Russian financial Corporation "Systems" - Zholtovsky house (1932-1934) (Moscow) | office building, investment services, interesting place, 1934_construction, object of cultural heritage of regional importance (Russia), Renaissance Revival (architecture)

 office building, investment services, interesting place, 1934_construction, object of cultural heritage of regional importance (Russia), Renaissance Revival (architecture)

Designed by architect Ivan Vladislavovich Zholtovsky (1867-1959), it was never anyone's residence. Instead it was an embassy, then a tourist office and now the home of a Russian financial corporation. Called System, the company describes itself as the "largest public diversified financial corporation in Russia and the CIS, which manages companies serving over 100 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, high-tech, oil and energy, radio and aerospace, banking, real estate, retail, mass-media, tourism and healthcare services."

Prior to 1932 the Church of St. George the Victorious on Red Hill was located on this site. The original wooden church burned in 1629 and was rebuilt in stone. Then between 1652 and 1657 it was either reconstructed or built anew with a side altar to the archangel St. Michael. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was reconstructed several times and for about twenty years beginning in 1817 it was the church for Moscow University with a chapel to the martyr St. Tatiana. Additional chapels were added in the 19th century and a belltower was built in 1864 but all these were removed in 1932 as a part of Stalin's plans.

Constructed in 1933 as a residential building, its style represents a transition in style from Constructivist to Stalin ornate or monumentalist. The Constructivist style of architecture is notable for its use of glass and reinforced concrete to create geometrical designs, while Stalin ornate employed many neo-classical features on a grandiose scale. The architect Ivan Vladislavovich Zholtovsky (1867-1959), a Stalin favorite involved in Moscow's reconstruction from 1918-1924, consistently favored more traditional designs. Although planned for housing, it unexpectedly became the Embassy of the United States of America and remained as such until 1950. Then the building was transferred to Intourist, the official tourist agency that used to control the visits of all tourists from countries outside the U.S.S.R. sphere of influence. While the façade remains the same, the interior has been changed many times.