Hole in the Ground

New York, decided the Russians, might conceivably be all right as a place to visit, but they sure wouldn't want to live there. The daily Vechernyaya Moskva took a long look at Manhattan's skyline and found it little more than "an accumulation of flat surfaces, a chaotic mass of styles, like monstrous stalagmites . . ." Furthermore, Manhattan's topless towers are dangerous and uncomfortable. On windy days, "lamps swing and water splashes . . . The inhabitants of the Empire State Building can hardly experience great pleasure when the tremendous building swings with the wind and one can clearly hear various noises, squeaking and cracking."

That Dearest Man. Pressagenting a plan for the erection of eight new Moscow skyscrapers (16 to 32 stories), Vechernyaya Moskva predicted that Moscow's skyline of the future will be festive and eye-pleasing, not at all like its American counterpart--not a sway or a crack in a block. Russian architects will avoid the "errors" of U.S. builders--the Soviet skyscrapers will not yield to the wind, but will stand "unshaken and firm."*

Vechernyaya Moskva ecstatically visualized the future: "Here we are in the vestibule of a new hotel. We enter a gallery and see Moscow. How it has changed! . . . It seems that all Moscow--graceful, light, majestic and solemn, rises over the world, gleaming with the inviting light of ruby stars. Great emotion floods the heart --emotion of great pride for the Motherland, for the Soviet people, for the creative labor inspired by the genius of that greatest and dearest man, Comrade Stalin."

Murder of the Cathedral. Muscovites were likely to control their emotion. They could remember Moscow's first attempt to build a skyscraper, the Palace of Soviets, which was to be the world's biggest and grandest edifice. "The monument will be erected on a square [near] the Moskva River embankment," stated the plan, sponsored by Molotov. "The said square will be enlarged by tearing down the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer."

Muscovites stood by disconsolately as their beloved cathedral with its huge golden cupola was razed to the ground. Workmen dug a gigantic pit, began to sink piles. Then suddenly they found that the ground was unsuitable, and suspended operations. That was some 15 years ago, and last week the gaping pit was still there. No matter what their press told them, Muscovites presumably still knew the difference between a skyscraper and a hole in the ground.

* American engineers learned long ago that a skyscraper must be constructed to sway slightly if it is not to crack under high wind pressure.

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