Moscow skyscrapers
After World War II, the architectural appearance of Moscow began to change greatly. According to ambitious projects, the reconstruction of the city of Moscow was to become a city of the future with skyscrapers and perfectly flat avenues – a worthy capital of the world power. For ten years, 7 skyscrapers were built, called "Stalin skyscrapers". Seven buildings symbolize the seven hills of Moscow, sometimes they are also called "seven sisters".
The architects managed to convey a special monumental style of the towers, which was later named "Soviet art Deco". According to the project, 8 skyscrapers were to be erected around the Palace of Soviets, but only 7 were built:
1. Residential house on Kudrinskaya Square - decorated with a lot of bas-reliefs and sculptures, a building called the "Deli" by the people.
2. Hotel Leningradskaya - the smallest of the skyscrapers, made in the Moscow Baroque style. Today belongs to Hilton hotel.
3. The main building of Moscow State University - the highest of the Moscow skyscrapers, one of the symbols of Moscow, is on the Sparrow Hills.
4. The building on the Red Gate Square - there are residential and administrative premises, the decor combines classical and ancient Russian motifs.
5. The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - the first of Stalin's skyscrapers, is executed in a restrained classical style, the only one that lacks a star on the spire.
6. Residential house on Kotelnicheskaya embankment - a harmonious building at the confluence of rivers, otherwise called "Yauzsky gates".
7. Hotel Ukraine - a miracle on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, which at one time was heavily criticized, and now it is impossible to imagine the appearance of Moscow without it. Today belongs to Radisson Royal Hotel
It was also planned to establish a high-rise in Zaryadye and the Palace of Soviets on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. However, the temple was demolished, the pit was dug, and the building could not be built, and after the death of Stalin, the construction of skyscrapers was recognized as an "architectural excess". Soviet skyscrapers exist also in other cities: Chelyabinsk, Kiev, Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw, Riga. The skyscrapers are made in the same style: a wide base, a stepped pyramid, pointed spires and motifs of the Kremlin towers. All the high-rises, except for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have a five-pointed star on the spire of the building - a symbol of the USSR.
To the skyscrapers of Moscow has always been ambiguous attitude, especially considering that they were built in the difficult postwar period. They were called "Stalin's vampire", "empire during the plague", but today they are so harmoniously blended into the architectural image of the city that it is difficult to imagine Moscow without them. It's a story, a story embroidered in the fabric of the urban landscape.
Stars from Moscow skyscrapers became the motive for Silk-Life silk scarves in the series "Moscow Stars". Shawls are made in different color variants: Moscow stars (coral), Moscow stars (black), Moscow stars (gray), Moscow stars (purple).
