Status in use Completed 1953 Height 182 m Opened 1 September 1953 | Type Educational Opening 1953-09-01 Floors 36 Construction started 1949 | |
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Location 1 Leninskiye Gory, Moscow, Russia Management Moscow State University Architects Lev Rudnev, Sergej Chernyshov Similar Sparrow Hills, Kotelnicheskaya Naberezhnaya, Radisson Royal Hotel - Mo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of, Ostankino Tower | ||
Main building of moscow state university moscow russia stock photo
The Main building of Moscow State University (in Russian Гла́вное зда́ние МГУ), designed by Lev Rudnev, is the highest of seven Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow. It is utilized since its inauguration as headquarters of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.
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the main building of moscow state university on the star
Features
The skyscraper has 36 levels in its central part and is 240 metres (790 ft) tall. Its roof (182 metres (597 ft)) is topped by a 57-metre spire which ends with a 12-ton five-pointed star. Lateral towers are lower than the central one; two 18 and 9 storey dormitory wings define, with the central corpus of the complex, a cour d'honneur courtyard.
Among the statues which decorate the building can be remembered a Vera Muchina sculpture representing a couple of students and a statue of Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–1765), the founder of Moscow University, realized by N. Tomsky. University premises cover around 1,6 square kilometres; the complex was partially renovated in 2000.
History
The leading architect Boris Iofan bid for the skyscraper project in 1947 but the job was assigned to Lev Rudnev, because Iofan made a mistake placing his draft skyscraper right on the edge of Sparrow Hills, a site concerned with a potential landslide hazard. Rudnev had already built important edifices like the Frunze Military Academy (1932–1937 ) and the Marshals' Apartments (Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya, 28, 1947), earning esteem of the Communist Party. He set the building 800 meters away from the cliff. The chief of the engineers' team was Vsevolod Nikolaevich Nasonov.
The main tower, which consumed over 40,000 tons of steel for its framework and 130,000 cubic metres of concrete, was inaugurated on September 1, 1953. At 240 metres tall, it was the 7th tallest building of the world and also the tallest in Europe. Its European record lasted up to 1988, when it was surpassed by MesseTurm. It is still the tallest educational building in the world.
Moscow University is probably the best known of Lev Rudnev buildings, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949. The University skyline inspired various buildings in the socialist countries, like the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, and also the logo of 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.