What contribution did Shukhov make to Russian culture? Six great creations of the Russian genius Shukhov

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 storage designs natural gas 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 exact mathematical formulas to describe the processes of oil and fuel oil flow through pipelines, creating classical theory 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. IN late XIX century Shukhov, together with his employees, drew up a project new system water supply of 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 other numerous 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 penalty with a suspension of execution until construction is completed. 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. Long 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 take place 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 height with a roll of drawings and a cloak thrown 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., Pumps direct action 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 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

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov (August 16, 1853 - February 2, 1939) - great engineer, inventor, scientist; honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Hero of Labor. He is the author of projects and technical manager for the construction of an oil refinery with the first Russian oil cracking units and oil pipelines. Vladimir Grigorievich made an outstanding contribution to the technology of the oil industry and pipeline transport. He was the first to use steel mesh shells for the construction of buildings and towers. After him, high-tech architects, the famous Buckminster Fuller and Norman Foster, finally introduced mesh shells into 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. Later, hyperboloid structures were used by such famous architects as Gaudi and Le Corbusier.

Born in the city of Grayvoron, Kursk province (now in the Belgorod region) into a noble family. He spent his childhood years on his mother's family estate, Pozhidaevka. He showed a knack for design since childhood. In 1871, after graduating with honors from a gymnasium in St. Petersburg in 1871, he brilliantly passed the entrance exams to the Imperial Moscow Technical School (now the Moscow Higher Technical School named after N.E. Bauman), receiving the right to study at public expense. While still a student, he made his first invention - a nozzle for burning liquid fuel (which was highly praised by D.I. Mendeleev and was produced in thousands of copies long before the Laval nozzle). In 1876 he graduated from college with a gold medal and completed a one-year internship in the USA.

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). 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).

The world's first steel mesh tower in the shape of a hyperboloid of revolution was built by Shukhov for the largest pre-revolutionary All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod, held in 1896.

Shukhov's hyperboloid tower at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition in Nizhny Novgord.
On the left is a photo from the late 19th century. On the right is a modern image

“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 of that time, based on the main and auxiliary elements, was replaced by a network of equivalent structural elements.”

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov was the first in the world to use hyperbolic structures in construction, 16 years earlier than the brilliant Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi.

Shukhov also invented arched roof structures with cable ties. At the end of the 19th century, he and his employees drafted a new water supply system for Moscow. More than 180 steel bridges were built according to V. G. Shukhov’s designs.

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 Russian 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 the art of construction and is classified as a world cultural heritage site.

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 was the straightening of the minaret of the ancient Ulugbek madrasah in Samarkand, which tilted during an earthquake.

V. G. Shukhov is a cyclist. Photo by unknown author from the 1880s.

Vladimir Grigorievich loved music and literature , spoke ten foreign languages. He was devoted to sports, for which he always found time (one year he was even the champion of Moscow in bicycle racing). But his greatest hobbies were chess and photography. Shukhov jokingly said: “I am an engineer by profession, but at heart I am a photographer.” His camera captured many historical episodes from the life of Moscow. Shukhov's knowledge, work and experience were highly appreciated: he was elected a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the workers of Moscow in 1927 and 1928 elected him a member of the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, in 1928 he was awarded the title of Hero of Labor, and in 1929 one of the first - the title of Honored Worker science and technology, laureate of the Lenin Prize. Academicians P. P. Lazarev and A. N. Krylov, in connection with the presentation of Shukhov as a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1927, wrote: “All of Shukhov’s work is based on his scientific works and is the result of deep theoretical thought." In 1929 he was elected honorary academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Shukhov died on February 2, 1939. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery more

Monument to Shukhov on Sretensky Boulevard

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 of the Russian army Podzhidaev, her father’s ancestor received a personal title of nobility for participating in 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 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 pedagogical activity at 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 academic merits. And the famous Russian mathematician P. L. Chebyshev, honorary member pedagogical council MITU invites Shukhov to work at St. Petersburg University, at the department of mathematics. Shukhov refuses again. 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, cost and more short terms execution 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 big money, with his talent he paid for his own happiness - 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 good family and a wonderful house.

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’s not clear where to go great amount"otkhodnik" - 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 for a short time The "oil" 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 durable 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 impudent. This is against the laws universal gravity. The minaret will collapse as soon as they begin to lift 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 creativity was at stake, but also physical life. 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 in the country there is devastation, hunger, Civil War, 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 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 professional level- 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 maintain excellent physical fitness 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, dreamed horrible dream- a son 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 for posterity 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

On February 2, 1939, Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov, the famous Russian inventor, diedAndscientist.He is known as the creator of the famous Shukhov Tower. But ShukhovHe also made outstanding contributions to the technology of the oil industry and pipeline transport. We will tell you about five brilliant inventions of Vladimir Shukhov.

Nozzle

Nature generously endowed Vladimir Shukhov with talents. He was a major specialist in the field of structural mechanics; petrochemistry, energy. While still a student in the first special class, Vladimir Grigorievich made his first valuable invention: he developed his own design of a steam nozzle for burning liquid fuel and manufactured its prototype in the workshops of his school.

This invention was highly appreciated by Dmitry Mendeleev himself, 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 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.

Oil pumping method

Shukhov developed new method lifting oil using compressed air and invented the airlift (jet pump) for the oil industry. Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov is the author of the project and the chief engineer of the construction of the first Russian oil pipeline Balakhany - Black City, built for the oil company Br. Nobel".

The scientist designed and then supervised the construction of oil pipelines of the Br. Nobel", "Lianozov and K" and the world's first heated fuel oil pipeline.

Tubular steam boilers

In 1896, Shukhov invented a new water-tube steam boiler in horizontal and vertical versions. 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.

Shukhov and his assistant Gavrilov invented an industrial process for producing motor gasoline - a continuously operating tubular thermal cracking unit for oil. The installation consisted of a furnace with tubular coil heaters, an evaporator and distillation columns. 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. meters.

Hyperboloid structures and mesh shells

Shukhov is the inventor of the world's first hyperboloid structures and metal mesh shells of building structures. For the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod, 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. The shell of a hyperboloid of revolution was a completely new form, never before used in architecture.

Vladimir Shukhov developed designs for various mesh steel shells and used them in hundreds of structures: floors of public buildings and industrial facilities, water towers, and sea lighthouses.

The construction of a tower for a radio station on Shabolovka in Moscow in 1919-1922 was Shukhov’s most famous work. The tower is a telescopic structure 160 meters high, consisting of six mesh hyperboloid steel sections. On March 19, 1922, radio broadcasts began from the Shukhov Tower.

Rotating artillery platform

Vladimir Shukhov made an invaluable contribution not only to construction and industry, but also to military affairs. In particular, the engineer invented several types of sea mines and platforms of heavy artillery systems. In addition, he designed the bathoports of sea docks.

In particular, Shukhov created a movable rotating artillery platform that could easily rotate with the efforts of one soldier. In twenty minutes the platform turned from stationary to transport and back.