The White Tower (Russian: Белая башня romanized: Belaya bashnya) is a constructivist monument and a former water tower of the Uralmash plant in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The tower was built in 1929–1931 by the architect Moisei Reisher and became one of the first reinforced concrete structures in the city.
With the development of the city's water supply network in the 1960s, the tower was taken out of service, was not used for many years and fell into disrepair. In September 2012, the Federal State Property Management Agency transferred the building for free use to the Podelniki architectural group, which organized the conservation and gradual restoration of the building.Albrecht G., Arkhipkina O. Untersuchung, Bemessung und bewertung historischer bausubstanz – bauzustandsuntersuchung, schadensanalyse und statische nachweise zum stahlbetontragwerk am «Weißen turn» (1921-1931) in Jekaterinenburg (Russland) (in German). — Cottbus-Senftenberg: Brandenburg University of Technology, 2013. — p. 61 The building is currently used as a cultural venue and is considered to be the unofficial symbol of Uralmash neighborhood.
In 1974, the White Tower was recognized as an architectural monument of national significance.Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 624 of 04.12.1974
History On 15 July 1928, in the north of Yekaterinburg (at that time Sverdlovsk), the foundation of the future metalworking shop of the Ural Heavy Machinery Plant (Uralmash) was ceremoniously laid. Along with the construction of production buildings, the construction of a neighbourhood for workers began, this large-scale construction soon faced a water shortage. Initially, water was delivered by horses from wells near the Kamyshenka River, but its quality did not meet the requirements.Vasil'yev G., Кафе в Белой Башне? Заманчиво [Cafe in the White Tower? Tempting] // З. Т. М.. — 1987. — P. 10. Additionally, there is information about the construction of a temporary water pipeline from the Kalinovka stream.
As the existing water resources could not satisfy the growing needs of the construction site and the functioning of the town, the Uralmash management began to look for other ways to solve the problem. Professor-hydrogeologist suggested that on the shore of Lake Shuvakish at a depth of about 50 meters there is a pool of artesian water, from which it would be possible to extract up to 5000 m3 of water per day. A group of specialists from the Nizhny Tagil Vysokogorsk Mining Administration, headed by hydrogeologist Aleksandr Tutunin, was invited to develop the deposits. Having drilled eight test wells, the researchers discovered water at a depth of 80–100 meters.Anfimov V.N. Sotsgorod of the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant. 1929—1975 - Sverdlovsk - Uralmash: Foundation of the Museum of the History of Uralmashplant. Typescript., 1979-1984. — 144 p.
In 1928, the design department of Uralmash began working on the project of the water tower and its communications, while drilling of the wells on Lake Shuvakish began only in the spring of 1930. During the drilling, a chisel broke off, which for a long time could not be removed from the well, delaying the construction. By the decision of the chief engineer Vladimir Fidler, a contract was signed with group of German specialists, for drilling five wells with a diameter of half a meter. Two of them turned out to be low-water, but all of them were enough to supply drinking water to the workers' town via a temporary pipeline by mid-September 1930. A year later, the laying of permanent communications was completed and the construction of a pumping station and reservoirs was finished.
Сonstruction of the tower
At the end of 1928, the head of the design department, Iosif Robachevskiy, with the support of the chief construction engineer, Vladimir Fidler, proposed building a water tower according to an individual design. Department members were given only a week to develop a project plan. A competition was held and the project by was chosen for construction.Alferov N. S., Belyankin G. I., Kozlov A. G., Korotkovsky A. E. Sverdlovsk: construction and architecture. - Moscow: Stroyizdat, 1980. - 160 p. He proposed using reinforced concrete, which was new at the time, as the main material, thanks to which the structure turned out to be lightweight and stood out from the other competition projects. Little information has been preserved about the work of other competition participants. Some sources also mention that Fidler also took part in the competition, proposing a metal structure for the tower based on the system of engineer Vladimir Shukhov.
Initially, Reisher planned to place a monolithic reinforced concrete tank with a capacity of 540 m3 in the tower, an observation deck on the roof, a newspaper kiosk and a bus stop pavilion at the base. It was planned that the tank would rest on two monolithic reinforced concrete columns and a stairwell. But during the revision of the project, additional supports were added, the infrastructure of the first floor was abandoned, round windows were added along the facade, and instead of a reinforced concrete tank, it was decided to use a steel one with a capacity of 700 m3. Thus, the engineers decided to play it safe when working with an unfamiliar material. Reisher was critical of the two added columns, stating:
The Moscow design bureau "Tekhbeton" under the leadership of the engineer prepared the final drawings and supervised the construction. The drawings of the welded metal tank were prepared by the design bureau of Uralmashstroy according to the system of the German engineer Otto Intze. The tank became the first steel structure in the city made using electric welding rather than riveting. The work on the tank was entrusted to welder Vladimir Volnov and a group of young workers, who completed the task in five months. The assessment of the work performed was entrusted to Professor Valentin Vologdin and other prominent specialists.S. Skrobov. Before our eyes, a settlement was born from the will of the Urals, labor and energy // Vecherniy Yekaterinburg. - 1996. - P. 3.
The first hydraulic tests were carried out in the newly built tower on 5 June 1931.Kudrjavtsev S. Evaluation of the carrying capacity of the building structures in the industrial heritage for its adaptation // MATEC Web of Conferences. — 2018. — Vol. 146, no. 02003. — P. 1—6. An hour after the ceremonial opening and start of operation, the bottom of the tank sagged and collapsed, and a stream of water flooded the nearby streets. The new bottom was made of reinforced concrete according to the design of engineer Sergei Prokhorov. The tower was finally put into operation in 1931. At that time, its tank was the largest in the world.
Subsequently, Reisher was awarded the “Shock worker of Communist Labor” title for his water tower project. The water tower received the unofficial name "White Tower" for its lime-painted walls. During World War II, as a strategically important facility, it was painted camouflage green.
In operation In autumn of 1931, the Uralmash management announced that the artesian water did not require purification and the pressure on all mains from the tower reached four atmospheres, marking the final solution of the water supply problem. In 1932, four additional wells were drilled on Lake Shuvakish and a temporary water pipeline was laid from Verkhne-Isetsky Pond when complaints about the drop in pressure began to come in. Hydrogeologists were invited to study the remaining water reserves at Shuvakish; they came to the conclusion that the underground reservoirs were depleted due to excessive extraction and recommended reducing consumption. This was difficult in the conditions of developing infrastructure, so in 1937 the plant's engineers built a dam on the Kalinovka River flowing out of Shuvakish, which did not help and even provoked the swamping of the lake.
Reportedly, in 1937 the NKVD opened a criminal case against Fidler, he was accused of deliberately concealing the low water level at Shuvakish, which led to a waste of money and a shortage of drinking water. Eventually the commissariat found out that the engineer died in 1932, and the case was closed.
Water consumption increased with the growth of the plant and its housing estate. By 1940, when the residential area reached 15 km2, more than 80% of the water came from Verkhne-Isetsky Pond. During the reconstruction of water supply networks in Sverdlovsk in the post-war years, it became clear that the White Tower would soon lose its functional significance. The pumping stations on Lake Shuvakish were decommissioned in the 1940s, and the pumping equipment was dismantled and the station was closed in the early 1960s.
After the closure The tower was decommissioned in the 1960s. After that, the issue of refurbishment and preservation of the complex was raised by various authorities, including the author of the project, but no measures were taken, and the building fell into disrepair. In 1970, the White Tower was included in the list of monuments of Soviet construction that were to be taken under state protection.Moisei Reischer. Забытая башня // Вечерний свердловск. [Forgotten Tower // Evening Sverdlovsk] - 1967.Moisei Reisher. Башню надо сохранить // Вечерний Сердловск. [The tower must be preserved // Evening Sverdlovsk] - 1970. A year later, Reisher, together with a group of artists, presented a project for a 100-seat café, located in the reservoir, and an observation deck with an ice cream kiosk on the roof. The Ordzhonikidzevsky District Administration approved the proposal and the Uralmashstroy Directorate was ready to sponsor the project, but it was not implemented due to the chief architect of Sverdlovsk, Gennady Belyankin being against it. The project was abandoned due to non-compliance with fire safety standards.In 1974, the White Tower was recognized as an architectural monument of national significance, and a year later the Sverdlovskgrazhdanproekt Institute held a competition for a project to adapt the structure for other purposes, which also did not develop. Subsequently, the issue of further exploitation of the White Tower was repeatedly raised in the press and the facility was listed on the balance sheet of Uralmash.
In the 1990s, Uralmash transferred the structure to its subsidiary insurance company "Belaya Bashnya" which was also interested in opening a restaurant there. Repairs to the tower were delayed "due to a lack of funds", and it was soon transferred to the jurisdiction of the regional Property Management Committee. Since 1993, an eponymous car market is located under the tower. In 2002, together with the Ural Architectural Museum and Exhibition Complex, works from the “Future of the White Tower” competition were presented at an exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Reisher's birth.Obukhova D. Будущее Белой башни [The Future of the White Tower] // Z. T. M. - 2002. - P. 9.
From 2006 to 2012, the White Tower was under the management of the regional office of the Russian Red Cross. According to architect Polina Ivanova, the organization was interested not in the building, but in the plot of land on which it was located. The Red Cross signed a contract to renovate the tower to house a planetarium and a museum of constructivism, but was unable to secure funding. According to the head of the local preservation organization, Dmitry Vershinin, they considered the possibility of restoring the monument in exchange for advertising space, which didn't go through, as this would violate to the rules for using a cultural heritage site. In 2012, the Ministry of Culture accused the Red Cross of failing to comply with conservation obligations, and the contract for the use of the monument was terminated.Budantseva T. Y. Avant-garde between East and West. Modern architecture and town-planning in the Urals 1920-30s (англ.). — Delft: Zjoek Publishers, 2007. — 253 p. — .