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Past exhibitions

Mother Tongue 09 March — 11 May 2019

Apparition of the Last Soviet Artist in London 16 October — 17 October 2018

ShadowMemory x Art Night Open 07 July — 08 July 2018

ShadowMemory х Ural Biennial 14 September — 12 November 2017

Postponed Futures 26 April — 24 June 2017

Destined To Be Happy 02 December 2016 — 28 February 2017

Superwoman: ‘Work, Build and Don’t Whine' 18 June — 15 October 2016

Unexpected Eisenstein 17 February — 30 April 2016

Between The Lines 26 January — 08 February 2016

Peripheral Visions 02 October — 30 November 2015

Bonobo 17 July — 30 August 2015

DNA Swap 05 June — 11 June 2015

Documenting Ukraine 14 May — 17 May 2015

Borderlands 20 March — 16 May 2015

Bolt 06 December 2014 — 28 February 2015

A Game in Hell. The Great War in Russia 27 September — 26 November 2014

Work and Play Behind the Iron Curtain 20 June — 31 August 2014

The Shabolovka Tower Model 31 May — 12 June 2014

Taint 08 April — 03 May 2014

Kino/Film: Soviet Posters of the Silent Screen 17 January — 29 March 2014

Utopia LTD 21 September — 20 December 2013

See USSR 07 June — 31 August 2013

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The Shabolovka Tower Model

The Shabolovka Tower Model

Reconstructed by Henry Milner

31 May — 12 June 2014      FREE ENTRY

Located in Moscow and designed over 90 years ago by the engineer Vladimir Shukhov, the Shabolovka Radio Tower remains an iconic feature of the city’s skyline. Henry Milner’s scale model of the original structure was commissioned by the Shukhov Tower Foundation for the Science Museum’s new Information Age gallery, which will open in London this autumn. It is on display at GRAD in six sections, as a model in progress, for a limited preview period.

The Shabolovka Tower Model

31 May — 12 June 2014

Reconstructed by Henry Milner
FREE ENTRY


Curated by Elena Sudakova

Exhibition design by Katya Sivers


Photographs by SOPHIA SCHORR-KON


After its completion in 1922, the 150-meter-high Shabolovka Tower was hailed as a landmark in architectural history, drawing comparisons to the work of Gustave Eiffel and attracting the interest of Aleksandr Rodchenko, who photographed it multiple times. Shukhov was the inventor of the diagrid hyperboloid structure, which he first used in 1896 for a water tower in Polibino. For the Shabolovka Tower, he stacked six steel-lattice hyperboloids, each of which was built on the ground inside the others and then raised into place. Milner’s six-part scale model allows a rare chance to appreciate first-hand the remarkable geometry, intricate latticework and inherent beauty of the structure’s design. Complementing the display are digital prints illustrating the workings of the modelmaking process, Milner’s own photographs of the original structure, as well as a selection of historical images.

Naum Granovsky

A view of Mytnaya Street in Moscow in the 1950s

Courtesy The Schusev State Museum of Architecture

Shukhov’s original design was for a 350-metre-tall structure that would dwarf the Eiffel Tower but would have only a third of its mass thanks to its innovative engineering. The use of the hyperboloid structure would give it an elegant, slim appearance, while guaranteeing strength and wind-resistance. The shortage of steel in the post-Revolutionary period did not allow Shukhov to fulfil his full ambition, but the Shabolovka Radio Tower became that rare thing: a revolutionary vision realised, unlike many idealistic Constructivist projects. It has since provided inspiration for countless architects, from Le Corbusier and Gaudi, to Niemeyer and Pei, and its influence continues in the digital age.


Despite its iconic status the tower currently faces demolition and an appeal to save it is supported by an array of prominent architects, engineers and arts professionals including Rem Koolhaas, Sir Nicholas Serota and Lord Norman Foster. The preview of the Shabolovka Tower model at GRAD aims to emphasise not just the importance of the tower to Russian culture but also Shukhov’s invaluable contribution to the history of design on an international level.

A view of Moscow from the Donskoy Monastery with the Shabolovka Tower in 1935

Courtesy The Schusev State Museum of Architecture

The shabolovka tower MODEL EVENTS

To mark this special sneak preview of the model, GRAD played host to a celebration and to an academic discussion, both of which brought some illustrious guests.

SEMINAR EVENT: SHUKHOV'S RADIO TOWER

12 June 2014

SEMINAR EVENT: SHUKHOV'S RADIO TOWER

6.30pm – 8.30pm
FREE ENTRY
Our closing event for the Shabolovka Tower Model exhibition brings together several experts who will discuss the significance of Vladimir Shukhov's achievement.
Amongst our guest speakers will be:
Prof. John Milner, Courtauld Institute;
Lutz Becker, Independent Art Historian;
Xenia Vytuleva, Columbia University;
Vladimir Shukhov, great-great-grandson of the tower's original creator and an architect himself;
Henry Milner, maker of the Shabolovka Tower model.
The talks will be followed by a panel discussion and drinks in the gallery, as well as a final opportunity to view the exhibition which closes the following day.

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Opening night

30 May 2014

GRAD joined forces with Russian Art and Culture to celebrate the opening of Russian Art Week and to present the Shabolovka Tower model to an invited audience. The evening was opened by an address from HE the Russian Ambassador, who was joined by Vladimir Shukhov, the grandson of the tower's creator.

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