Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building (A Stalinist Skyscraper): An Experiment in Residential Construction
Rubens Cortes
Spanish professor Rubens Cortes is based in Moscow and teaches at The Moscow School of Architecture (MARCH), where he is completing a doctorate on Stalinist Skyscrapers. According to Cortes, seven high-rise skyscrapers – along with the first metro lines – were intended to act as symbolic walls to surround the Kremlin during the Soviet era. The existing high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment is the only example of these to be constructed, and was designed by the architect Dmitry Chechulin. In his talk, Cortes will explain the architectural history of the monument’s construction, for whom it was designed and the unprecedented way in which Chechulin combined his knowledge of American skyscrapers with Soviet ideologies of the time.
Meeting point: entrance to the Illusion Cinema, the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building, 1/15 Kotelnicheskaya Embankment.
Availability is limited. Please register in advance by calling +7 (495) 645-0520.
Rubens Cortes is an architect, designer and teacher at the Moscow School of Architecture (MARCH). He is the author of numerous articles in architectural journals and the winner of international awards in architecture and design.
