Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (One Stalin's Seven Sisters) in Moscow, Russia
This 172 meter, 27 story building was built between 1948 and 1953 and overseen by V. G. Gelfreikh and M. A. Minkus. Currently, it houses the offices for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade for the Russian Federation. The Ministry is covered by a light external stone wall with projecting pilasters and pylons and, according to architectural critic Maria Kiernan, was inspired by a neo-gothic New York city hospital. Its interior is splendidly decorated with stones and metals. According to the 1982 biography of Minkus, draft plans were first drawn up in 1946 and ranged from 9 to 40 stories. In 1947 two designs were proposed: one utilized layered setbacks while the other called for a more streamlined construction which culminated into a blunt rectangular top. The second proposal was accepted but as the Ministry's completion neared, a metal spire, dyed to match the building's exterior (and presumably ordered by Stalin), was hastily added to tower's roof, assimilating its silhouette with those of the other Sisters.
Size: 5242px × 3493px
Location: Old Arbat, Moscow, Russia
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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