Skyscrapers of Ukraine are high-rise residential and office buildings in Ukraine. Until 2009, skyscrapers in Ukraine were considered to be buildings higher than 74 meters, however, this has been increased to 100 meters.
The cities containing the largest skyscrapers are Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Odesa, and Kharkiv.
The first skyscraper on the territory of Ukraine was built in Kyiv in 1912. It was the 12-storey . The next big leap into high-rise construction were the Kharkiv skyscrapers: the 13-storey, 68 meter tall, Derzhprom (1928) and the 14-storey, 68.5 meter tall, Project House (1932).
In the USSR, it was forbidden to build residential buildings with conditional heights (floor level of the last residential floor) above 73.5 m, but there were 5 skyscrapers constructed that broke this law – the Trade House, the "Tourist" Hotel and the Ministry of Infrastructure House in Kyiv, and two "tall buildings" of the "Victory" housing estate in Dnipro. In addition, several other skyscrapers began to be built in Soviet times: the Kyiv TV Center and the House of the USSR Ministry of Melioration in Kyiv, and the "Parus" Hotel in Dnipro. The Kyiv TV Center was completed in 1992, and the House of USSR Ministry of Melioration was completed in 2006 (and is now used as the Kyiv Court of Appeal). The Parus Hotel in Dnipro was never finished- construction halted in 1995 whilst the building was 80% complete. It never resumed, and it remains abandoned to this day.
The jump to high-rise construction began in the late 1990s when the law on high-rise construction was declared invalid and the improving state economy of Ukraine made it feasible to do large-scale construction projects; since then, more than 30 apartment complexes over 100 meters have been built in the country.
There are plans to construct some buildings over 300 meters in the country.
In the long term, there are plans to construct skyscrapers in Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv and the other major cities of Ukraine.
Between 2007 and 2015, the 214 meter tall multifunctional Sky Towers complex was under construction in Kyiv, which is to become the first building in Ukraine to cross the 200-meter mark. Building work is currently suspended and remains so as of 2023.
Plans include the 53-storey "Victory Towers" (currently, a 36-story residential complex called "Manhattan City" is under construction), a 45-storey complex in Protasiv Yar, the 60-storey "Kadetskyi Hai" Center in Kyiv, and the 54-storey Brama multifunctional complex in Dnipro.
The project of a large-scale business center "Kyiv-City" on the Rybalsky Island, where the skyscrapers could stand 200–300 meters in height, is still unrealized. Currently, the "Rybalsky" residential complex is under construction, with builfings 3, 5, and 9, already complete. The project was moved to the 11th residential district of Western Pozniaky and is frozen at the design stage.
Ukrainian skyscrapers in culture and art
The first time a Ukrainian skyscraper was advertised as an architectural value was in 1912, with the Ginzburg Skyscraperbeing named the "giant" in the "Companion in the City of Kyiv" travel guide.
Some years later, in 1929, the skyscraper was chosen as the location for the filming of the experimental movie "Man with a Movie Camera".
In the 1930s Kharkiv's Derzhprom gained even more fame. The 63-meter skyscraper appeared in the Soviet film Dziga Vetrov "Three Songs About Lenin" as a symbol of modernity. The building was then used in patriotic communist videos. The main emphasis in these videos was showing the record high-rise building in then Soviet Union.
In addition to videos, Derzhprom was described in many poems and works by famous Ukrainian and foreign writers.
A similar patriotic clip about Kyiv made in 1983 included the Trade House and the "Kyiv" Hotel. [50]
Ukrainian skyscrapers are also highlighted on tourist maps, where they are depicted on same level with historical sites. [51]
Since 2007, when the Parus Business Center had become very popular, the skyscraper has appeared in many commercials, music videos, TV shows and the Oleksandr Kiriyenko's 2008 film "Illusion of Fear", as well as in promotional videos showcasing Ukraine for Euro 2012.
Long-term construction projects
The problem of skyscraper construction is the "freezing" of projects (stopping construction due to underfunding). Many Ukrainian high-rise buildings are unfinished - this became a major problem during the 2008–2009 economic crisis.
Some well-known skyscrapers are: