Shukhov Tower

I finally (after many years) made it to the Shukhov (or Shabolovka) Tower today.  It's one of Moscow most iconic sights. However, the tower is not accessible to the public and one has to be content with taking photos over or through the fence.

The tower is in disrepair and in danger of collapsing on to surrounding apartment blocks. Consequently, there is a debate going on about whether or not to restore it. There's also a petition being run by the designer's great-grandson to save the tower.

The tower was designed by the Russian engineer, Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov, and commissioned in 1922.  The design was unique design for its times and the latticed steel structure combined strength and lightness.  Apparently it required only one third of the steel used for the equivalent height of the Eifel Tower in Paris.

The original design called for a tower of height of 350 meters. However, a shortage of steel during the Russian Civil War meant the design was curtailed to only 148,5 meters. Subsequent installation of "two beams and a flagpole" pushed the height to its current 160 meters.

The Shukhov Tower has served (and still does) as a support for the antennas of radio and TV stations and in its time became the symbol of the new society and one of Moscow's most spectacular works of avant-garde architecture.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed researching and writing it. I've read some very interesting history today - and in the process ticked off a long unmet ambition!