Lubyanka Building, Moscow

Posted on 07/05/2024 by Michael

The original building

Lubyanka Building

Lubyanka (Russian: Лубянка, ) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the Border Guard Service, (an agency of the FSB) and its affiliated prison, on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Neo-Baroque building with a façade of yellow brick designed by Alexander V. Ivanov in 1897 and augmented by Aleksey Shchusev from 1940 to 1947. It was previously the national headquarters of the KGB.

The Lubyanka was originally built in 1898 as the headquarters of the All-Russia Insurance Company (Rossiya Insurance Company). It is noted for its parquet floors and pale green walls. Belying its massiveness, the edifice avoids an impression of heroic scale: isolated Palladian and Baroque details, such as the minute pediments over the corner bays and the central loggia, are lost in an endlessly repeating palace façade where three bands of cornices emphasize the horizontal lines. A clock is centred in the uppermost band of the façade.

A fountain used to stand in front of the building, at the centre of Lubyanka Square. Following the Bolshevik Revolution the structure was taken over by the government in 1918 for use as the headquarters of the the Cheka. The prison is on the top floor, but since there are no windows on that floor, most prisoners, and therefore popular conception, thought they were being detained in its basement.

Lubyanka in 1961

In 1940, Aleksey Shchusev was commissioned to enlarge the building. By 1947, his new design had doubled Lubyanka’s size horizontally, with the original structure taking up the left half of the façade (as viewed from the street). He added another storey and extended the structure by incorporating backstreet buildings. Shchusev’s design accentuated Neo-Renaissance detailing, but only the right part of the façade was constructed under his direction in the 1940s, due to the war and other hindrances.

Lubyanka – 01

In 1958, the fountain at the centre of Lubyanka Square was replaced by a statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky (‘Iron Felix’), founder of the Cheka. This statue now stands, on its original plinth, in the Muzeon Art Park (Park of the Fallen).

The building’s asymmetric façade survived intact until 1983, when the original structure was reconstructed to match the new build, at the urging of Communist Party General Secretary and former KGB Director Yuri Andropov, in accordance with Shchusev’s plans.

Lubyanka during renovation in 1983

Although the Soviet secret police changed its name many times, their headquarters remained in this building. Secret police chiefs from Lavrenty Beria to Andropov used the same office on the third floor, which looked down on the statue of Cheka founder Felix Dzerzhinsky.

Lubyanka – 02

After the dissolution of the KGB in 1991, the Lubyanka became the headquarters of the Border Guard Service of Russia, as well as the Lubyanka prison, and is one directorate of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). A museum of the KGB (now called Историко-демонстрационный зал ФСБ России, Historical Demonstration hall of the Russian FSB) was opened to the public (but you have to get special permission to enter).

Text from Wikipedia.

Location;

2 Bolshaya Lubyanka Street.

GPS;

55.759204° N

37.62874° E

More on the USSR

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building – Moscow

Posted on 02/05/2024 by Michael

The apartment building on Kotyelnicheskaya embankment in Moscow

More on the USSR

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building is one of seven Soviet skyscrapers laid down in September 1947 and completed in 1952, designed by Dmitry Chechulin (then Chief Architect of Moscow) and Andrei Rostkovsky. The main tower has 32 levels (including mechanical floors) and is 176 metres (577 ft) tall. At the time of construction it was the tallest building in Europe.

Kotelnicheskaya – 02

The building also incorporates a 9-story apartment block facing Moskva River, designed by the same architects in 1938 and completed in 1940. Initially built with wet stucco wall finishes, it was re-finished in terracotta panels in line with the central tower and acquired ornate pseudo-Gothic crowns over its 12-story raised corners and centre tower. By the end of World War II, the side wing was converted to multi-family kommunalka housing, in contrast to the planned elite status of the central tower.

Kotelnicheskaya – 01

The central tower, of a conventional steel frame structural type, has a hexagonal cross-section with three side wings (18 stories, including two mechanical floors). While it is not exceptionally tall or massive, the ‘upward surge’ of five stepped-up layers, from a flat 9-story side wing to the spire, gives the impression of a more massive structure.

Architects;

Dmitry Chechylin and Andrei Rostkovsky

Completed;

1952

Floors;

Height;

176 m (577 ft)

Location;

On the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, at the confluence of the Mosva and Yaura Rivers, about 500 m north of Red Square.

GPS

55°44′50″N

37°38′34″E

More on the USSR

Kudrinskaya Apartment Building – Moscow

Posted on 02/05/2024 by Michael

Kudrinskaya Apartment Building

More on the USSR

Kudrinskaya Apartment Building

The Kudrinskaya Square Building is a building in Moscow, one of Seven Sisters of Moscow skyscrapers. Designed by Mikhail Posokhin and Ashot Mndoyants’

Kudrinskaya – 02

The building was richly decorated but lacked a unified stylistic direction. The parapets are in the ancient Roman style. The lobbies decorated with marble columns, stained-glass windows, and lamps in the form of candelabra are a reminiscence of Gothic interiors. The pointed turrets around the spire resemble the domes of an Eastern Orthodox church. On the roof of the stylobate, there are sculptural portraits of Soviet workers and soldiers.

Barrikadnaya Apartments – 1955

One of the stylistic features of the building were the stained glass windows, which are located in the halls above the lifts and the windows of the deli. Motifs from Russian folk culture were used in the design. The floors in the living rooms and corridors of the flats were laid with oak parquet, the bathrooms were tiled with metal tiles, and the kitchens with linoleum.

Kudrinskaya – 01

All the flats had refrigerators and built-in furniture in the kitchens. In addition to the ventilation system, the building had centralised air conditioning. The building was equipped with a centralized dust extraction system, which consisted of brushes and hoses located in each flat, piping running along with the building, and vacuuming stations installed in the basement. The collected dust was filtered and discharged into the sewage system, and the purified air was discharged into the street. Boilers were installed in the basement to provide heating for the whole building.

The skyscraper was laid down in 1950 and completed in 1954. It was the last of the Seven Sisters to be completed.

Kudrinskaya – 03

Its apartments were originally intended for cultural leaders of the former USSR; they are currently inhabited by wealthy Russians.

The building is starting to look a little frayed around the edges. A large room at the right hand side at the front appears to be abandoned and the windows have been broken and removed and replaced with cheap and badly installed wooden boards. At the back of the building what would have been a large shop is also now no longer used but appears to be, at least, in a reasonable physical condition.