and consultants carefully guided him towards modernist views. The former elders of Stalinist architecture did not dare to object and accepted the new reality. One year later, the "excesses" were condemned in a joint decree of the party and the Soviets, and in 1956 the government dissolved the last refuge of Stalinist art—the Academy of Architecture. The almost forgotten Palace of the Soviets was not mentioned in any of the debates and decrees. Iofan did not want to give up yet. Aided by Helfreich and his new partner , he scaled down the design again to in 1954 and to in 1956. The other Palace of the Soviets (1956–1962) In the autumn of 1956, Iofan's work finally stopped after the announcement of a new competition for a new Palace of the Soviets. The volume of the new structure was capped at 500,000 cubic meters, 15 times less than Iofan's design. The main hall had to seat 4,600 people (five times less), with two lesser halls seating 1,500 people each. The initial proposal mandated construction on the old site (of the demolished cathedral) which by 1956 was flooded and needed extensive salvage work. In December 1956, the government proposed two alternative locations for the palace, both near Rudnev's University building. Proximity to the university tower precluded any high-rise designs; the new palace had to be a sprawling, horizontal, flat structure. However, same proximity suggested that the complete break with Stalinist art had not yet been sealed. The most important government building in Moscow had to be unique; it could not be built cheaply, and it could tolerate at least some "excesses". The neoclassicists believed they were given a chance to redeem Stalinist art in the eyes of Khrushchev. The rising modernists felt Khrushchev's tacit support and saw a chance to impose their own view on the whole Soviet industry. The first round of the competition was split into two concurrent leagues: the open competition, with 115 entries representing both Stalinists and modernists, and a privately contracted competition with 21 entries. The winning, and probably the most artistically valuable proposal by , was an outright modernist glass box—a huge winter garden with three oval halls floating in a sea of greenery. Contrary to expectations, Vlasov did not receive a formal prize immediately, but was rewarded later on. A similar but less radical design by disposed of the winter garden and added rows