as a staff clothes room. Riga: Latvian Academy of Sciences, 1951–1961 Initially planned as House of Kolkhoz workers (Kolhoznieku nams), construction was started in 1951 and finished in 1958, although the building was officially opened only in 1961. Upon finishing the building was turned over to the Latvian Academy of Sciences. It has 21 floors and a conference hall that seats 1,000 people. The 108-meter high Academy is not the tallest building in Riga. Unlike other vysotki, which are based on a steel frame with masonry infill, this is a reinforced concrete structure, the first of its kind in the USSR. Related buildings Many Stalinist buildings have tower crowns, but they do not belong to the vysotki project and their style is completely different. This is evident in Chechulin's Peking Hotel building. Seen from a low point of the Garden Ring south, it could be mistaken for a skyscraper, but if viewed from Triumfalnaya Square it is clear that the building is far less imposing. There are also several smaller Stalinesque towers in Barnaul, St. Petersburg and other cities. Design and construction of such towers became widespread in the early 1950s, although many ongoing projects were cancelled in 1955, when regional "skyscrapers" were specifically addressed by Nikita Khrushchev's decree "On liquidation of architectural excesses..." as unacceptable expense. Triumph Palace, Moscow, 2003 The high-profile Triumph Palace tower in north-western Moscow (3, Chapayevsky Lane), completed in December, 2003, attempts to imitate the vysotki, and actually exceeds the University building in structural height. It is criticized for being placed deeply inside a residential mid-rise area, away from major avenues and squares, where it could be an important visual anchor. A close inspection reveals that this white-red tower has little in common with Stalinist style, except for sheer size and layered tower outline. It competes for the 'Eighth Vysotka' title with an earlier Edelweiss Tower in western Moscow. Construction began in 2001. The 57-story building, containing about 1,000 luxury apartments, was topped out on December 20, 2003, and, at the time, was Europe's tallest building at 264.1 metres or 867 feet. Triumph Astana, 2006 The Triumph Tower of Astana is a , 39-story residential building in the Kazakhstan capital that was completed in 2006. Modeled after 1950s Soviet high-rise buildings, the complex includes home cinema, restaurants, a center of children’s development, and a shopping center. Notes External links Stalin's Seven Sisters Moscow Map with