American writer Elbert Green Hobbard said that two things are necessary for success: a clear plan and a limited time. In the case of the USSR, apparently, there was a plan, but not in everything and not always clear, and the time was too limited. As a result, it was not possible to build not only a superpower, but also its majestic monument, comparable in scale to the Tower of Babel - the Palace of Soviets in Moscow.
Palace of Soviets in Moscow: project.
Who knows, maybe the whole history of our country would have gone a different path if this building had been completed and functioned to this day? What could be this building, obliged to emphasize the scale and greatness of the achievements of the Soviet Union, and the important role of the administrative administration of the USSR? Let's plunge into the world of ideas for a short time, where it quietly exists along with the lost wonders of the world, not built ships and monuments; with heroes of novels and fantasy worlds; with unconfirmed theories … Just imagine what this fantastic Palace of Soviets could be.
Let's start with the fact that the building was designed in such a way that different departments (such as the State Archives and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet) could work in it at the same time. The first step towards developing the idea of such a building was a project competition in the 31st. It received 270 applications from creative teams, and even more personal applications: 160 works by professional architects, 100 civil works. In addition, 24 applications came from foreigners. This event was of such magnitude. However, the winners were determined only at the end of the second stage of the competition, in the 33rd year.
The project of Iofan B. M. was taken as a basis. (however, it is easy to guess how much the architect's idea was changed), and Gelfreich V. and Shchuko V. should have helped him. But, of course, they were far from the only ones whose ideas influenced this project.
The idea of decorating the roof with a statue of Lenin, for example, belonged to the Italian A. Brazini. As a result, the concept of the palace, created by Iofan, completely turned upside down: a huge statue began to look like the main one on this plan. As if it is not a sculpture that decorates the palace, but the palace is just a pedestal for her. Later, the architect Le Corbusier turned to Stalin with a request to abandon the construction of the palace according to such a plan, justifying it by the fact that such a building is a "decay of spirit", "an absurd thing." But the leader, of course, did not deviate from the plan.
Despite the fact that the year of graduation was assigned to the 42nd year, the work could not start earlier than the 31st year. There was simply no suitable place for such a huge building. But in 31st, when the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was blown up, a free space was found. Then, after clearing the explosion site, the digging of a huge pit began.
It is worth familiarizing yourself with the construction of the palace itself in more detail. Many of the existing buildings can envy such elaboration of the plan. This palace was not just a large building with a pompous design, it could have become the cultural and administrative center of all of Moscow! It is worth noting that such an idea was very risky in terms of security. Who puts all the eggs in one basket?
The land also did not help in the construction of the palace, namely, its capricious mixed composition at the building site and groundwater such that they could eventually destroy the concrete. So the requirements for the technical design were very high. They decided to fight the influence of groundwater with the help of bitumization. This process consists in drilling many wells around the future foundation, through which bitumen is pumped into limestone under high pressure at temperatures up to two hundred degrees. Thus, water was blocked from accessing the foundation.
The foundation was supposed to withstand a load of over 500 thousand tons. The strength was achieved due to the deep penetration. Thus, most of the load was transferred to the ground. The foundation was made up of two concrete rings with a diameter of 140 and 160 meters, a height of 20.5 and a thickness of 3.5 meters, and the foundation of the central part of the building alone required 100 thousand cubic meters of concrete. And all in all, for the common basement floor, it was necessary to build two thousand foundations with a total volume of 250 thousand cubic meters of concrete!
Foundation concreting.
The metal frame of the building was also not easy to manufacture, because it was necessary to fit into it the domed vault of a large hall, 130 meters in diameter and 100.6 meters high. And the support for this huge dome was supposed to be 64 columns, evenly distributed along the diameter in pairs. Naturally, the metal frame had to go through them too. I suppose it was not easy to build something like that on a smaller scale, but on a one-to-one scale it was fantastically difficult. After all, the weight of the metal frame of the Palace of Soviets according to the project was supposed to be about 200 thousand tons! One hundred thousand tons of this frame had to be made of a special grade of steel, which was even given a special name - "Steel of the Palace of Soviets". SDS came out 15% more expensive than an equal amount of regular construction steel, but it was much stronger and less susceptible to corrosion, which was undoubtedly worth it.
Construction of the Palace of Soviets.
The frame of the palace came out four times heavier than the frame of the Empire State Building. What newspapers soon wrote, wishing to be in time everywhere. Due to the complexity and size of the structure, it would have to be assembled in four approaches, not counting intermediate checks. The walls of the palace were to be assembled from hollow ceramic blocks due to the fact that they weighed significantly less than the same brick and at the same time had a positive effect on noise and heat insulation. The thickness of the walls was supposed to be the same everywhere - 0.3 meters.
In the building of the Palace of Soviets, they were going to place: the State Archives, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Museum of World Art, the library, the halls of both Chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the halls of the Civil War and the Building of Socialism. There was also supposed to be a parking lot near the palace with a capacity of five thousand cars, so the appearance of the city would have to be significantly changed.
The great hall of the palace was supposed to look like an amphitheater with a round arena for 20 thousand seats. Area - 12 thousand sq. meters, and the volume is 970 thousand cubic meters. Consequently, its volume should have been approximately the same as that of all auditoriums, theaters and cinemas in Moscow (of that time, of course) combined.
According to the project, places for the press, diplomats, the presidium and specially invited guests were specially designated in the Great Hall. The round arena during meetings, round tables and other important events, if necessary, could be occupied by a stall, and during entertaining performances (circus or theatrical) or during sports performances, it had to be freed from its seats. For convenience, the parterre platform could be easily lowered into the hold specially provided under it. In addition, entrance halls, smoking rooms and lobbies were planned. We can say that everything was calculated down to the smallest detail.
According to the plan, the area of the Small Hall was approximately equal to 3500 sq. meters and was supposed to accommodate more than five thousand people. Thus, this hall could have become the largest theater venue in all of Europe at that time. The stage area of the Small Hall is more than a thousand square meters. meters. Next to this hall, it was planned to locate four lecture halls with a total capacity of 1400 seats, and even a library with reading rooms and study rooms. That's really, in fact, the Palace!
Without powerful ventilation in the building, where it was supposed to fit so many people, it would be impossible to breathe, so it was designed for an average capacity of 1000 thousand cubic meters of air per hour. All heated and polluted air was supposed to collect under the dome, from where it should be drawn by powerful fans. The designers were also attentive to the air conditioning system: the regulation of temperature and air humidity had to be flawless.
On the basement floor, it was supposed to locate technical rooms: for the regulation of heating, ventilation, water supply and electricity supply, as well as medical services and the like. The holds of the halls arenas were also located here.
However, the designers paid special attention to the aspect of movement inside the palace, because it could hold up to 30 thousand people, and it was important to exclude the crush on the stairs, panic and accidents during emergencies. In addition, the volume of the building is enormous, and with a shortage of elevators and passages, people would have to make a big detour to get to the right place. So, apart from elevators for technical and household needs, 62 escalators and 99 elevators were to be installed inside the building. So, according to the planners' calculations, the evacuation of the filled palace could be accomplished in 10 minutes.
The external decoration of the Palace of Soviets, meanwhile, was planned in accordance with the idea of "Palace - a pedestal for a monument to Lenin." The metal, which was supposed to be used in the decoration of the facade, was supposed to be used in sculpting the statue, due to which the Palace of Soviets and the sculpture on it would be perceived as a whole and indivisible, even though the statue looks somewhat alien on the drawing. According to the plan, the height of the Lenin statue reached 100 meters, so for the history of architecture a palace with such a “roof” would be simply unique.
The total height of the Palace of Soviets, from ground level to its highest point on the head of the statue of V. I. Lenin (which, by the way, was instructed to sculpt Merkulov), according to the plan was 420 meters. And this is 13 meters higher than the Empire State Building, the tallest building in those years!
It seemed that nothing was impossible for the USSR. Indeed, in 1937, when the construction of this monumental building began, everything was subject to the iron hand of the authorities. Before the start of the war, they even managed to build it up to the height of the tenth floor of a residential building. However, due to the costs associated with the beginning of the Second World War, the construction was canceled, and all the metal trim and frame of the building had to be disassembled and given away as materials for the construction of strategically important bridges. After the war, the building was going to be completed, but then the race to create an atomic bomb began, then Stalin died, then …
So the project remained only on paper, in memories and comic references in films. Later, the Palace of Soviets was often criticized for its incompatibility with other historical buildings in Moscow, incompatibility with the surrounding urban architecture, for the "super-monumentality of forms" … Yes, the external design of the palace is discouraging, but it could still become a monument of its era, embodying its mores and scope.
Swimming pool at the site of the Palace of the Soviets.
The foundation of the palace was soon modified into an outdoor pool, which worked for many years, delighting Muscovites. And later, in its place, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was nevertheless restored. Yes, the temple on the cityscape looks much more familiar, and it's hard to argue with that.
Well, what if the Palace of the Soviets had been built after all? Most likely, the USSR collapsed even earlier due to the exorbitant costs of maintaining this bizarre building. But you must admit that it would be interesting to visit it, even after the fall of socialism, because it would undoubtedly be made available for excursions in any case. It seems to me that the Palace of Soviets could attract so many tourists that over time it would work out the costs of its construction. Even though now it hovers only in the world of ideas, together with an ideal society, maybe in today's Russia someday, looking back at the past, they will be able to create something equally grandiose, but more viable.
