Construction and use in the Soviet Union In 1965, construction of the House of Soviets began to accommodate the administrative bodies of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) at this site. The overall design follows Chechulin's 1934 draft of the
Aeroflot building. Initially, Chechulin proposed constructing the building on
Taganka Square, which rises above a significant part of the city, as the site on the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment was inconvenient due to nearby buildings; however, because of the good view alongside the high bank of the
Moskva River, the current location was chosen instead. The House of Soviets was the first multi-storey building in which a uniformly shaped prefabricated
reinforced concrete frame with monolithic stiffness cores was used. Outside, the structure was lined with individual claydite concrete panels, which were previously finished with marble. The total area of the complex was 732,000 square meters, with a total area of office space around 132,000 square meters. The building was designed with a complex three-level system of underground floors, where parking, bunkers, ventilation chambers and refrigeration equipment were located. The structure was equipped with a separate sewerage and an autonomous power supply system. There is a theory that the building is connected by underground passages to subway tunnels, but official sources do not confirm or refute this information. According to the memoirs of one of the builders, Felix Mikhailovich Ashurov, when installing the flagpole, Dmitry Chechulin ordered it to be shortened by three meters for a more harmonious combination of proportions; however, due to possible delays, workers were ordered to install the already prepared bar in secret from the architect over a weekend. Construction was completed in 1981, with a total cost exceeding 94 million
rubles. After the completion of the project, team leader Dmitry Chechulin, architect Vitaly Mazurin, and designer Yuri Dykhovichny were awarded the
Lenin Prize. From 1981 to 1993, the
Supreme Soviet of Russia, which had until then held its sessions in the
Grand Kremlin Palace, used the White House. The Supreme Soviet of Russia remained in the building until the end of the
Soviet Union in 1991, as well as during the first years of the
Russian Federation. In 1991 the Soviet Union issued a 50-kopeck stamp depicting the White House and honoring resistance to the
1991 Soviet coup attempt.
Role in 1991 coup d'état attempt In August 1991, the House of Soviets became the center of a confrontation against the
State Committee on the State of Emergency. The opposition was headed by Russian president
Boris Yeltsin, in support of whom large-scale rallies were held around the building. By August 20, approximately two hundred thousand people had gathered around the structure including public and political figures
Ruslan Khasbulatov,
Ivan Silayev,
Alexander Rutskoy,
Eduard Shevardnadze,
Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
Mstislav Rostropovich,
Andrey Makarevich, and others. The building was not stormed, presumably due to the possible number of civilian and military casualties. During this period, rallies were held in different parts of Moscow, which caused armed skirmishes, and the territory around the building was recognized as a particularly dangerous zone. At a meeting of the
General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it was decided to storm the House of Soviets, after which President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on attracting troops from the
Ministry of Defense to Moscow. During the seizure of the building, six tanks from the Taman Division that were placed on the
Novoarbatsky Bridge fired 12 shells at the upper floors of the building. Arkady Baskaev, who was appointed commandant of the House of Soviets after the assault, said that the fire in the building of the Supreme Soviet arose as a result of shelling from tanks. Subsequently, Alexander Rutskoy described the incident as follows: Because of the shelling, a fire began on the 12th and 13th floors of the White House. The fire covered the entire upper part and destroyed 30% of the total area of the building, later the damage was estimated at 170 billion rubles. The situation in the White House after the assault was described by a correspondent of the
Kommersant newspaper:
Ruslan Khasbulatov, referring to eyewitness letters in
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, states that there were about 1,500 victims in total, whose bodies were taken out of the building in secret passages.
End of the 20th century and the present Following the events of the 1993 constitutional crisis, control of the building was transferred via a decree by Boris Yeltsin to the
Government of the Russian Federation (the executive branch), under whose control the reconstruction of the building took place. During the restoration work, the clock on the tower of the main facade of the building was restored and reused; however, by the second half of 1994, the clock was dismantled and a golden image of a double-headed eagle – the
coat of arms of Russia – had been installed in its place. During this, the building was fenced off from the embankment with a massive fence that prevented rallies at the walls of the building. Nevertheless, protesters continued to gather next to the White House on the Humpback Bridge. In 1996, on the territory of the nearby Presnensky Park, a chapel was opened in memory of those who died in the House of Soviets. Restoration work was carried out for almost a year, and in 1994 the repaired complex was occupied by the Government of the Russian Federation. In 2008, there was a large-scale reconstruction of the fifth floor of the building. At the same time, some media outlets reported on the construction of a swimming pool and gym within the building, but official sources did not confirm this information. A year later, a private restaurant was opened on the twelfth floor of the complex. In 2012, plans were made to move the offices of the officials to a new federal center in
Kommunarka, but this idea was postponed indefinitely. The following year, a helipad was installed near the building. In September 2020, the press service of the Government of the Russian Federation reported that the condition of White House was recognized as an emergency, citing issues with the roof and leaks in the basement among other issues. The Russian government has planned to allocate more than 5 billion rubles for reconstruction purposes. ==Architecture==