RUSSIAN SKYSCRAPER

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4326, 10 August 1937, Page 2

RUSSIAN SKYSCRAPER

TALLEST IN THE WORLD " PALACE OF SOVIETS " It has been officially announced that buildino- has begun on the colossal Moscow “ Palace of Soviets.” The palace was planned more than 10 years ago, but only now has anything further been heard of it. . It will be built on the former site of the razed “ Cathedral of the Redeemer,” within view of the Kremlin towers, and has been designed as a giant pedestal for a statue of Lenin. When surmounted by this figure the building will be the tallest in the world, topping the Empire State skjswapei in New York by exactly 12ft. It will be here that all the mass meetings and mass spectacles will be held The auditorium, to be known as the “ Grand Hall,” is to be circular in shape, and will accommodate 20,000 people, allowing the greatest number of spectators to be seated as close as possible to the centre of action. The central part of this hall will be so constructed that it can be cleared of seats and converted into a vast central stage with a pit beneath it. The area of this Grand Hall is to cover 66,000 square feet-, with so high a dome that the audience will feel that it is sitting under the open sky. In addition to this main auditorium the “ Palace ” will contain a smaller ball capable of accommodating 6,000, mid will have the largest stage in the world. , To date Moscow has no indoor meeting hall seating more than 5,000 people. “ The Green Theatre ” in the Gorki Park of Culture and Rest, seats 20,000, but is an open-air theatre. Subordinate to the utilitarian needs which it will meet, but actually forming an integral part of the design, the “ Palace ” is to serve as Russia’s most ambitious monument to the Bolshevik leader, Lenin. Described as a “ pedestal building ” for the giant Lenin statue, the “ Palace ” is best visualised as a tiered structure something in the style of a wedding cake of 12 layers ol varying heights, finally surmounted by the' statue for which it serves as a base. This pedestal foundation is composed of terraces connected with the streets by ramps which become spaced entrances to the building. On the lowest levels of tiie building which the architect calls the pedestal door, will be found the cloakrooms, general offices, service rooms, and meeting rooms for the use of congress committees. Above the Grand Hall the plan calls for a huge panorama of the Russian revolution!

Each tier will he decorated with large sculptural groups, of which there will be 18 in all, leading up to the Lenin statue. Besides these there will be many smaller sculptural compositions. The material to be used for the facing of the building will he Tiflis stone, which is durable, extremely beautiful, and can be worked up in large masses. Separate details will he of marble and polished granite. The “ Palace of Soviets,” now apparently out of the blue print stage, has had a checkered history, complicated enough to be in proportion to the magnitude of the project. The plan received official recognition in 1923, when the Russian All-Union Congress decided to erect a monumental structure near the Kremlin' which would be more re-

representative of new Russia than the Kremlin, the ancient palace of the Tsars.

During the feverish years cjf social change that followed no concrete steps were taken to give reality’ to the project. It was not until 1931 that a Government commission selected the site of the Cathedral of the Redeemer for the new “ Palace.” The famous old church was then razed ami a world-wide competition for architectural designs announced.

Of the 172 competitors drawn fre almost every country in the world w submitted plans, two Russians and ;

American (Hector Hamilton) were awarded prizes, but no single design was thought entirely adequate. The Russian architect, Boris Yofan (who was also a contestant), was appointed to create a new design combining flu best features of those submitted by the other prize-winners. The design w;n finally accepted. When, in 1933, it was announced that work would begin on construction, a campaign of whispered criticism was levelled against the project as being fantastically ambitious in view of the shortage of steel, cement, and labour power. For several years afterwards little was heard of the “ Palace,” and rumour had it that the plan was either shelved indefinitely or entirely abandoned.