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The Seven Sisters are a group of seven skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style. The term "Seven Sisters" is neither used nor understood by the local population; Muscovites call them ''Vysotki'' or ''Stalinskie Vysotki'' ((ロシア語:Сталинские высотки)), meaning "(Stalin's) high-rises" (or "Stalinist skyscrapers"). They were built from 1947 to 1953,〔Some work definitely extended years beyond official completion dates〕 in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, and the technology used in building American skyscrapers.〔 The seven are: Hotel Ukraina, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments, the Kudrinskaya Square Building, the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs main building, the main building of the Moscow State University, and the Red Gates Administrative Building. There were two more skyscrapers in the same style that were never built: the Zaryadye Administrative Building and the Palace of the Soviets. ==History== The first Soviet skyscraper project, Palace of the Soviets, was interrupted by the German invasion of 1941, at which point the steel frame was scrapped in order to fortify the Moscow defense ring, and the site was abandoned. Between 1947 and 1956, Boris Iofan presented six new drafts for this site, and also for Vorobyovy Gory on a smaller scale — they were all rejected. In 1946,〔1946 attribution is tied to January 1947 decree on ''vysotki''〕 Stalin personally switched to another idea — construction of ''vysotki'', a chain of reasonably-sized skyscrapers not tarnished by the memories of the Comintern. As Nikita Khrushchev recalled Stalin's words, "We won the war ... foreigners will come to Moscow, walk around, and there are ''no skyscrapers''. If they compare Moscow to capitalist cities, it's a moral blow to us".〔This section is based on (Russian:) Хмельницкий, Дмитрий, "Сталин и архитектура", гл.11, ''Khmelnizky, Dmitry, "Stalin and Architecture", available (www.archi.ru )〕〔Own translation of Khmelnizky's citation of Khruschev's memoirs. Please find a published English translation and replace〕 Sites were selected in between January 1947 (the official decree on ''vysotki'') and September 12, 1947 (formal opening ceremony). Nothing is known about selection of construction sites or design evaluation; this process (1947–1948) was kept secret, a sign of Stalin's personal tight management. Old professionals like Shchusev, Zholtovsky etc., were not involved. Instead, the job was given to the next generation of mature architects. In 1947, the oldest of them, Vladimir Gelfreikh, was 62. The youngest, Mikhail Posokhin, was 37. Individual commissions were ranked according to each architect's status, and clearly segmented into two groups — four ''first-class'' and four ''second-class'' towers. Job number one, a Vorobyovy Gory tower that would become Moscow State University, was awarded to Lev Rudnev, a new leader of his profession. Rudnev received his commission only in September 1948, and employed hundreds of professional designers. He released his draft in early 1949. Dmitry Chechulin received two commissions. In April 1949, the winner of the Stalin Prize for 1948 was announced. All eight design teams received first and second class awards, according to their project status, regardless of their architectural value. At this stage, these were conceptual drafts; often one would be cancelled and others would be altered. All the buildings employed over-engineered steel frames with concrete ceilings and masonry infill, based on concrete slab foundations (in the case of the University building — 7 meters thick). Exterior ceramic tiles, panels up to 15 square meters, were secured with stainless steel anchors. The height of these buildings was not limited by political will, but by lack of technology and experience — the structures were far heavier than American skyscrapers.〔Russian: Горин, С.С., "Вершины сталинской эпохи в архитектуре Москвы", "Строительный мир", N4/2001 (''Gorin, S.S.'', Stalin-era architectural summits), (stroi.mos.ru )〕 The effect of this project on real urban needs can be seen from these numbers: *In 1947, 1948, 1949 respectively, Moscow built a total of 100,000, 270,000, and 405,000 square meters of housing. *The skyscrapers project exceeded 500,000 square meters (at a higher cost per meter)〔 In other words, the resources diverted for this project effectively halved housing construction rates. On the other hand, the new construction plants, built for this project (like Kuchino Ceramics〔Russian: (Moscow Skyscrapers )〕), were fundamental to Khrushchev's residential program just a few years later. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Seven Sisters (Moscow)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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