Moscow, the Kremlin.
January 13, 1947
No. 53

The Council of Ministers of the Union of the USSR resolves:

1. To adopt the proposal of Comrade Stalin on the construction during 1947-1952 in Moscow of multi-story buildings: one 32-story building, two 26-story buildings, five 16-story buildings.

2. To construct the 32-story building on the Lenin Hills at the center of the bend of the Moscow River, housing a hotel and residences.

3. To construct a 26-story administrative building in the Zaryadye, on the site intended for the construction of the House of the Council of People's Commissars.

4. To construct a 26-story building on Leningradskoe Shosse in the area of the Dynamo stadium, housing a hotel and residences.

5. To approve the following placement for the construction of 16-story buildings in Moscow:
a residential building to be constructed near the Red Gates on a vacant plot belonging to the Ministry of Railways;
a residential building on Vosstaniya Square;
a residential building on the Kotelniki Embankment on a vacant plot near the Ustinskiy Bridge;
an administrative building on Smolenskaya Square;
an administrative building in the area of Kalanchevskaya Square on a vacant plot.

6. To assign the design and construction of the 32-story building and one 26-story building to the Directorate for the Construction of the Palace of Soviets under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and one 26-story building — to the Ministry of Construction of Heavy Industry Enterprises.

7. To instruct the Committee on Architecture under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Comrade Mordvinov) to carry out an expert review of the designs for the 32-story and 26-story buildings, with subsequent submission of the designs for approval by the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

8. To assign the design and construction of the 16-story buildings to the following organizations: the building on Smolenskaya Square — to the Ministry of Construction of Heavy Industry Enterprises (Comrade Yudin); the residential building on the Kotelniki Embankment — to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (Comrade Kruglov); the administrative building in the area of Kalanchevskaya Square — to the Ministry of Construction of Military and Naval Enterprises (Comrade Ginzburg); the building near the Red Gates — to the Ministry of Railways (Comrade Kovalev); the building on Vosstaniya Square — to the Ministry of the Aviation Industry (Comrade Khrunichev).

9. To instruct the Architecture Directorate of the Moscow City Executive Committee to carry out an expert review of the designs for the 16-story buildings, with subsequent submission of the designs for approval by the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

10. To establish that in the design of multi-story buildings the following principles must be followed:
a) the proportions and silhouettes of these buildings must be original, and in their architectural-artistic composition they must be harmonized with the historically established architecture of the city and the silhouette of the future Palace of Soviets. Accordingly, the buildings being designed must not repeat models of multi-story buildings known abroad;
b) the interior layout of the buildings must create maximum convenience for work and movement within the building. For the same purposes, the design of the buildings must provide for the use of all the most modern technical means with regard to elevator equipment, plumbing, natural lighting, telephone installations, heating, air conditioning, etc.;
c) the structural system of the buildings, and in the first instance of the 32-story and 26-story buildings, must be based on the assembly of a steel frame with the use of lightweight materials for wall fill, which must ensure the broad application of industrial and high-speed construction methods in the erection of the buildings;
d) the exterior finish (cladding) of the buildings must be made of durable and stable materials.

11. To require the organizations entrusted with the design and construction of multi-story buildings to engage the country's leading architects in the design work on these buildings.

12. To require the Committee on Architecture under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Comrade Mordvinov), the Directorate for the Construction of the Palace of Soviets under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Comrade Prokofiev), and the Chief Architect of the city of Moscow, Comrade Chechulin, together with the ministries and agencies entrusted with the construction, to submit to the Council of Ministers of the USSR within a two-month period the design assignments for the multi-story buildings.

13. To instruct the State Staffing Commission under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Comrade Mekhlis) to review the staffing schedules and salary scales of the Directorate for the Construction of the Palace of Soviets under the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Architecture Directorate of the Moscow City Executive Committee, with a view to strengthening the design organizations of these institutions for the purpose of ensuring the design and survey work connected with the construction of multi-story buildings in Moscow.

14. To propose to the Directorate for the Construction of the Palace of Soviets under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Comrade Prokofiev), the Ministry of Railways (Comrade Kovalev), the Ministry of Construction of Heavy Industry Enterprises (Comrade Yudin), the Ministry of the Aviation Industry (Comrade Ginzburg), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (Comrade Kruglov) to submit within two months to the Council of Ministers of the USSR proposals for strengthening construction organizations and their material and technical base, so that in 1947 all necessary preparatory work is carried out.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of the USSR
I. Stalin

Managing Director of Affairs of the Council of Ministers of the USSR
Ya. Chadaev