Shukhov Tower

For other uses, see Shukhov tower on the Oka River.

Shukhov Tower Project of 350 metres, 1919.

Beneath the Shukhov Tower in Moscow. Currently under threat of demolition, the tower is at the top of UNESCO's 'Endangered Buildings' list, and there is an international campaign to save it.

The Shukhov radio tower (Russian: Шуховская башня), also known as the Shabolovka tower, is a broadcasting tower in Moscow designed by Vladimir Shukhov. The 160-metre-high free-standing steel diagrid structure was built in the period 1920–1922, during the Russian Civil War.

Structure

The Shukhov tower is a hyperboloid structure (hyperbolic steel gridshell) consisting of a series of hyperboloid sections stacked on one another to approximate an overall conical shape. The tower has a diagrid structure, and its steel shell experiences minimum wind load (a significant design factor for high-rising buildings). The tower sections are single-cavity hyperboloids of rotation made of straight beams, the ends of which rest against circular foundations.

The original plan was for a 350 m tall tower. This was reduced to 160 m because steel was in short supply in Russia during the time of its construction.

Location

The tower is located a few kilometres south of the Moscow Kremlin, but is not accessible to tourists. The street address of the tower is "Shabolovka Street, 37".

Possible demolition

As of early 2014, the tower faced demolition by the Russian State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, after having been allowed to deteriorate for years despite popular calls for its restoration. Following a concerted campaign calling for the preservation of the tower, it was announced in September 2014 that Moscow City Council had placed a preservation order on the tower in order to safeguard it. However, there is as yet no planned schedule for the required restoration work.

Models

There is a model of Shukhov's Shabolovka Tower at the Information Age gallery at the Science Museum in London. The model is at 1:30 scale and was installed in October 2014.

Gallery

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  2008

See also

• Hyperboloid structure
• List of hyperboloid structures
• Shukhov tower on the Oka River
• Constructivist architecture
• List of towers

References

(English)

• P.Gössel, G.Leuthäuser, E.Schickler; "Architecture in the 20th century"; Taschen Verlag; 1990; ISBN 3-8228-4123-4.
• Elizabeth C. English, “Arkhitektura i mnimosti”: The origins of Soviet avant-garde rationalist architecture in the Russian mystical-philosophical and mathematical intellectual tradition”, a dissertation in architecture, 264 p., University of Pennsylvania, 2000.

(German)

• “Vladimir G. Suchov 1853–1939. Die Kunst der sparsamen Konstruktion.”, Rainer Graefe und andere, 192 S., Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, 1990, ISBN 3-421-02984-9.
• Jesberg, Paulgerd Die Geschichte der Bauingenieurkunst, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart (Germany), ISBN 3-421-03078-2, 1996; pp. 198–9.
• Ricken, Herbert Der Bauingenieur, Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin (Germany), ISBN 3-345-00266-3, 1994; pp. 230.

(French)

• Picon, Antoine (dir.), "L'art de l'ingenieur : constructeur, entrepreneur, inventeur", Éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1997, ISBN 2-85850-911-5
• Fausto Giovannardi "Vladimir Shukhov e la leggerezza dell'acciaio" at www.giovannardierontini.it

External links

(English)

• Shukhov Tower in Moscow on YouTube
• The Shukhov's Radio Tower
• International campaign to save the Shukhov Tower in Moscow
• Shukhov Towers in Google Maps
• Shuhovskaya Tower at Structurae
• 3D model of the Shukhov Tower
• Views of the hyperboloid tower
• Invention of Hyperboloid Structures
• Shukhov Tower Foundation

(Chinese)

• Shukhov's Towers