Also known as: Ukraina Hotel Built: 1949-1955 Designed by: Architectural Studio of the Ministry of Construction of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Type: Hotel Stories: 34 Maximum Height: 558 feet / 170 meters Location: Kutuzovsky Prospect, Moscow, Russia
O ne of Moscow's "Seven Sisters" this building is one of the city's greatest examples of Stalinist architecture. Its spires and mass suggest power and stability. Yet it straddles the line between inspiration and communist utilitarianism. Now that the hard liners have fallen our of power, hopefully it will remain unchanged as an example of the type of mind set that governed Russia for so long. The building, itself, if festooned with propaganda. Huge concrete bundles of wheat curve around the sickle and hammer that was the symbol of the Soviet Union. The hotel occupies the central shaft. In keeping with communist ideals, the flanking rows of 8-10 storey buildings are apartments. Inside the lobby, the ceiling is decorated with murals of Soviet youth enjoying the fruits of Soviet values.
Architect: Arcady Mordvinov
1990: The Hotel Ukraine is the setting for the film The Russia House featuring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer.
October, 1993: The rooms facing the Russian parliament are evacuated when the army uses tanks to put down an attempted coup. The hotel faces the parliament building and there was fear that shrapnel, bullets, or debris could hit the hotel.
