Table of contents:
- Palace of the Soviets
- The building of the People's Commissariat for Industry
- Big Academic Cinema
- Aeroflot Central House
- Pantheon
Video: Moscow could have been different: Grandiose projects of Soviet architects that were never implemented in the capital
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Throughout the history of the USSR, Soviet leaders have repeatedly come up with the most incredible plans to change the appearance of the capital. Particularly grandiose were the periodically emerging ideas for the construction of new buildings designed to demonstrate the greatness of the socialist system in general and Soviet architecture in particular. However, for one reason or another, all these incredible buildings were never built, otherwise the center of Moscow would now look completely different. We bring to your attention several such unrealized projects.
Palace of the Soviets
It was planned to build a luxurious palace in order to hold sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, as well as other significant events.
The project was invented by the famous architect of the Stalinist era, Boris Iofan. The gigantic structure was supposed to be a tower-like building, decorated with sculptures and frescoes on the outside, on top of which a hundred-meter figure of Lenin would rise. The height of the building together with Ilyich is more than 400 meters, which at that time would have been higher than the American Empire State Building skyscraper. Well, the weight is 1.3 million tons. It was assumed that the building-monument would symbolize the triumph of socialism.
It was planned to equip the Palace of Soviets with a modern climate control system for those years, elevators, and from the outside it was supposed to be illuminated by powerful searchlights. According to preliminary calculations, this structure could be seen by passers-by from a distance of 35 kilometers.
The mega-building was planned to be erected on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Immediately after it was blown up and the ruins were dismantled, the builders took up the preparatory work. However, the matter did not go further than making the foundation: the war began and the state had no time for palaces. The steel structures prepared for the construction of the tower building were used for the needs of the defense of Moscow.
After the war, they did not return to the project. Well, its foundation was used for the Moskva swimming pool, opened here in 1960. Three years earlier, the nearby metro station "Palace of Soviets", named after the never-built memorial building, was renamed "Kropotkinskaya".
The building of the People's Commissariat for Industry
The frightening and difficult to pronounce name "Narkomtyazhprom" stands for People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry of the USSR. This organization existed only from 1932 to 1939, after which it was abolished. However, in 1934, when the country experienced an intensive growth in the development of heavy industry, no one suspected such a short history of the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry, and the authorities announced a competition for the best design for its building. The architects presented several interesting and daring works at once. One of the most suitable was the project of Ivan Fomin, the founder of Soviet monumental classicism.
This building, which is a closed ring with a straight end body, four towers, which are connected by passages, and a beautiful arch. The height of the building is 12-13 floors, and the towers are 24 floors. The mausoleum should have been perfectly visible through the openings of the main facade.
It was planned to erect the building right next to Red Square, on the site of the shopping arcade (modern GUM). Since this building was supposed to be of enormous dimensions, the implementation of the project also assumed the expansion of the Krasaya Square itself, and almost twice. However, a year later it was decided to build the building a little to the side, in the Zaryadye area.
In connection with the death of Ordzhonikidze and the disbandment of the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry under his jurisdiction, the need for such a project has disappeared by itself.
Big Academic Cinema
Lenin's words about the role of cinema in the life of Soviet people in the 1930s were decided to be realized in the form of the construction of the Bolshoi Academic Cinema in the center of Moscow. This building was supposed to be a counterweight to the Bolshoi Theater and be located directly opposite it.
Three groups of architects were working on a strange idea, but none of the projects they proposed was approved by the authorities. The buildings turned out to be too huge, moreover, the problem of reconstruction of Sverdlov Square (now Teatralnaya) and changes in the facade of the Moscow Hotel, which would have arisen during the construction, were not solved by the architects.
Aeroflot Central House
The project of the gigantic building of the Aeroflot Administration, which was supposed to rise on the square of the Belorussky railway station, was developed by the architect Dmitry Chechulin, and in just two months. The building was supposed to immortalize the exploits of Soviet pilots (in particular, those who saved the Chelyuskinites) and demonstrate the power of the Russian aviation. If the project were implemented, the building would house all Aeroflot services, as well as a huge conference hall, post office, savings banks and other related organizations.
The Aeroflot house was supposed to have an aerodynamic shape and be crowned with a sculptural group of several people, one of whom is holding giant wings (the emblem of aviation). In front of the building, a light and majestic triumphal arch was conceived with the figures of seven hero pilots, which were to be made by the sculptor Ivan Shadr.
Immediately after its publication, the project was severely criticized, and as a result, it was decided to abandon its implementation. Subsequently, the architect used some of these ideas when designing the House of Soviets (now - the Government House) on Krasnopresnenskaya embankment.
Pantheon
The idea of building a gigantic memorial tomb, in which the bodies of great Soviet people and, above all, those who had already been buried at the Kremlin wall, would rest, arose immediately after Stalin's death at a meeting of the funeral commission.
Among the projects proposed by the architects, the work of Nikolai Kolli was considered the most suitable. The pantheon with a total area of 500 thousand square meters (!), According to the architect's idea, was supposed to have majestic columns and be crowned with a huge female figure. Collie also offered to lavishly decorate the building with bas-reliefs, monumental paintings and mosaics. The picture of gigantic proportions is complemented by the inscription on the facade "Eternal glory to the great people of the Soviet Union."
It was planned to put the Pantheon close to Red Square, for which a number of historical buildings in Moscow would have to be liquidated. The sarcophagus with the bodies of Lenin and Stalin was to be transferred to this gigantic tomb along with the rest of the bodies of the "great Soviet people."
For what reasons the project was frozen - it is not known exactly. According to one of the assumptions, the rise to power of Khrushchev, known for his struggle with excesses in architecture, played a role.
Read also: Communal apartments in GUM: who lived in apartments on Red Square.
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