Commonly known as “The Great Wall of China”, the world’s longest residential building is located at the intersection of Sobornosti Avenue and Molodezhy Street. Construction began in 1969, during the time of the Soviet Union, and was completed 11 years later. That’s an unusually long time for an apartment building, but this is an unusual project.
The brainchild of two architects, R. G. Metelnitsky and V. K. Malovitsa, The Great Wall of China became the longest residential building in the Soviet Union at the time of its completion, and over 40 years later, it still has no rival in the world.
From ground level, it’s impossible to truly gauge the size of this gigantic residential structure, but from above, its impressive honeycomb design is revealed. Although the main axis of the building measures “only” 1.75 kilometers, when taking into account all its adjacent extensions, another kilometer is added to the total length. It is said that walking from one end of the building to the other at a normal pace takes the average person about an hour.
Featuring hundreds of entrances, over 3,000 apartments, tens of thousands of windows, and roughly 10,000 residents, the world’s largest residential building is larger than many small towns around the world. Because of its sheer size, initial residents recall struggling to find their apartments for weeks after moving in, which required the implementation of a unique address system for each section.
Considered an intriguing modern-day oddity even among architects, The Great Wall of China may not remain in its current shape for much longer. Although located in the western part of Ukraine, away from the front lines of the war with Russia, the threat of bombings is constant all over the country. According to local news media, the building is in dire need of repair, but securing the funds is difficult in times of war.
A local travel agency has come up with a plan to secure funding for the repair of the world’s largest residential building by organizing tours and holding events on the roof of this unique concrete giant.
For similarly large residential buildings, check out Russia’s infamous Human Anthill, and this intriguing Chinese building that supposedly houses around 20,000 people.
