The great-grandson of Vladimir Shukhov spoke out against the reconstruction of the Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka

The great-grandson of the great engineer Vladimir Shukhov, head of the Shukhov Tower Foundation, Vladimir Shukhov, was outraged by the reconstruction of the tower on Shabolovka in Moscow. A relative of the engineer shared his opinion in a conversation with Lenta.ru.

Shukhov Jr. believes that the chosen approach to saving the monument is unacceptable, since it will deprive the tower of the unique factors that make it historically valuable. “The tower on Shabolovka has three unique components: the structure itself - a hyperboloid of rotation 150 meters high, the construction method and the material. Therefore, if the tower is dismantled, then reassembled, or a new one is simply built, then at least two components of uniqueness will be lost,” explained the architect’s great-grandson.

The head of the foundation suggested that the simplified restoration plan was chosen because RTRS is not interested in actually saving the object. He noted that there are alternative ways: the tower can be mothballed until funds become available for a high-quality restoration that does not violate the authenticity of the monument.

According to Shukhov Jr., in order to truly preserve the structure, it is necessary to draw up a map of all its elements and gradually replace parts that have become unusable - this is how the restoration of any valuable object is carried out.

“No one takes some vase with cracks from the 16th century, just takes it to pieces, says “this won’t work, this won’t work,” and doesn’t put new pieces. Usually they try to preserve authentic material as much as possible,” concluded Shukhov Jr.

The current owner of the facility, the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS), plans to completely disassemble the tower according to the project of TsNIIPromzdaniy JSC and then reassemble it, replacing a currently unknown number of parts. Work should begin in October.