Ostankino Tower
Nikolai Nikitin + Leonid Batalov + Dmitri Burdin + Moisei Shkud + Lev Shchipakin · Moscow, Russia · 1967
Ostankino Tower is a prestressed-concrete broadcasting tower shaped as a slender tapered shaft rising from a flared base. Engineer Nikolai Nikitin developed the structural concept so that prestressing cables stabilize the concrete shell against wind, allowing a remarkably thin profile for its height. Observation decks and technical floors are concentrated near the upper section while the base spreads into petal-like supports. Completed in 1967, Ostankino was the world’s tallest freestanding structure at the time and remains a landmark of Soviet engineering and television infrastructure.