GUM (State Department Store)

GUM, the State Department Store, is a large shopping complex in the center of Moscow whose main facade faces Red Square; until 1921 the building was known as the Upper Trading Rows. Built in 1893 in the Russian style, the building is recognized as an architectural monument of federal significance and remains federal property, although since 2004 it has been leased to the Bosco di Ciliegi company for a term running until 2059.

Trade has been conducted on this site since the 16th century, and the dilapidated 18th-century trading rows were repeatedly rebuilt, including after the fire of 1812 by the architect Osip Bove. By the 1880s the old building had again fallen into disrepair, and after twenty years of negotiations between the city authorities and more than five hundred shop owners, a joint-stock company was formed in 1888 to build a new trading complex. An architectural competition was won by the design of Alexander Pomerantsev, developed with the participation of the architect Pyotr Shchekotov. The foundation of the new building was laid on 21 May 1890, and at the peak of construction in 1891 as many as three thousand people worked on the site at once. The grand opening of the rows took place on 2 December 1893.

The complex is built as three parallel arcades with a span of 14–16 meters, roofed with light metal vaults topped with a glass ceiling; the roof structures were manufactured by the St. Petersburg Metal Works to a system devised by the engineer Otto Krell. The reinforced-concrete bridges connecting the floors were designed by the engineer Artur Loleit. The architectural decoration of the facades, finished in Finnish granite, Tarusa marble, and sandstone, was executed in the spirit of 17th-century Russian architecture and echoes the appearance of the neighboring State Historical Museum building and the towers of the Kremlin.

In 1923 the State Department Store opened in the building, operating under the authority of the RSFSR People's Commissariat of Trade; in the 1930s the building's demolition was discussed to make way for a high-rise for the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, but the project was never carried out. After restoration in 1952–1953 the store reopened to shoppers, and in 1990 it was turned into a joint-stock company and privatized in 1992, while retaining its familiar name, GUM. Since 2004 the building has undergone a phased reconstruction restoring the historic appearance of its facades, stained-glass windows, and interiors, including a fountain recreated from archival drawings and a historic public restroom, which reopened to visitors in 2012.