Although the city still has some five-story apartment buildings constructed before the

mid-1960s, more recent apartment buildings are usually at least 9 floors tall, and have
elevators. It is estimated that osco! has over t!ice as many elevators as "e! #or$
%ity and four times as many as %hicago. oslift, one of the city&s ma'or elevator
operating companies, has about 1(00 elevator mechanics on call, to release residents
trapped in elevators.)(*+
,talinist-era buildings, mostly found in the central part of the city, are massive and
usually ornamented !ith ,ocialist realism motifs that imitate classical themes.
-o!ever, small churches . almost al!ays /astern 0rthodo1. found across the city
provide glimpses of its past. 2he 0ld Arbat ,treet, a popular tourist street that !as once
the heart of a bohemian area, preserves most of its buildings from prior to the 30th
century. any buildings found off the main streets of the inner city 4behind the ,talinist
fa5ades of 2vers$aya ,treet, for e1ample6 are also e1amples of bourgeois architecture
typical of 2sarist times. 0stan$ino 7alace, 8us$ovo, 9:$oye and other large estates
'ust outside osco! originally belong to nobles from the 2sarist era, and some convents
and monasteries, both inside and outside the city, are open to uscovites and tourists.
Attempts are being made to restore many of the city;s best-$ept e1amples of pre-,oviet
architecture. 2hese restored structures are easily spotted by their bright ne! colors and
spotless fa5ades. 2here are a fe! e1amples of notable, early ,oviet avant-garde !or$
too, such as the house of the architect 8onstantin elni$ov in the Arbat area. any of
these restorations !ere critici:ed for alleged disrespect of historical authenticity.
<acadism is also !idely practiced.)((+ =ater e1amples of interesting ,oviet architecture
are usually mar$ed by their impressive si:e and the semi-odernist styles employed,
such as !ith the "ovy Arbat pro'ect, familiarly $no!n as >false teeth of osco!? and
notorious for the !ide-scale disruption of a historic area in central osco! involved in
the pro'ect.
7la@ues on house e1teriors !ill inform passers-by that a !ell-$no!n personality once
lived there. <re@uently, the pla@ues are dedicated to ,oviet celebrities not !ell-$no!n
outside 4or often, li$e !ith decorated generals and revolutionaries, no! both inside6 of
Aussia. 2here are also many Bmuseum housesB of famous Aussian !riters, composers,
and artists in the city.
osco!&s s$yline is @uic$ly moderni:ing !ith several ne! to!ers under construction.
In recent years, the city administration has been !idely critici:ed for heavy destruction
that has affected many historical buildings. As much as a third of historic osco! has
been destroyed in the past fe! years)(6+ to ma$e space for lu1ury apartments and hotels.
)(C+ 0ther historical buildings, including such landmar$s as the 19D0 os$va hotel and
the 191D department store Eoyentorg, have been ra:ed and reconstructed ane!, !ith the
inevitable loss of historical value. %ritics also blame the government for not enforcing
conservation la!sF in the last 13 years more than (0 buildings !ith monument status !ere
torn do!n, several of those dating bac$ to the 1Cth century.)(G+ ,ome critics also !onder
if the money used for the reconstruction of ra:ed buildings could not be used for the
renovation of decaying structures, !hich include many !or$s by architect 8onstantin
elni$ov)(9+ andaya$ovs$aya metro station.
,ome organi:ations, such as osco! Architecture 7reservation ,ociety and ,ave
/urope&s -eritage, are trying to dra! the international public attention to these
problems.)60+