Who Built the 'House on Stilts' in Moscow and Why

Are typical Moscow high-rises not very pleasing to the eye? We begin telling the story of the most unusual residential buildings in the capital. The first on the list is the 'House on Stilts' on Bega Street.

Address: Moscow, Bega St., 34
Year of construction: 1978
Project architect: architect Andrei Meerzon
Style: Soviet modernism

'Aviator House' on the map of MoscowNicknames: The experimental house stands on 20 pairs of supports. It's no surprise that the locals called it the 'House with Forty Legs', 'House with Eight Legs', or just 'House on Stilts'. The name 'Aviator House' came about after the residents of Bega St., 34 became employees of a machine-building plant called 'The Banner of Labour' in the Soviet era.Drawing: Daria Zaitseva

Concept to reality: Originally, the construction of this house was planned on the bank of the Khimki Reservoir near the metro station 'Water Stadium'. The architect raised the house on stilts to ensure passage under it to the embankment: agree, this was a great idea.

But for the 1980 Olympics, the futuristic house was decided to be placed in a prominent location – the main entrance to Moscow. The idea of stilts remained, but the house lost its original 3 floors, which were not completed due to technical reasons.

Photo: Denis Esakov

What's the trick: 20 powerful pairs of 'legs' narrow toward the base so that two people can easily embrace one support. The supports and the foundation of the first floor in the shape of an inverted isosceles trapezoid are made from monolithic reinforced concrete, and all other floors are built from wall panels. Visually the house expands upward, although in reality the slabs simply lie at an angle. The planes of oval staircase shafts are pierced with vertical rows of window-like 'battlements': what could be more brutal?

Photo: Denis Esakov

Interesting fact: The 'House on Stilts' was the first in the USSR to use monolithic reinforced concrete.

Are there similar projects? Houses on stilts exist in Moscow near VDNKH: a 17-story building at Prospekt Mira, 110 and a 25-story building at Prospekt Mira, 184. A similar house stands on the embankment of Novosmolenskaya in St. Petersburg. Among newer projects 'on stilts' is the house at Mosfilmovskaya Street built in 2011.

From left to right: House on Mosfilmovskaya, 'House with Curly Legs' on Novosmolenskaya Embankment in St. Petersburg, 'House on Stilts' at VDNKH

Number of apartments: 299

Apartment prices: from 6.5 million rubles for a one-bedroom apartment of 31 sq m to 14 million rubles for a 57 sq m apartment with good renovation.

Rent prices: vary from 43,000 to 48,000 rubles for a two-bedroom apartment depending on the renovation.

Typical apartment layout

Photo on cover: Residential house on Bega Street, Denis Esakov

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