On December 30, 1922, at the first Congress of Soviets, the creation of the USSR was proclaimed. Then S. M. Kirov put forward an ambitious idea - to build a Palace of Soviets, which would become a symbol of the country.
However, the implementation of the idea began only in 1931. At every stage - from the project to the preparation for implementation and the start of the grandiose construction - the Palace of the Soviets was a structure the likes of which did not exist in the world.
Struggle of architectural styles
In June 1931, a design competition was announced. A few months later, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was destroyed. The "obsolete", according to the plans of the authorities, had to give way to a new one. Both professional architects and ordinary citizens of the Union applied for the competition. Among the participants in the competition was also the great French architect Le Corbusier.
The works of B. Iofan, I. Zholtovsky and G. Hamilton entered the second round. All three projects were sustained in a monumental style. Later, a similar style will be called "Stalinist Empire". The choice of these projects marked the end of the era of Soviet constructivism - lightness and delicacy gave way to pomp and massiveness. Offended by the ignorance of his thoughtful project, Le Corbusier wrote: "The people love the royal palaces."
In 1933, the winner was determined - the construction was to be carried out according to the project of B. Iofan. But the winning sketch was very different from the final version.
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Idea transformation
The famous tower with the figure of Lenin was not on the first sketch: the Palace of Soviets looked like a complex of buildings, and the figure of the Liberated Proletarian was located on the tower. Gradually, the tower acquired a level structure, the accompanying buildings were removed. The height of the building was supposed to be 420 meters, of which 100 is the height of the statue.
The grandiose statue of Lenin (one finger of the leader was the size of a two-story house) on the top appeared only in 1939. The idea of making the building a pedestal did not belong to Iofan, but to the Italian Brasini. Iofan himself wanted to place the monument in front of the Palace, but the authorities liked Brasini's proposal.
In the central part of the Palace, a Great Hall for 22 thousand people was envisaged. The stage was in the middle, the audience ran like an amphitheater. A foyer, utility rooms, and the Small Hall were located next to it. In the high-rise part there were chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Presidium, offices.
Grandiose construction
According to the project, for the construction of the Palace and the entire infrastructure, it would be required to demolish almost all the historical buildings of Volkhonka. It was supposed to make a grandiose parking lot, an area filled with concrete, move the Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin.
At the construction site, for the first time in the USSR, a preliminary soil analysis was performed using core drilling - a number of wells were drilled to a depth of 60 meters and the composition of the soil was analyzed. The place turned out to be successful - on this territory there were dense limestones and a rocky "island". To prevent groundwater from undermining the foundation, bitumization was used for the first time: nearly 2000 wells were drilled around the pit, and bitumen was poured into them. Additionally, water pumping pumps were installed and an insulating cover was added.
For the final facing of the grandiose structure, a stone-processing plant was built, which later "helped" make Moscow granite: stone panels for the metro, bridges and houses were processed there.
For the production of concrete for the Palace, a plant was founded not far from it. The construction of the foundation (also designed in a special way - in the form of rings) required 550 thousand cubic meters of concrete. The diameter of each ring was about one and a half hundred meters. 34 columns were installed on them. The cross-sectional area of one column was 6 sq. m. A car could fit on such a column.
The frame of the building was created from a special steel grade specially created for construction - "DS". The auxiliary frame, which directs the load to the main frame, made of corrosion-resistant steel, is simpler. A plant was founded near the Lenin Hills, where the elements were prepared for assembly.
The main frame was decided to be mounted on concrete rings. To lift the beams, it was supposed to assemble cranes on these rings. The higher, the fewer cranes: the statue was to be installed by only one crane.
Final construction
The project was supposed to be completed by 1942. In 1940, the frame reached seven floors, but the war broke out. High-quality steel was required for the production of anti-tank hedgehogs, and the frame had to be dismantled. After the war, the country did not have the resources for such structures. The project was moved to Vorobyovy Gory, where the building of Moscow State University gradually grew instead of the Palace. The skyscrapers were based on Iofan's project, and the common features are clearly visible.
Another trace of the project is the metro station "Kropotkinskaya" - it was conceived as an underground lobby of the Palace and was built with maximum scope.