Hotel Ukraina, Moscow Editorial Image

Hotel Ukraina was commissioned by Joseph Stalin.It was designed by Arkady Mordvinov and Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky leading Soviet expert on steel-framed highrise construction, and is the second tallest of the neoclassical Stalin-era `seven sisters` 198 m 650 ft, with 34 stories. It was the tallest hotel in the world from the time of its construction until the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel opened in Atlanta, Georgia, United States in 1976. Construction on the low river bank meant that the builders had to dig well below the water level. This was enabled by an ingenious water retention system, using a perimeter of needle pumps driven deep into the ground.