Shukhov Tower
Moscow, Russian Federation

HEIGHT: 160m
COMPLETION: 1922
ARCHITECT: Vladimir Shukhov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Shukhov)

This piece of outstanding engineering and architectural design was built by the Russian engineer an scientist Vladimir Shukov in 1922, soon after Civil War, devastated the Russia. Originally planned at 300m tall, due to the shortage of steel in a post-war country the final height had to be decreased to 160m.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3394406416_9656d2f245_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/savovich/3394406416/)
by OmegaRus Holdings (http://www.flickr.com/photos/savovich/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/3394405148_d586f4cfa8_b.jpg
Shukhov Hyperboloid Tower Project of 350 meters

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2049/2334694304_f8079a0d15_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/one_drey/2334694304/)
by 1_drey (http://www.flickr.com/photos/one_drey/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3067916821_1ea6fe381b_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26973925@N06/3067916821/)
by Sony Chiba (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26973925@N06/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/2406272818_212b7b2d35_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mclipsco/2406272818/)
by MCLipsco (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mclipsco/)

8/10, nice one

Not my taste...
6.5/10

5/10

7/10

7.5/10

5/10

It gets too wide at the bottom

5.5/10

5.5/10

7/10

6.5/10

7/10

6/10 Innovative but I don't like the shape, yuck! X(

10/10

10/10

10/10 Shuhov the genius!

http://i35.tinypic.com/t9veht.jpg

[Source (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shukhov_Tower_030709a_photo_by_Arssenev.jpg)]

9.5

8/10

8/10

8/10

8/10

7/10 interesting.

8/10

7.5

Wowza! What a cool tower! 10

10/10

voted 6/10

I live not far from it. I set 6/10. In not my taste. Nothing to see at. Ostankino much more better, especially at night.

Lord Foster fires up campaign to save rusting Russian radio tower
Architect brands Lenin-commissioned structure as a work of 'dazzling genius' and inspiration that must be saved

Luke Harding in Moscow
guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/15/radio-tower-campaign-russia-foster)

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/4/16/1271411938484/Shukhov-tower-001.jpg

From a distance it looks a bit like an upturned wastepaper basket, soaring over the concrete skyline of southern Moscow.

The Russian capital's unique Soviet-era radio station was built in 1922 to spread the message of revolutionary communism around the world, but it is badly neglected and suffering from corrosion.

Now British architect Lord Foster has backed a campaign to save the 150-metre-high steel tower designed by the engineering genius Vladimir Shukhov.

In an open letter, Lord Foster describes the tower as "a structure of dazzling brilliance and great historical importance". Calling the structure Shukhov's masterpiece, Foster says it is the "first major landmark of the Soviet period".

Made up of a delicate lattice structure, the tower has five interlocking "hyperboloids", each smaller in size, giving the impression of an inverted telescope. The revolutionary design is an inspiration for several of Foster's own landmark projects including the Gherkin, or Swiss Re building, in the City of London.

Lenin commissioned the tower to adorn his new Soviet Union during a period of romantic optimism. It was built between 1919-1922. Nearly 90 years on, it is badly neglected and suffering from corrosion.

Russia's federal and local government are locked in dispute over which one of them should pay for repairs. Neither seems willing to stump up the cash.

In the meantime, Foster says, the structure is "neglected and dying" and without "faithful restoration" is doomed to fail. Several other leading European and US architects have backed Foster's letter, sent last month to the Moscow authorities. The art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon is another fan, and rode to the top in his recent BBC series on Russian art. Dixon-Smith hailed it as "one of the great monuments of the constructivist post-revolutionary period".

Today Shukhov's grandson, also called Vladimir, said the tower near Moscow's Shabolovskaya metro station was inaccessible and closed to visitors.

The idea was to restore it and turn it into a major Moscow tourist attraction, he said. Last year Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, expressed his support for the scheme, but since then nothing had happened, Shukhov said.

The steel framework had not undergone any anti-corrosion treatment for 20 years, he said, and was at risk of falling down. "We are in a very dangerous situation. There's been a lot of talk but no activity. You have the architectural equivalent of a diamond here, and yet nothing is being done to save it."

Under the headline "corroded masterpiece", Russia's Izvestiya newspaper contrasted official Russian indifference to the building's fate with Foster's vigorous campaign.

"Only foreigners care about its destiny," the paper said.

Russia's state TV and radio station – which owns the tower – had no money and even less desire to save it, the paper added.

Shukhov was one of the greatest structural engineers of the early 20th century and the leading engineer of his era in Russia.

He pioneered the use of new structural systems, creating hyperboloid structures of double curvature whose lightness and geometric complexity defy the imagination, even in the computer age. He also built Russia's first oil pipeline as well as numerous railway bridges.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/15/radio-tower-campaign-russia-foster

7.5/10

9/10

9.5/10

Great tower of Shukhov!!

Very original (8.5/10)

8/10

10/10 because it was built in 1922. A Pioneer Designer indeed.

Even Norman Foster is inspired by the genius in the Shukhov's work.

http://www.declankane.com/photos/AsiaJap/036_49_Kobe_tower_660.jpg
Kobe Tower in Japan, the Sukhov tower can become a tourist icon if implemented well.

8/10

7/10
The architect has a lot of courage.

7/10

3/10 Its an ugly (thing).

8/10

When I first looked at it I thought that it was some kind of tacky new-millenium tower, but then I saw the completion date and now I have to at least appreciate the inventive shape

7/10

6/10

10/10

10 - for 1922 year special

4/10

9/10