Statue of the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765) outside the Moscow State University (1755) in Moscow, Russia
Boris Iofan made a mistake placing his draft skyscraper right on the edge of Sparrow Hills. The site was a potential landslide hazard. He made a worse mistake by insisting on his decision and was promptly replaced by Lev Rudnev, a 53-year-old rising star of Stalin's establishment. Rudnev had already built high-profile edifices like the 1932-1937 Frunze Military Academy and the 1947 Marshals' Apartments (Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya, 28), which earned the highest credits of the Party. He set the building 800 meters away from the cliff. The building was constructed in part by several thousand Gulag inmates. When the construction was nearing completion, some inmates were housed on the 24th and 25th levels to reduce transportation costs and the number of guards required. The main tower, which consumed over 40,000 metric tons of steel, was inaugurated on September 1, 1953. At feet or 240 metres tall, it was the tallest building in Europe from its completion until 1990. It is still the tallest educational building in the world.
Size: 4368px × 2912px
Location: Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, Russia, Eastern Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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