Shukhov Tower in Moscow: address, height, photo

Not everyone knows that such an object as the Shukhov Tower, in fact, refers to the wonders of the modern capital of the Russian Federation.

This high-rise building can be seen from different parts of the city, and from its upper part you can see amazing landscapes of Moscow.

general description

It should be noted that the Shukhov Tower in Moscow has several more names. In narrow, more often professional circles, it is called radio Shushov, Shukhov TV tower or Shabolov television tower.

In general, this innovative hyperboloid construction, equipped with a bearing steel shell, was built according to a special project developed by academician V. G. Shukhov. Grandiose construction lasted for two years, from 1920 to 1922 of the last century.

During its functioning, the structure belonged to the Ministry of Communications. Now, since 2001, the Shukhov Tower is at the disposal of FSUE RTRS.

To date, it is not used for its intended purpose and serves as a location for cellular transmitters.

How to get to the sights of the city?

Shukhov Tower, a photo of which is appearing more and more often in magazines and avenues devoted to interesting places in the Russian capital, is located in Moscow, on the street. Shabolovka.

To get lost from curious tourists just will not work, because it's quite easy to find an object. To do this, you will need to get to the metro station "Shabolovskaya" and walk about 300 meters.

In extreme cases, you can ask where the Shukhov Tower is located, from passers-by or residents of the microdistrict, and they will happily lead to their destination.

Features of the structure

From a technical point of view, the Shukhov Tower consists of separate sections, each of which specialists collected on the ground, and then hoisted upwards with winches. After that, already at the height, the parts of the structure were joined together by special extra strong rivets.

According to the original design, the height of the Shukhov Tower should have been quite impressive, about 350 m. However, the circumstances forced the redesign of the plan. The country experienced a catastrophic lack of metal, so 160 m is the maximum length available at that time.

A Brief History of the Shukhov Tower

In 1919, when the military danger for the USSR was maturing, in order to ensure a permanent and reliable connection between Moscow and the periphery of the republic and several Western states, Lenin signed a decree on the construction of a radio tower urgently.

By this time Shukhov had already worked on several similar projects. It was decided that the basis for the future technological miracle (at that time, of course) is to take this particular design.

The Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka was supposed to surpass the Eiffel, known all over the world. First of all, it was three times lighter than the French design: 2,200 tons versus 7300 tons. However, the economic collapse prevented the dream of a specialist from realizing. In the Union at the time, as already mentioned, catastrophically there was not enough steel, therefore, after consulting, we stopped at the tower with a height of 150 m.

In October 1919 the Shukhov Tower, whose address is well known to both Muscovites and guests of the capital, found its foundation.

On the whole, it should be noted that Shukhov's project was ideally suited for the country devastated by the civil war and the revolution. The design of the tower has been thought through to the smallest detail, but still quite simple. Simplicity and practicality were felt literally in every detail, and all details did not require special development and represented, basically, rivets and profiles.

Despite this, Shukhov Tower in Moscow (a photo of those times can be seen in the museums of the city) was not built as quickly as one would like. The workers complained that the boards and tes came always with a huge delay, and the metal was very reluctant at all.

Author VG Shukhov personally participated in the construction, traveled to institutions, coordinated the supply of building materials, ordered rations and sometimes literally with a fight, he got a timely salary for the workers.

To make the assembly of the object even cheaper, the architect came up with the idea of assembling sections of 25 m in height and weighing up to 300 poods on the ground, and then lifting them up with cables and winches. He personally attended every ascent. And gradually the Shukhov Tower in Moscow began to take shape.

Shukhov, in spite of personal problems, devoted himself to building himself. At the end of the summer of 1919 his son died, in March 1920 - his mother. In June 1921, the following shock happened: during the rise of the fourth section, a third broke down. One of the cables tore, and the fourth section fell, damaging the first two, making up the base of the tower. Victims, fortunately, managed to escape, but from this day Shukhov began interrogations, proceedings and commissions. As a result, he was awarded the so-called "suspended execution", which could become quite real if the tower could not be completed by the specified date.

The Shukhov Tower, which is customary for us, whose photo can be viewed in more detail both in textbooks intended for architectural faculties and in tourist avenues devoted to Moscow, began work in 1923.

People of the older generation will note that for a long time it served as a "business card" for television in the whole of the USSR. Trial broadcasting from this facility was first conducted in 1937, and two years later, in 1939, regular broadcasts were already from there.

The design gradually lost its significance. The decisive role in this was played by the opening in 1967 of a more modern and powerful Ostankino tower.

What does the tower look like today

But still Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka still played an important role in the lives of Russians. How? The fact is that after the fire on the Ostankino television tower in 2000, a year and a half, this facility supported the broadcasting of the main channels.

To date, architects around the world have recognized it as a unique and outstanding masterpiece of engineering.

The world glory and importance of the strategic object called Shukhov Tower, whose photo can be seen in the smallest detail, are also confirmed by the awards of various exhibitions. Its models take part in almost all the prestigious European expositions of recent years.

For example, the image of the radio tower was used as a logo in Paris, in the center of Pompidou, at the exhibition "Engineering Art". And in 2003, in Munich, at an event called "The best designs and structures in the architecture of the 20th century," a gilded prototype of the Shukhov tower 6 m high was installed. In addition, many books of Europe on the history of architecture describe this structure in detail.

In 2006, at the scientific conference of the planetary scale "Preservation of the architecture of the 20th century", in which 170 experts from 30 countries took part, the Shukhov Tower was recognized as a Russian architectural masterpiece and a World Heritage site.

According to the data provided by the site for the protection of the "Active citizen", the Shukhov Tower is currently protected by the state, recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List, but access to it is closed.

Work already carried out in the XXI century

British architect N. Foster wrote a letter in March 2010 with a demand to completely reconstruct the tower to its original state, arguing that it is in ruins and collapses.

To date, the architects are ready several options for the restoration of the object. One of them suggests around him to create (in the likeness of the Eiffel Tower) a recreation area. It is supposed to accommodate business, museum and cultural complexes.

In 2011, V. Putin ordered during 2011-2013 to allocate 135 million rubles from the federal budget. For the design and reconstruction of the facility.

In June 2012, the tower was inspected by an unmanned helicopter. With his help, they created a three-dimensional model of the Moscow sights with distortions, which appeared over time.

In the same year, a competition for the privilege of concluding a contract aimed at developing working and design documentation for the reconstruction of the tower was won by OOO "Quality and Reliability", which created a global reconstruction project for more than ten and a half million rubles.

The fund manager Shukhov Tower and the great-grandson of the brilliant engineer said that the project worth 2 million euros was paid for by foreign institutions dealing with problems of architecture, engineering and physics.

Necessity of restoration

For all the time of operation, the engineering structure has never been completely repaired. Back in 1992, the need for urgent repairs was determined. The Fund "Shukhov Tower" offered several options for the restoration of this unique structure.

The main idea is to make a closed area adjacent to the tower, make a tourist, build parks, ponds, museums and a concert platform.

It is also proposed to transfer the structure to one of the following sections:

• Gorky Park ;
• VDNH;
• The area of the Kaluga outpost.

Speakers against the transfer of a lot, among them a special role played by representatives of the resource "Active citizen." "Shukhov's tower should be located in its historical place, otherwise it will simply destroy the world's masterpiece," they believe.

Plans for transfer: the arguments "for" and "against"

In 2014, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications reported that the tower moved from the pre-emergency to a state of consecutive destruction.

Representatives of the government proposed to disassemble the object completely and restore it in another place.

But against the transfer and analysis of the architectural heritage of the country there were immediately 38 leading foreign experts and architects, as well as residents of the Shabolovka district.

Under public pressure, the Government decided not to dismantle the tower and decided to take emergency measures at its own expense to protect the facility.

What is the Shukhov Tower Foundation?

The head of the same name fund is the great-grandson of the famous engineer - Vladimir F. Shukhov. He to date offers a comprehensive reconstruction of the territory near the tower. According to the European experience of restoration of unique architectural structures, it is necessary to create an appropriate infrastructure in the adjacent zone and ensure the correct visual presentation of the object. Thus, it is possible to attract serious investments.

The Shukhov Tower Foundation supports the creation of a unique center of science, art and culture at the base of the building, which will include the museum of V. Shukhov, a business center and a set of public buildings.

The organization at the international level invites to cooperation both institutes and companies, and leading engineers, architects and experts.

Interesting facts about the tower

Shukhovskaya is in fact a unique hyperboloid structure, made in the image of a bearing metal net-like shell. For the present time, the tower has been recognized by experts from all over the world as one of the most brilliant achievements of engineering.

It has a unique elegant metal-mesh construction, due to which the minimal wind effect is achieved, representing the main danger for high buildings. The steel structure is very light and durable.

The conical round tower body is composed of six 25-meter sections, the lower one of which is placed on a special concrete foundation of three-meter depth. Parts of the tower are fastened with rivets. The tower was built without taps, only one coordinating worker was needed at the top.

Before the war, the building passed an extraordinary test: the mail plane caught the supporting cable of the tower during the flight. The vehicle flew almost to pieces, and the tower only slightly shaken, but, fortunately, it remained to stand.

It is very interesting that at the time of the very first live broadcasts, when the presenters did not have the right to make even the slightest mistake, they came up with the ritual "for luck": with the idea of a safe ether to bypass the tower around and touch its beams at the bottom.

Positive feedback from tourists

The tower is undoubtedly one of the symbols of Moscow. Tourists who had the opportunity to see this famous, third-largest tower of Moscow, consider it a magnificent structure, an original and very beautiful object, a true treasure of Russia.

They argue that in the dark and in clear weather, towering over the city's stone jungle, it seems magnificent.

People hope that the tower will remain in Moscow and will be finally restored.

Opponents of object preservation

Unfortunately, there are such. Supporters of the demolition of the object insist that, being in the current state, the tower disfigures the image of the neighborhood.

The conclusion is one: Shukhov's must necessarily be restored, and it should be done as soon as possible.