-Russian ornaments mimicking Alexey Shchusev‘s Kazansky Rail Terminal. Inside, it was inefficiently planned. Khruschev, in his 1955 decree “On liquidation of excesses…” asserted that at least 1000 rooms could be built for the cost of Leningradskaya’s 354, that only 22% of the total space was rent-able, and that the costs per bed were 50% higher than in Moskva Hotel. Following this critique, Polyakov was stripped of his 1948 Stalin Prize but retained the other one, for a Moscow Metro station. After a multi-million dollar renovation ending in 2008, the hotel re-opened as the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya.



Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building
Another of Chechulin’s works, 176 meters high, with 22 usable levels, the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building was strategically placed at the confluence of the Moskva River and Yauza River. The building incorporates an earlier 9-story apartment block facing Moskva River, by the same architects (completed in 1940). It was intended as an elite housing building. However, very soon after construction, units were converted to multi-family kommunalka (communal apartments). Built in a neo-gothic design, though also drew inspiration from Hotel Metropol.



Red Gates Administrative Building
Designed by Alexey Dushkin of the Moscow Metro fame, this mixed-use block of 11-storey buildings is crowned with a slim tower (total height 133 meters, 24 levels). In this case, cryotechnology was indeed used for the escalator tunnels connecting the building with the Krasniye Vorota subway station. The building’s frame was erected deliberately tilted to one side; when the frozen soil thawed, it settled down – although not enough for a perfect horizontal level. Then the builders warmed the soil by pumping hot water; this worked too well, the structure slightly overreacted, tilting to the opposite side but well within tolerance.



Kudrinskaya Square Building
Designed by Mikhail Posokhin (Sr.) and Ashot Mndoyants. 160 metres high, 22 floors (18 usable in the wings and 22 in the central part). The building is located on the end of Krasnaya Presnya street, facing the Sadovoye Koltso and was primary built with high-end apartments for Soviet cultural leaders rather than politicians.



Read more on Wikipedia Seven Sisters (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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