Lubyanka
Shchusev, Aleksey
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Alternative Titles
Former KGB Headquarters
Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB)
Date
1897Description
Context view looking west, depicting the isolation and mass of the building on Lubyanka Square; The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V. Ivanov in 1897 and augmented by Aleksey Shchusev in 1940-1947. The Lubyanka was originally built in 1898 as the Neo-Baroque headquarters of the All-Russia Insurance Company, noted for its beautiful parquet floors and pale green walls. In 1940, the most famous Soviet architect, Shchusev, was commissioned to double its size by adding another storey and engulfing backstreet buildings. Shchusev's design accentuated Neo-Renaissance detailing, but only the left part of the facade was reconstructed under his direction in the 1940s, due to the war and other hindrances. This asymmetric facade survived intact until 1983, when the symmetry was restored at the urging of Yuri Andropov in accordance with Shchusev's plans. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 6/22/2009)
Type of Work
office building; ministry (government office building)Subject
architectural exteriors, Nineteenth century, Baroque Revival
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only