V. G. Shukhov was the first in the world to use steel mesh shells for the construction of buildings and towers. Subsequently, high-tech architects, the famous Buckminster Fuller and Norman Foster, finally introduced mesh shells into modern construction practice, and in the 21st century, shells became one of the main means of shaping avant-garde buildings.

Shukhov introduced the form of a single-sheet hyperboloid of rotation into architecture, creating the world's first hyperboloid structures.

In 1876 he graduated with honors from the Imperial Moscow Technical School (now Moscow State Technical University) and completed a one-year internship in the USA.

Main areas of activity of V. G. Shukhov

• Design and construction of the first oil pipelines in Russia, development of theoretical and practical foundations for the construction of main pipeline systems.
• Invention, creation and development of equipment and technologies for the oil industry, cylindrical oil storage tanks, river tankers; introduction of a new method of oil airlift.
• Theoretical and practical development of the fundamentals of petroleum hydraulics.
• Invention of a thermal oil cracking unit. Design and construction of an oil refinery with the first Russian cracking units.
• Invention of original gas tank designs and development of standard designs for natural gas storage facilities with a capacity of up to 100 thousand cubic meters. m.
• Invention and creation of new building structures and architectural forms: the world's first steel mesh shells and hyperboloid structures.
• Development of methods for designing steel structures and structural mechanics.
• Invention and creation of tubular steam boilers.
• Design of large urban water supply systems.
• Invention and creation of sea mines and platforms of heavy artillery systems, bateauports.

Member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Lenin Prize (1929). Hero of Labor (1932).

Development of the oil industry and thermal engines

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov is the author of the project and chief engineer of the construction of the first Russian oil pipeline Balakhany - Black City (Baku Oil Fields, 1878), built for the oil company "Br. Nobel". He designed and then supervised the construction of oil pipelines of the Br. Nobel”, “Lianozov and Co.” and the world’s first heated fuel oil pipeline. Working in the oil fields in Baku, V. G. Shukhov developed the basics of lifting and pumping oil products, proposed a method for lifting oil using compressed air - airlift, developed a calculation method and technology for constructing cylindrical steel tanks for oil storage facilities, and invented a nozzle for burning fuel oil.

In the article “Oil Pipelines” (1884) and in the book “Pipelines and Their Application in the Oil Industry” (1894), V. G. Shukhov gave precise mathematical formulas to describe the processes of oil and fuel oil flow through pipelines, creating the classical theory of oil pipelines. V. G. Shukhov is the author of the projects of the first Russian main pipelines: Baku - Batumi (883 km, 1907), Grozny - Tuapse (618 km, 1928).

In 1896, Shukhov invented a new water-tube steam boiler in horizontal and vertical versions (patents of the Russian Empire No. 15,434 and No. 15,435 dated June 27, 1896). In 1900, his steam boilers were awarded a high award - at the World Exhibition in Paris, Shukhov received a gold medal. Thousands of steam boilers were produced using Shukhov's patents before and after the revolution.

Around 1885, Shukhov began building the first Russian river barge tankers on the Volga. Installation was carried out in precisely planned stages using standardized sections at the shipyards in Tsaritsyn (Volgograd) and Saratov.

V.G. Shukhov and his assistant S.P. Gavrilov invented an industrial process for producing motor gasoline - a continuously operating tubular thermal cracking unit for oil (patent of the Russian Empire No. 12926 dated November 27, 1891). The installation consisted of a furnace with tubular coil heaters, an evaporator and distillation columns.

Thirty years later, in 1923, a delegation from the Sinclair Oil company arrived in Moscow to obtain information about oil cracking, invented by Shukhov. The scientist, having compared his 1891 patent with American patents of 1912-1916, proved that American cracking plants repeat his patent and are not original. In 1931, according to the design and technical leadership of V. G. Shukhov, the Soviet Cracking oil refinery was built in Baku, where for the first time in Russia Shukhov’s patent for the cracking process was used to create installations for the production of gasoline.

Creation of building and engineering structures

V. G. Shukhov is the inventor of the world's first hyperboloid structures and metal mesh shells of building structures (patents of the Russian Empire No. 1894, No. 1895, No. 1896; dated March 12, 1899, declared by V. G. Shukhov 03/27/1895 - 01/11/1896 ). For the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod, V. G. Shukhov built eight pavilions with the world's first mesh-shell ceilings, the world's first steel membrane ceiling (Shukhov Rotunda) and the world's first hyperboloid tower of amazing beauty ( was purchased after the exhibition by philanthropist Yu. S. Nechaev-Maltsov and moved to his estate Polibino (Lipetsk region), preserved to this day). The shell of a hyperboloid of revolution was a completely new form, never before used in architecture. After the Nizhny Novgorod Exhibition of 1896, V. G. Shukhov developed numerous designs of various mesh steel shells and used them in hundreds of structures: floors of public buildings and industrial facilities, water towers, sea lighthouses, masts of warships and power line supports. The 70-meter mesh steel Adzhigol lighthouse near Kherson is the tallest single-section hyperboloid structure by V. G. Shukhov. The radio tower on Shabolovka in Moscow became the tallest of the multi-section Shukhov towers (160 meters).

“Shukhov’s designs complete the efforts of 19th century engineers in creating an original metal structure and at the same time point the way far into the 20th century. They mark significant progress: the core lattice of the traditional spatial trusses, based on the main and auxiliary elements, was replaced by a network of equivalent structural elements" (Sch?dlich Ch., Das Eisen in der Architektur des 19.Jhdt., Habilitationsschrift, Weimar, 1967 , S.104).

Shukhov also invented arched roof structures with cable ties. The arched glass vaults of V. G. Shukhov’s coverings over the largest Moscow stores have survived to this day: the Upper Trading Rows (GUM) and the Firsanovsky (Petrovsky) Passage. At the end of the 19th century, Shukhov, together with his employees, drafted a new water supply system for Moscow.

In 1897, Shukhov built a workshop with spatially curved mesh sail-shaped steel shells of double-curvature floors for the metallurgical plant in Vyksa. This workshop has been preserved at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant to this day. This is the world's first arched convex ceiling with double curvature.

From 1896 to 1930, over 200 steel mesh hyperboloid towers were built according to V. G. Shukhov’s designs. No more than 20 have survived to this day. The water tower in Nikolaev (built in 1907, its height with a tank is 32 meters) and the Adzhigol lighthouse in the Dnieper estuary (built in 1910, height - 70 meters) are well preserved.

V. G. Shukhov invented new designs of spatial flat trusses and used them in designing the coverings of the Museum of Fine Arts (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), the Moscow Main Post Office, the Bakhmetyevsky Garage and numerous other buildings. In 1912-1917 V. G. Shukhov designed the floors of the halls and the landing stage of the Kievsky station (formerly Bryansk) in Moscow and supervised its construction (span width - 48 m, height - 30 m, length - 230 m).

During the First World War, V. G. Shukhov invented several designs of sea mines and platforms of heavy artillery systems, and designed the bathoports of sea docks.

Construction in 1919-1922. towers for the radio station on Shabolovka in Moscow was the most famous work of V. G. Shukhov. The tower is a telescopic structure 160 meters high, consisting of six mesh hyperboloid steel sections. After an accident during the construction of a radio tower, V. G. Shukhov was sentenced to death with a suspended sentence until the completion of construction. On March 19, 1922, radio broadcasts began and V.G. Shukhov was pardoned.

Regular broadcasts of Soviet television through transmitters at the Shukhov Tower began on March 10, 1939. For many years, the image of the Shukhov Tower was the emblem of Soviet television and the screensaver of many television programs, including the famous “Blue Light”.

Now the Shukhov Tower is recognized by international experts as one of the highest achievements of engineering art. International scientific conference “Heritage at Risk. Preservation of 20th Century Architecture and World Heritage,” held in April 2006 in Moscow with the participation of more than 160 specialists from 30 countries, in its declaration named the Shukhov Tower among seven architectural masterpieces of the Russian avant-garde recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In 1927-1929 V.G. Shukhov, taking part in the implementation of the GOELRO plan, surpassed this tower structure by building three pairs of mesh multi-tiered hyperboloid supports for crossing the Oka River of the NiGRES power line in the area of ​​the city of Dzerzhinsk near Nizhny Novgorod.

The Shukhov Towers in Moscow and on the Oka River are unique monuments of Russian avant-garde architecture.

The last major achievement of V.G. Shukhov in the field of construction technology was the straightening of the minaret of the ancient Ulugbek madrasah in Samarkand, which tilted during an earthquake.

last years of life

The last years of Vladimir Grigorievich’s life were overshadowed by the repressions of the 30s, constant fear for his children, unjustified accusations, the death of his wife, and leaving service under pressure from the bureaucratic regime. These events undermined his health and led to disappointment and depression. His last years are spent in solitude. He received only close friends and old colleagues at home, read and reflected.

Photo gallery of designs

Hyperboloid grids of the Shukhov towers on the Oka River, bottom view, 1989

Shukhovsky metal-glass landing stage of the Kievsky railway station in Moscow

Railway bridge designed by Shukhov across the Ashe River near Sochi, 1989

Metal-glass floors of GUM designed by Shukhov, Moscow, 2007

Named in honor of Shukhov and bear his name

• Hyperboloid mesh towers corresponding to the patent of V. G. Shukhov, built in Russia and abroad.
• Belgorod State Technological University named after V. G. Shukhov
• Shukhov Street in Moscow (Former Sirotsky Lane). Renamed in 1963. On it (the street) there is the famous Shukhov radio tower.
• Street in Tula
• Park in the city of Grayvoron
• School in the city of Grayvoron
• Gold medal named after V. G. Shukhov, awarded for the highest engineering achievements
• Auditorium named after Shukhov at the Moscow Architectural Institute

Memory

• On December 2, 2008, a monument to Vladimir Shukhov was unveiled on Turgenevskaya Square in Moscow. The team of authors who worked on the monument was headed by Salavat Shcherbakov. Shukhov is immortalized in bronze, in full growth with a roll of drawings and a cloak draped over his shoulders. Bronze benches are installed around the monument. Two of them are in the form of a split log with a vice, hammers and other carpentry tools lying on them; another one is a structure of wheels and gears.
• On the territory of TsNIIPSK named after. A bust of Shukhov was erected by N.P. Melnikov.
• In 1963, a USSR postage stamp dedicated to Shukhov was issued.

• Memory of Shukhov

Monument to Shukhov in Moscow

Monument to Shukhov in Belgorod

USSR postage stamp

Publications

• Shukhov V.G., Mechanical structures of the oil industry, “Engineer”, volume 3, book. 13, No. 1, pp. 500-507, book. 14, No. 1, pp. 525-533, Moscow, 1883.
• Shukhov V.G., Oil pipelines, “Bulletin of Industry”, No. 7, pp. 69 - 86, Moscow, 1884.
• Shukhov V.G., Direct-acting pumps and their compensation, 32 pp., “Bul. Polytechnic Society", No. 8, appendix, Moscow, 1893-1894.
• Shukhov V.G., Pipelines and their application to the oil industry, 37 pp., Ed. Polytechnic Society, Moscow, 1895.
• Shukhov V.G., Direct action pumps. Theoretical and practical data for their calculation. 2nd ed. with additions, 51 pp., Ed. Polytechnic Society, Moscow, 1897.
• Shukhov V. G., Rafters. Research of rational types of rectilinear trusses and the theory of arched trusses, 120 pp., Ed. Polytechnic Society, Moscow, 1897.
• Shukhov V.G., The combat power of the Russian and Japanese fleets during the war of 1904-1905, in the book: Khudyakov P.K. “The Path to Tsushima”, pp. 30 - 39, Moscow, 1907.
• Shukhov V. G., Note on patents on the distillation and decomposition of oil at elevated pressure, “Oil and shale economy”, No. 10, pp. 481-482, Moscow, 1923.
• Shukhov V.G., Note on oil pipelines, “Oil and shale economy”, volume 6, no. 2, pp. 308-313, Moscow, 1924.
• Shukhov V.G., Selected works, volume 1, “Structural mechanics”, 192 pp., ed. A. Yu. Ishlinsky, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 1977.
• Shukhov V.G., Selected works, volume 2, “Hydraulic engineering”, 222 pp., ed. A. E. Sheindlina, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1981.
• Shukhov V.G., Selected works, volume 3, “Oil refining. Thermal engineering", 102 pp., ed. A. E. Sheindlina, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1982.

Inventions of V. G. Shukhov

• 1. A number of early inventions and technologies of the oil industry, in particular, technologies for the construction of oil pipelines and reservoirs, are not formalized by privileges and are described by V. G. Shukhov in the work “Mechanical structures of the oil industry” (magazine “Engineer”, volume 3, book 13, No. 1, pp. 500-507, book 14, No. 1, pp. 525-533, Moscow, 1883) and subsequent works on structures and equipment of the oil industry.
• 2. Apparatus for continuous fractional distillation of oil. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 13200 dated December 31, 1888 (co-author F.A. Inchik).
• 3. Airlift pump. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 11531 for 1889.
• 4. Hydraulic reflux condenser for distillation of oil and other liquids. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 9783 dated September 25, 1890 (co-author F.A. Inchik).
• 5. Cracking process (installation for oil distillation with decomposition). Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 12926 dated November 27, 1891 (co-author S. P. Gavrilov).
• 6. Tubular steam boiler. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 15434 dated June 27, 1896.
• 7. Vertical tubular boiler. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 15435 dated June 27, 1896.
• 8. Mesh coverings for buildings. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 1894 dated March 12, 1899. Cl. 37a, 7/14.
• 9. Mesh arched coverings. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 1895 dated March 12, 1899. Cl. 37a, 7/08.
• 10. Hyperboloid structures (openwork tower). Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 1896 dated March 12, 1899. Cl. 37f,15/28.
• 11. Water tube boiler. Privilege of the Russian Empire No. 23839 for 1913. Class. 13a, 13.
• 12. Water tube boiler. USSR Patent No. 1097 for 1926. Class. 13a,13.
• 13. Water tube boiler. USSR Patent No. 1596 for 1926. Class. 13a, 7/10.
• 14. Air economizer. USSR Patent No. 2520 for 1927. Class. 24k, 4.
• 15. A device for releasing liquid from vessels with lower pressure into a medium with higher pressure. USSR Patent No. 4902 for 1927. Class. 12g,2/02.
• 16. Cushion for sealing devices for pistons of dry gas tanks. USSR Patent No. 37656 for 1934. Class. 4 s, 35.
• 17. A device for pressing sealing rings for pistons of dry gas tanks against the tank wall. USSR Patent No. 39038 for 1938. Class. 4 s.35

Brilliant Russian engineer

Today in Russia everyone knows the name of the American inventor Edison, but only a few know who Vladimir Shukhov is, and yet his inventive gift is incomparably higher and more significant. For decades, the merits of the Russian genius were hushed up and downplayed.

Intuitive insight and fundamental scientific erudition, ideal engineering logic and deep spirituality are organically combined in the work of Vladimir Grigorievich.

Vladimir Shukhov was born in the Belgorod district of the Kursk province. His brilliant mathematical abilities manifested themselves very early, and therefore the choice of profession for the young man was not difficult. The most fundamental physico-mathematical training was provided at that time by the Moscow Imperial Technical School, and Vladimir Shukhov entered there.

The atmosphere that reigned there did not at all encourage students to be creative: petty supervision, infringement of basic rights, barracks discipline - but despite everything, Vladimir Grigorievich worked so brightly and selflessly that several prominent scientists and teachers of the school began to single him out. Having received a gold medal upon graduation and an offer to stay on to teach, the young man expresses a desire to be part of a scientific delegation to go to America, to the World Exhibition of Industrial Achievements. On this trip, Shukhov met the Russian emigrant A.V. Bari, an outstanding engineer and talented manager who had been living in the USA for several years. Transatlantic impressions of railways and metallurgical plants, technical innovations and architectural wonders influenced all subsequent work of Vladimir Grigorievich.

Late 1870s - Russia is on the verge of rapid industrial takeoff. Many enterprising Russians living in other countries flocked to their homeland, among them A.V. Bari, who at that time held the post of chief engineer of the Nobel Brothers Partnership. He attracted the promising young Shukhov, who had liked him so much back in America, to cooperate. This symbiosis of a successful manager and a brilliant engineer lasted 35 years and brought enormous benefits to Russia.

For the first time, Vladimir Shukhov carried out, for example, industrial flaring of liquid fuel using a nozzle he invented, created a universal method for calculating water pipelines, and according to his designs, about 200 towers of original design were built in Russia and abroad, including the famous Shabolovskaya radio tower in Moscow, under His leadership designed and built about 500 bridges across the Oka, Volga, Yenisei and other rivers of our country. He designed the rotating stage of the Moscow Art Theater and figured out how to save the famous minaret of the Samarkand madrasah... Only from 1880 to 1895, Vladimir Shukhov received nine patents that have not lost their significance to this day. The All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896 was a true triumph of the engineering thought of this “man of the Renaissance,” where more than four hectares of area were built up with his designs, each of which was an achievement of science and technology.

And after the October Revolution, large-scale matters were in store for Shukhov’s powerful intellect. All major construction projects of the first five-year plans of the Country of Soviets were associated with the name of Vladimir Grigorievich - Magnitka and Kuznetskstroy, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant and the Dynamo Plant, the restoration of facilities destroyed during the civil war, the first main pipelines...

Vladimir Shukhov's relations with the new government were far from cloudless, but it never occurred to him to leave his country, to go to calm Europe, where the great engineer was repeatedly invited. “We must work regardless of politics. Towers, boilers, rafters are always needed,” this was the position of Vladimir Grigorievich.

Today, in the 21st century, the memory of the great inventor, engineer, citizen Vladimir Shukhov must be preserved for future generations, for whom it will be important to know that many of the greatest discoveries of the past and the century before last came to us not from overseas or from Europe, but were born a Russian genius, a patriot of his Fatherland.

Much of what Vladimir Grigorievich did was “for the first time in the world.” A simple enumeration of the areas of his activity is amazing: steam boilers and oil refineries, pipelines and oil storage tanks, water towers and oil barges, blast furnaces and metal floors of workshops and public buildings, grain elevators and railway bridges, lighthouses and tram depots, factories. refrigerators and mines, and much more, very different.

Almanac "Great Russia. Personalities. Year 2003. Volume II", 2004, ASMO-press

Inventor of nozzles - Shukhov Vladimir Grigorievich

Today in Russia, probably everyone is familiar with the name of the American inventor Edison, but only a few know V.G. Shukhov, whose engineering and inventive gift is incomparably higher and more significant. The reason for ignorance is the unforgivable sin of many years of silence. We are obliged to eliminate the lack of information about our outstanding fellow countryman. V. G. Shukhov is for us and for the whole world the personification of genius in the art of engineering, just as A. S. Pushkin is rightfully recognized as the poetic genius of Russia, P. I. Tchaikovsky is its musical pinnacle, and M. V. Lomonosov - a scientific genius. The work of Vladimir Grigorievich organically combines intuitive insight and fundamental scientific erudition, subtle artistic taste and ideal engineering logic, sober calculation and deep spirituality

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov was born in 1853 in the town of Grayvoron, Kursk province, and spent his childhood here. He lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. His contemporaries called him “an academician of engineering rank,” and his descendants called him “one of the best engineers of all times.” This is not an exaggeration. Nature has given V.G. an unusually generous gift. Shukhov's talents, bright and multifaceted. Builders consider him the greatest specialist in the field of structural mechanics; petrochemists - the creator of the oil industry; power engineering - an outstanding heating engineer. A simple listing of his areas of interest and areas of practical activity is sufficient. As a student in the first special class, Vladimir Grigorievich made his first practically valuable invention: he developed his own design of a steam nozzle for burning liquid fuel and made its experimental model in the school workshops. This invention was highly appreciated by D.I. Mendeleev, who even placed an image of Shukhov’s nozzle on the cover of the book “Fundamentals of the Factory Industry” (1897). The principles of this design system are still used today. According to experts, the Shukhov nozzle already at that distant time - and it began to be produced on an industrial scale in 1880 - was not only economical, but also solved the environmental problem of burning oil in the most environmentally friendly manner. According to Shukhov's system, steam boilers, oil refineries and cracking installations, pipelines, oil tanks, oil and water pumps, nozzles, barges for transporting oil, air heaters, spatial rod systems and suspended metal ceilings were created. V.G. Shukhov was not only an engineer-inventor, but also the author of projects for many buildings and structures: blast furnaces, forges and copper foundries, sleeper rolling plants, grain elevators, railway bridges, hangars, overhead cranes, aerial cableways, lighthouses, radio towers, power transmission masts , chimneys... He showed his talent in a very special area: in 1932 (he was then almost eighty years old), the engineer, using an original and bold method, straightened the famous minaret of the Ulugbek Madrasah in Samarkand, damaged by an earthquake.

We still, sometimes unconsciously, benefit from the results of his engineering genius. When we drive a car, we don’t really think about the fact that the cracking process for producing gasoline was proposed by Shukhov. When we are in Moscow, we go to the world famous GUM or the Kyiv railway station and admire the almost weightless and reliable ceilings of these and many other structures with an area of ​​up to several thousand square meters, the author of which is V.G. Shukhov. The symbol of the Shukhov buildings is the Shabolovskaya Tower, which has been used for more than 85 years to install antennas for sound and television broadcasting and still remains in operation. This design is recognized by international experts as one of the highest achievements of the art of construction and is classified as a world cultural heritage site.

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov is called differently. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, this was the only way - the First Engineer of Russia. As he himself said, he owes this high title to the fact that from the very beginning of his engineering career he REFUSED TO IMITATE AND REPEAT FOREIGN SAMPLES and began to create in an original, purely Russian style, relying on the best traditions of Lomonosov, Mendeleev, Kazakov, Kulibin. All his engineering and scientific solutions are based on the experience of the people, on the achievements of Russian scientists: Zhukovsky, Chebyshev, Chaplygin, Letniy, Markovnikov. The originality and progressiveness of his engineering solutions made it possible for Russia to resist the expansion of foreign technical thought and overtake it for many years. “Man - factory” was called during his lifetime, because he alone, with just a few assistants, was able to accomplish as much as a dozen research institutes could do. So, Shukhov’s incomplete “alphabet”, invented, calculated and created by him. We all know these technical creatures. But few people know, unfortunately, that they were first created by a Russian and in Russia!

A - familiar aircraft hangars;

B - oil barges, butoports (huge hydraulic gates);

B - aerial cable cars, so popular in the ski resorts of Austria and Switzerland; the world's first free-hanging metal floors for workshops and stations; water towers; water pipelines in Moscow, Tambov, Kyiv, Kharkov, Voronezh;

G - gas holders (gas storage facilities);

D - blast furnaces, high-rise chimneys made of brick and metal;

F - railway bridges over the Yenisei, Oka, Volga and other rivers;

Z - dredgers;

K - steam boilers, forge shops, caissons;

M - open hearth furnaces, power transmission masts, copper foundries, overhead cranes, mines;

N - oil pumps, which made it possible to extract oil from a depth of 2-3 km, oil refineries, the world's first oil pipeline, 11 km long!!! It was built in Baku: “Balakhany - Black City”;

P - warehouses, specially equipped ports;

R - the world's first cylindrical radio towers, including the well-known Shukhovskaya in Moscow;

T - tankers, pipelines;

Ш - sleeper rolling plants;

E - elevators, including “million-dollar” ones in Saratov and Kozlov.

DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS, dear readers?! NO SYNONYMS HERE. Each "letter" includes many variations and types. Each of them could become a source of national pride for any nation.

After all, for example, the entire oil industry in Azerbaijan was able, in principle, to rise, and is now holding on only thanks to the inventions of the Russian Engineer Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov! What about Azerbaijan, Russian industry rose from devastation in the 20-30s largely thanks to its inventions and engineering developments. He did not emigrate anywhere and despised the idea. He was always only with Russia! Shukhov brilliantly spoke three foreign languages, considered it impossible for himself to sit in the presence of a woman; he made hundreds of inventions, but only patented 15 of them - he had no time to do this. And he wrote only 20 scientific papers, because he worked and worked for practice, for life, which constantly threw tasks at him.

By the way, the Americans were the first to steal Shukhov’s patent for an oil refinery installation. After all, this installation opened a new era in oil refining and the production of gasoline and all other components from it. The American “inventors” of such a device called themselves Barton, Dabbs, Clark, Hall, Ritman, Ebil, Gray, Grinsith, McCom, Isom. America “didn’t remember” about Shukhov’s patents. The second who stole his inventions were the Germans. And when Shukhov, outraged by the unceremonious theft of his ideas for oil tanks already implemented in Russia, wrote a letter to a certain German engineer Stiegletz, he received a sweet answer: “It is unlikely that the famous engineer Shukhov will be especially important for him to have this issue recognized.” This is what civilized countries do with Russian inventors when they really need it. But still, the Americans shocked Shukhov in this sense. And not some overseas swindlers, but completely respectable rich people. In the hungry year of 1923, a commission from Sinclair, a competitor of Rockefeller (a familiar name) in the oil business, came to Shukhov in Russia. The official goal of the commission is to find out the real priority of the invention of cracking, that is, that same oil refining. Sinclair was unhappy that Rockefeller appropriated the right to use it only for his company. Shukhov in a conversation, as they say, on his fingers, with documents, proved his priority. Do you know what the “respected” Americans did? At the end of the conversation, they took out wads of their dollars from their briefcase and placed the sum of $50,000 in front of Shukhov. In general, they decided that the Russian brilliant engineer would immediately prostrate himself in front of their money. Shukhov turned purple and said in an icy voice that he was satisfied with the salary he received from the Russian state, and the gentlemen could take the money

February 2 marks the 75th anniversary of the death of the Russian genius Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov. Engineers and architects all over the world call him Russian Leonardo. The famous Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka is recognized as one of the architectural masterpieces of the Russian avant-garde and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. By the way, the unusual hyperboloid design inspired the writer Alexei Tolstoy to write the novel “The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin.”

And yet, today in Russia few people know about Shukhov. Perhaps in connection with the tower on Shabolovka. But he is included in the list of the 100 most outstanding engineers of all time. First of all, the mere enumeration of the areas of his activity is striking. In addition to various architectural structures, he created steam boilers, oil refineries, pipelines, nozzles, liquid storage tanks, pumps, gas tanks, water towers, oil barges, blast furnaces, metal floors of workshops and public buildings, grain elevators, railway bridges, aerial cableways roads, lighthouses, tram depots, refrigeration plants, landing stages, mines, etc. According to his designs, more than 500 bridges were built in our country; almost all major construction projects of the first five-year plans are associated with his name: Magnitka, Kuznetskstroy, Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, Dynamo Plant and even the rotating stage of the Moscow Art Theater, etc.

Today "RG" talks about six great creations of Vladimir Shukhov.

1. Tower on Shabolovka. This masterpiece by Shukhov was erected in 1919-1922. The Bolsheviks timed its construction to coincide with the opening of the Genoa Conference. It was important for the government of the RSFSR, which did not have international recognition. According to the original design, the tower was supposed to have a height of 350 meters, surpassing the famous Eiffel design by 50 meters. But a shortage of metal during the Civil War forced the height to be reduced to 160 meters. One day an accident occurred, and Shukhov was sentenced to suspended execution with a suspended sentence until the completion of the work. In 1922, radio broadcasting began.

Shukhov was the first in the world to use mesh shells and hyperboloid structures in construction. Due to this, his 350-meter-high tower should have weighed only 2,200 tons, which is more than three times less than the weight of Eiffel’s creation. Shukhov's ideas became a revolution in architecture, it acquired amazing lightness, and gained the opportunity to create a wide variety of structures, sometimes of bizarre shape.

2. The world's first hyperboloid design in Polibino. The world first became acquainted with the work of Vladimir Shukhov in the summer of 1896 at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition - the largest in pre-revolutionary Russia, which was held in Nizhny Novgorod. For it, the architect built eight pavilions with mesh ceilings and a hyperboloid tower, which became his calling card. It attracted the attention of not only the townspeople, but also the glass king Yuri Nechaev-Maltsev, who purchased it at the end of the exhibition and took it to his estate in Polibino, in the Lipetsk region. The 25-meter structure still stands there today.

3. GUM. Shukhov used an innovative approach to the floors and roofs of buildings in the Main Department Store (formerly Upper Trading Rows), built opposite the Kremlin. The glass roof of GUM is the work of a great master. Its construction took more than 800 tons of metal. But, despite such impressive figures, the semicircular openwork roof seems light and sophisticated.

4. Pushkin Museum named after A.S. Pushkin. The engineer was faced with a difficult task. After all, the project did not provide for electric lighting of the exposition. The halls were to be illuminated by natural light. Therefore, it was necessary to create durable roof coverings through which the sun's rays could enter. The three-tier metal and glass roof created by Shukhov is today called a monument to an engineering genius.

5. Kyiv railway station in Moscow. Construction was carried out for several years, from 1914 to 1918, in conditions of metal and labor shortages. When the work was completed, the glazed space above the platforms, 230 meters long, became the largest in Europe. The canopy of the Kievsky station was a metal-glass ceiling, which rested on steel arches. Standing on the platform, it’s hard to believe that a structure weighing about 1,300 tons towers above you!

6. Tower on the Oka. In 1929, on the low bank of the Oka between Bogorodsk and Dzerzhinsk, according to Shukhov’s design, the world’s only multi-section hyperboloid power transmission towers were installed. Of the three pairs of structures that supported the wires, only one has survived to this day.

Shukhov’s creations were appreciated all over the world during his lifetime, but even today his ideas are actively used by famous architects. The best architects of the world - Norman Foster, Basminster Fuller, Oscar Niemeyer, Antonio Gaudi, Le Corbusier based their work on Shukhov's designs.

The most famous example of the use of Shukhov's patent is the 610-meter television tower in the Chinese city of Guangzhou - the world's tallest mesh hyperboloid structure. It was erected for the 2010 Asian Games to broadcast this important sporting event.

V.G. Shukhov, 1890s.

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov (1853-1939) – engineer.

"The first engineer of the Russian Empire" V.G. Shukhov. This title of engineer is now devalued, but then such people were the pride of Russia.

After graduating from high school in 1871, Vladimir planned to enter the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. He was interested in astronomy and wanted to study celestial mechanics. But there was no money for training. The educational institution that accepted students on full support turned out to be the Imperial Technical School. Now it is called Moscow State Technical University (MSTU). The severity of the regime in the boarding school was combined with advanced teaching methods. The school produced first-class specialists.

In 1876, Vladimir Shukhov graduated from college with a Gold Medal, receiving the title of mechanical engineer. The famous mathematician P.L. Chebyshev invited me to become his assistant. But he wanted to build and chose a career as an engineer. Instead of celestial mechanics, he began to study earthly mechanics. As the best graduate, he was sent on a business trip to the USA for a year.

The turning point in Shukhov’s life was the arrival of his American friend A.V. to Russia. Bari. In 1880, he founded a company called "Construction office of engineer A.V. Bari." Shukhov became its chief engineer. In addition to her, Bari had a boiler plant near the Simonov Monastery.

The collaboration between the outstanding organizer and the great engineer continued until the sudden death of Bari in April 1913. Shukhov continued to work in the same “office” even after its nationalization in 1918. In total, Shukhov worked in it for about fifty years. Since the beginning of the 20th century. The office was located in the house Myasnitskaya, 20.

Vladimir Shukhov was, as he put it, “a man of life.” It combined scientific, cultural, “technological” and everyday interests. He was interested in astronomy, the life of plants and animals, and knew chemistry, physics, and geology. He loved literature, music, rode a bicycle well, and played chess. He was engaged in carpentry and turning work. To top it all off, he spent his entire life taking photographs. Referring to his professional activities, he said: “I don’t think of an engineer outside of culture. Without familiarizing yourself with Pushkin, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, nothing can be achieved.”

There are significant events in a person’s life. Shukhov had such an event in 1885: he met his first love. She turned out to be eighteen-year-old Olga Knipper, a future famous artist. At that time, she became friends with his sisters. Fate turned out to be merciful to Shukhov; the hobby did not continue.

In 1886, during a business trip to Voronezh, Shukhov met, again eighteen years old, Anya Medintseva. The green-eyed brunette captivated Vladimir at first sight. But the path to family happiness was long. Vladimir’s mother rebelled, believing that her son was worthy of a more profitable match. Vladimir was very worried. But he didn’t give up his own. In the summer of 1888, he brought his chosen one and rented a four-room apartment for her on Novaya Basmannaya Street, in a house opposite the Church of Peter and Paul. Shukhov recalled the time of disunity between the two families with horror. But Vladimir’s persistence and the support of Anna’s family helped them survive difficult times: in 1894, Vladimir and Anna got married. They had a long, interesting life ahead of them.

American entrepreneur and Russian engineer

The construction of a radio tower is an event that would last another person for the rest of his life. Moreover, the conditions in which I had to work were not conducive to participation in new projects. But engineer Shukhov stayed to create. For some time he was engaged in the restoration of bridges destroyed during the Civil War, many of which were familiar to him: he designed about four hundred bridges. And in 1920-1930. he developed designs for the workshops of the Dynamo plant, several metallurgical plants, and carried out work for the brainchild of N.E. Zhukovsky TsAGI, provided assistance to the builders of the first metro lines. And this at 75 years old!

In 1929, he became an honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and received the V.I. Prize. Lenin, and in 1932 he was awarded the title of Hero of Labor. From nomination for election as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences V.G. Shukhov refused.

In 1934, Shukhov moved to house 16, newly built by the Scientific Workers cooperative, on Zubovsky Boulevard. Shukhov did not like the apartment itself: construction defects, small area, poor heating. But I liked the place:

• Zubovsky Boulevard at that time was still really a boulevard with centuries-old trees. And Shukhov loved to wander around it with his wife. Remember, about fifty years ago he brought Anya Medintseva. And now they were together;
• diagonally from the new housing, on the corner of Smolensky Boulevard and 1st Neopalimovsky Lane, stood a mansion that once belonged to him. Native places.

On February 2, 1939, a fire broke out in his apartment from a fallen candle. Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov died from his burns.

Shukhov in Moscow

If we talk about Russia as a whole, it is interesting to remember that Shukhov stood at the origins of what is now called the fuel and energy complex: he developed Russia’s first oil pipeline, created the world’s first oil barges, and invented the cracking process for producing gasoline. The list could take a long time. If we talk about the city, it may seem that at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Without his participation, not a single house could be built that required complex engineering structures:

• Arkhangelsky, 13. In this house V.G. Shukhov lived and worked in 1918-1934.
• Architect Vlasov, 49. Research and design institute of building metal structures. The institute was created at the construction office of A.V. Bari. The chief engineer was V.G. Shukhov. A bust of Shukhov was erected on the territory of the institute.
• Baumanskaya 2-ya, 5. Imperial Moscow Technical School. In 1876, Shukhov graduated from college with a Gold Medal, receiving the title of mechanical engineer.
• Volkhonka, 12. Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin was built in 1898-1912. Shukhov developed a glass roof and heating system.
• Zubovsky Boulevard, 16-20. Residential building of the cooperative "Scientists" (1934). V.G. spent the last years of his life in one of the apartments of the house. Shukhov.
• Kamergersky, 3. Moscow Art Academic Theater. In the theater, Shukhov created the most complex technical device: a multi-tiered rotating stage.
• Kievsky Station Square, 1. Kyiv Station. Built in 1912-1917. Shukhov designed the transparent ceilings of the platform hall, 321 m long and 47 m wide - one of the few wonders of Shukhov available for viewing. It is still impressive.

V.G. Shukhov. Brilliant Russian engineer-inventor.

1. Trying on "Pythagorean pants". Shukhov's ancestors, both on his mother's and father's sides, were in one way or another connected with military affairs. Mother, Vera Kapitonovna, is the daughter of second lieutenant Podzhidaev of the Russian army; her father’s ancestor received a personal title of nobility for participating in the Battle of Poltava. The military environment is demanding, striving for order, and the ability to cope with life's difficulties. Along with this, the desire to study and learn something new was encouraged in the family. My father was fluent in several languages, knew history very well, was interested in art, his close friend was the famous surgeon N.I. Pirogov. But, nevertheless, nothing foreshadowed the birth of a brilliant engineer in the family.

Vera Kapitonovna Shukhova.

True, the mother was an amazing person; she had a special heightened intuition bordering on clairvoyance. And my father is a successful lawyer with clear logical thinking.

Grigory Petrovich Shukhov.

It was the ability to think logically and special mathematical intuition that led young Shukhov to his first success. As a 4th grade student at the Fifth St. Petersburg Gymnasium, he found a new proof of the Pythagorean theorem. The teacher looked at the portrait of the great scientist and shrugged: “Correct, but... immodest!”

"Pythagorean Pants"

2.Theory or practice?

Vladimir Shukhov. Youth.

It could be considered immodesty refusal of tempting proposals to stay at the Moscow Imperial Technical School (MITU, in the future Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School) after graduation in order to prepare for a professorship. Vladimir entered the school on the advice of his father in 1871. MITU is the best technical university in Russia. Studying is incredibly difficult: a crazy program that combines fundamental physical and mathematical training with mastery of applied crafts necessary for a practicing engineer, the most stringent requirements for students, strict academic discipline. Student Shukhov not only easily copes with the curriculum, he has the strength and time to invent. As a student in the first special class, Vladimir Grigorievich made his first practically valuable invention: he developed his own design of a steam nozzle for burning liquid fuel and made its experimental model in the school workshops. This invention was highly appreciated by D.I. Mendeleev, who even placed an image of Shukhov’s nozzle on the cover of the book “Fundamentals of the Factory Industry” (1897). The principles of this structural system are still used today.

Shukhov is in good standing with the school’s teachers, including N.E. Zhukovsky, A.V. Letnikov, D.N. Lebedev. It was N.E. Zhukovsky makes a flattering offer to the young mechanical engineer about joint scientific and teaching activities at the school after receiving a diploma. By the way, Shukhov did not have to prepare a diploma project. He was awarded the title of engineer “based on the totality” of his educational merits. And the famous Russian mathematician P. L. Chebyshev, an honorary member of the MITU pedagogical council, invites Shukhov to work at St. Petersburg University, in the department of mathematics. Shukhov again refuses. Not out of pride. Choosing between theory and practice, he chose “life,” and for him life was precisely practice.

Moreover, it was a wonderful time - the “golden age” of technology. Industry developed rapidly, posing more and more new tasks and problems for engineers. It was necessary to work at the intersection of technical “genres”, and this required encyclopedic knowledge, non-standard, sometimes paradoxical thinking and “animal” technical intuition. Engineers were a commodity; Shukhov was unique in terms of talent, education, and ability to work.

Moscow Imperial Technical School.

3. Shukhov - Bari. Who makes money from whom?

His future employer, Alexander Veniaminovich Bari, an American entrepreneur with Russian roots, immediately understood this. And he literally grabbed hold of him. They met in America, where Shukhov came for a year-long internship after IMTU. And the next year Bari was already in Russia, where he opened his own office, offering Shukhov the position of chief engineer. And Shukhov, who rejected more prestigious work, agreed. Moreover, the money he was given was not very large. The company flourished, its annual turnover reached 6 million rubles per year. The amount was fabulous for those times. The prosperity of the office had virtually no effect on Shukhov’s fees.

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov.

Alexander Veniaminovich Bari.

"My personal life and the life and fate of the office were one whole... They say A.V. Bari exploited me. This is right. Legally, I always remained a hired employee of the office. My labor was paid modestly in comparison with the income that the office received from my labor. But I also exploited him, forcing him to carry out even my most daring proposals! I was given the choice of orders, spending funds in the agreed amount, selecting employees and hiring workers. In addition, A.V. Bari was not only a clever entrepreneur, but also a good engineer who knew how to evaluate the novelty of a technical idea. Which of the entrepreneurs of that time would have undertaken the construction of the pavilions of the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition in six months, if they, even when built, raised doubts about their reliability? I had to endure wage injustices for the sake of engineering creativity.

My main condition for working in the office is to win a profitable order under the contract, and at the expense of a lower one. than competitors, costs and shorter execution times, and at the same time provide the office with a profit no lower than that of other offices. The choice of the competition theme is up to me."

Bari paid Shukhov for ideas, for knowledge, and ultimately for profit. Shukhov, without demanding a lot of money, paid for his own happiness with his talent - the opportunity to engage in projects that were interesting to him.

4. Chekhov's rival.

Money was never something particularly important for Vladimir Grigorievich. Not when he was a “free, unmarried Cossack,” nor when in 1893, at the age of 40, he married 19-year-old Anna Nikolaevna Medintseva and “grew up” with a large family. His wife came from an ancient but impoverished Akhmatov family, being, by the way, a distant relative of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova. Despite her youth and the age difference with her husband, Anna Nikolaevna turned out to be a very wise woman and managed to create a good family and a wonderful home.

Dining room in the house of V.G. Shukhov in Skaterny Lane. 1900. At the table, Vladimir Grigorievich’s mother Vera Kapitonovna and wife Anna Nikolaevna.

Vera and Sergei Shukhov in a house on Smolensky Boulevard. 1912.

But there was another romantic story in the life of Vladimir Grigorievich. His first love is Olga Leonardovna Knipper, the future wife of A.P. Chekhov. Young Olga was friends with his sisters. Their romance lasted two years and left a deep mark on their souls. “I entered the stage with the firm conviction that nothing would ever tear me away from it, especially since the tragedy of the disappointment of my first young feeling passed in my personal life...” - Olga Leonardovna wrote in her memoirs.

O.L. Knipper.

Olga Leonardovna Knipper (center), V.G. Shukhov’s sisters Olga (left) and Alexandra, Konstantin Leonardovich Knipper at the dacha in Vishnyaki. 1885.

5. From grateful oil workers. In the 90s of the 19th century, Shukhov was forced to change the climate for health reasons and, on a “tip” from A.V. Bari, went south to Baku. Baku was then the oil capital of Russia. Although the oil industry was just getting back on its feet. Kerosene used for lighting purposes was considered a valuable component of oil. Gasoline was sold in pharmacies as a stain remover. Lubricating oils made from petroleum were also not in demand. Many problems arose. It is not clear what to do with the huge amount of waste material - fuel oil. Where to store oil, how to transport it? Don’t carry it on donkeys and camels in wineskins, spilling exactly half of it on the way to your destination. The general impression of the oil production process with his characteristic imagery was expressed by M. Gorky: “The oil fields remained in my memory as a brilliantly made picture of a gloomy hell. This picture suppressed all the fantastic inventions of a frightened mind that were familiar to me...”

This is the state of affairs that Shukhov found when he arrived in Baku to improve his health.Vladimir Grigorievich, who cannot tolerate creative downtime, got down to business. And in a short time the “oil girl” was fully “equipped”.

The transformations affected the entire chain: production, storage, transportation, processing.

When extracting oil, Shukhov proposed using compressed air, wittily calling his invention an airlift - an air lift. I solved the storage problem by building large riveted tanks that were as cheap and economical as possible. Transportation relied on three pillars: tankers for transportation across the Caspian Sea, huge riveted river barges and oil pipelines. Oil tankers were built according to Shukhov's drawings. For oil pipelines, Shukhov developed and put into practice the basics of oil hydraulics. The “Shukhov Formula”, which substantiates the most rational way of pumping oil through an oil pipeline, is still used today.

Finally, the first steam nozzle for burning oil and oil waste was put into production and the cracking process was patented - a method for producing gasoline and keratin from oil residues by splitting large molecules into smaller ones at high temperature and under pressure. Shukhov received a patent in 1891. But grateful humanity was able to appreciate all the genius of the invention of the cracking process later, 25 years later, when a huge number of insatiable cars appeared, demanding gasoline, gasoline, gasoline...

Ancient riveted oil tank Shukhovan railway station in the city of Vladimir

6. “Hyperboloid of engineer Shukhov” - crooked from straight or at the forefront of the avant-garde. Shukhov often “worked for the future,” ahead of his time. Although, he never invented anything just like that, “out of nothing to do.” He called himself a "man of life." Life was his main muse. She posed questions to him, she helped him find answers. He often learned from nature. “What looks beautiful is durable. The human eye is accustomed to the proportions of nature, and in nature what survives is what is strong and purposeful.” A simple basket of willow twigs, turned upside down, gave Shukhov the idea of ​​​​creating openwork structures, and his fundamental mathematical education “allowed” him to recognize a hyperboloid of rotation in it. This is how Shukhov’s famous steel mesh shells and hyperboloid towers were born, in which curved surfaces are formed by straight elements.

The “debut” of mesh shells as components of buildings took place at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod. This was a completely extraordinary event, which was supervised by Emperor Nicholas II. There was a lot to see. Suffice it to say that at this exhibition, or rather next to it, for example, the famous “Princess of Dreams” by Vrubel was exhibited. Nevertheless, Shukhov’s pavilions were the most popular. Huge pieces of iron web “incorporeally” hanging above my head stunned my imagination. The most amazing thing was that this web was still “draped” in bizarre folds.

Construction of an oval pavilion with a mesh steel hanging covering for the All-Russian Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod, photo by A. O. Karelina, 1895

V. G. Shukhov built eight pavilions with the world’s first ceilings in the form of mesh shells, the world’s first ceiling in the form of a steel membrane (Shukhov Rotunda) and the world’s first hyperboloid tower of amazing beauty (it was purchased after the exhibition by philanthropist Yu. S. Nechaev-Maltsov and moved to his estate Polibino (Lipetsk region), has survived to the present day.

Rotunda Shukhov at the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition. 1896.

The world's first hyperboloid Shukhov tower, Nizhny Novgorod, photo by A. O. Karelina, 1896

This was a real breakthrough, not only in engineering, but also in architecture. It was Shukhov’s architectural ideas that were picked up by such famous architects as A. Gaudi, La Corbusier and O. Niemeyer. They used hyperboloid structures in their work. And representatives of much later high-tech, Buckminster Fullery and Norman Foster, finally introduced mesh shells into modern construction practice, and in the 21st century shells became one of the main means of shaping avant-garde buildings...

By the way, the Shukhov Tower is now recognized by international experts as one of the highest achievements of engineering art. And the International Scientific Conference “Heritage at Risk. Preservation of 20th Century Architecture and World Heritage,” held in April 2006 in Moscow with the participation of more than 160 specialists from 30 countries, in its declaration named the Shukhov Tower among seven architectural masterpieces of the Russian avant-garde recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Radio tower on Shabolovka.

Shukhov also invented arched roof structures with cable ties. The glass vaults of V. G. Shukhov over the largest Moscow stores have survived to this day: the Upper Trading Rows (GUM) and the Firsanovsky (Petrovsky) Passage.

Metal-glass floors GUM designed by Shukhov, Moscow

GUM floors.

Hotel "Metropol"

Hotel "Metropol". Interior.

And V.G. Shukhov came up with new designs of spatial flat trusses and used them in designing the coverings of the Museum of Fine Arts (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), the Moscow Main Post Office, the Bakhmetyevsky Garage and other numerous buildings. In 1912-1917 V. G. Shukhov designed the floors of the halls and the landing stage of the Kievsky railway station (formerly Bryansk) in Moscow and supervised its construction (span width - 48 m, height - 30 m, length - 230 m).

Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin.

Moscow post office.

7. Give me a point of support and I... will put the tower of Ulugbek in place. In 1417-1420, a remarkably beautiful madrasah of the famous eastern astronomer and mathematician Ulugbek was built in Samarkand. It was bordered by two minarets. Time passed and the minarets went on a spree. Especially the northeast one. It deviated from the vertical by more than 1.5 m. The people of Samarkand looked at it with alarm, rightly fearing that one fine day the minaret would collapse on their heads. In 1918 it was secured with cables. The wind howled in the cable-strings of the “damn guitar,” as the Samarkand residents now called the minaret. It got on their nerves. And it is unknown how it would have ended if Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov had not come to the aid of the exhausted Samarkand residents in 1932. He decided to return the minaret to its original position. He was 79 years old at that time, and this was, if not his most difficult project, then at least one of the most spectacular.

V.G. Shukhov straightens the Ulugbek minaret. Friendly cartoon by Sukhov.

He was not only the author of the project, but also supervised the work. Although many did not believe in the success of the enterprise. Compatriots doubted silently, convinced by the engineer’s previous works of the infallibility of the slogan: “Shukhov said, Shukhov did.” Foreigners allowed themselves the courage to express seditious thoughts out loud: “This is too daring. This is contrary to the laws of universal gravity. The minaret will collapse as soon as they begin to raise it.”

Ulugbek madrasah. Samarkand.

After 3 days, the minaret was already standing strictly vertically. Vladimir Shukhov solved the problem. With the help of jacks and winches, as always, without using a single extra person.

Minaret of Ulugbek madrasah. Fragment.

8. Life as a bonus for work.

Shukhov himself, by the way, did not doubt the success of the enterprise for a second. He is used to calculating everything “with millimeter accuracy.” “There was no risk when fulfilling the order. The destruction of the structure is not only a loss for the office, but also the loss of my engineering authority, the loss of the opportunity for independent creativity, and therefore the end of my creative life.” Sometimes the question was even more pressing. Not only creative, but also physical life was at stake. This was the case during the construction of Shukhov’s most famous brainchild - the radio tower on Shabolovka. In 1919, Shukhov developed a project. The beautiful tower should rise to a height of 350m, eclipsing its French rival - the Eiffel Tower (305m), while weighing almost three times less. But the country is in devastation, famine, civil war, and there is not enough metal. The height is limited to 160 meters (6 spans instead of 9). Sections - spans must be assembled on the ground and, using winches, lifted to the top one by one. Shukhov makes calculations. As his colleagues recall, he usually did not trust anyone with this matter. At the same time, he operated with approximate round numbers, but later he certainly made an amendment that made the result clear and unmistakable. As always. But this time the unexpected happens. The fourth section collapses. damaging the lower three when falling. Representatives of the Cheka appear at the scene of events. Their verdict is swift, categorical and unjust - execution. For sabotage. There are no brave people to take Shukhov’s place. He is offered to continue working. The execution is postponed. The employees are terrified. “How can you work when every mistake poses a mortal danger?” “No mistakes,” Shukhov answers and, as always, throws himself into his work. By the way, as a commission more competent than the Cheka would later establish, there were no mistakes, there was “fatigue” of low-quality metal. Everything will end with another success.

But the brilliant engineer will continue to walk, even despite government awards.“on the edge of a knife”, under the articles: his sons participated in the White movement, through the naval department Shukhov collaborated with A. Kolchak in 1917. Yes, and undoubted talent is not a reason for persecution. Fortunately, Vladimir Grigorievich had no time to think about this, he worked too much. “We must work regardless of politics. Towers, boilers, rafters are needed, and we will be needed.”

“With great excitement I remember my life spent near V.G. Shukhov. Every day, hour, every minute was full of happiness and enthusiasm of discovery. I did not have time to wrap my head around everything I saw and heard. And he, this thinker, told everyone generously gave, generously poured in, as if from a cornucopia, everything new and new, one more interesting and more brilliant than the other,” recalled A.P. Balankin, who worked in the office for more than 40 years and was the main producer of work on the construction of the Shabolovskaya Tower.

Radio tower on Shabolovka.

9. In the same ranks with Leonardo. Shukhov, indeed, bombarded his colleagues with a heap of new ideas in completely different areas of human activity, reminiscent of the power of his talent and the scope of the great Leonardo da Vinci, the “chief engineer” of the Renaissance. He was certainly a "Renaissance" man. By talent, breadth of knowledge and interests. It is difficult to list his inventions; the list will be huge. It is equally difficult to list his “non-work” hobbies. Literature, art, music. Shukhov loved the theater. By the way, he designed the world's first rotating stage for the Moscow Art Theater.

Photography has always remained Vladimir Grigorievich’s great passion. “I’m an engineer by profession, but a photographer at heart.” He left a huge collection of talented, unique photographs and negatives. Family history, Moscow history, country history.

And, of course, sports. Shukhov was an avid athlete. In winter - skates and skis, in summer - bicycles. Moreover, Vladimir Grigorievich was involved in cycling, one might say at a professional level - he took part in races. They say that one day A.V. Bari, who wandered into the Manege to watch the competition, suddenly recognized with horror his chief engineer in the red-haired winner.

Self-portrait on a trapeze near a house on Smolensky Boulevard. 1910.

Sport helped to maintain excellent physical shape, necessary for life and work. Shukhov lived to work and worked to live.

10. Care. Once upon a time, many years ago, Vladimir Grigorievich’s mother, Vera Kapitonovna, had a terrible dream - her son was engulfed in flames in the family crypt. She waved away the terrible vision. Unfortunately, the dream turned out to be prophetic. Shukhov was working in his office. The overturned candle set his clothes on fire. Burns covered a third of the body. For 5 days doctors fought for his life. But he failed to help. On February 2, 1939, Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov died.

He left to his descendants open laws, derived formulas, perfect mechanisms, beautiful buildings, bridges, boilers, photographs... and faith in the limitless possibilities of the human mind.

Materials used: tower on Shabolovka