Wender·Vista
Ostankino Tower
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileRussia
in the north of Moscow, above the old Sheremetev estate

Ostankino Tower

— — a concrete needle that held the title for nine years.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A free-standing concrete tower north of central Moscow, 540 metres tall, built for Soviet television and finished in 1967 for the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution. For nine years it was the tallest structure on earth. The engineer Nikolai Nikitin held the whole thing in tension with steel cables running inside the shaft. The Seventh Heaven restaurant slowly turns above the city. from the studio

from the studio
Ostankino Tower
— bring it home

Ostankino Tower, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Ostankino Tower

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Ostankino Tower stands in the Ostankinsky District in the north of Moscow, beside the old Sheremetev family estate and the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. It was completed on 4 November 1967 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution, and it served as the main television broadcast tower for the Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation. At 540.1 metres it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world from 1967 until the CN Tower in Toronto surpassed it in 1976.

— the stone

The tower is a concrete shell held under permanent compression by 149 steel cables tensioned inside the shaft, a system designed by the engineer Nikolai Nikitin in a single all-night session, reportedly modeled on the form of an inverted lily. The foundation is unusually shallow for a structure of this height: a ring only about 4.6 metres deep. A serious fire on 27 August 2000 destroyed many of those cables and killed three people, and the slow restoration that followed reset the way Russia engineers tall communications towers.

— the visit

The tower is open to visitors with advance booking and a passport at the entrance. The main observation deck sits at 337 metres and includes a small section of transparent floor. Above it, at 328 metres, the Seventh Heaven (Sedmoye Nebo) restaurant rotates one full turn roughly every forty minutes, serving Russian and European dishes with the city moving slowly past the window. On a clear day the view reaches more than 60 kilometres in every direction across the Moscow plain.

— where
Russia · Ostankinsky District, Moscow
— position
55.8197° N · 37.6117° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km E
VDNKh
exhibition park
1 km S
Ostankino Palace
18th-century estate
1 km E
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman
monument
N
Ostankino Tower
VDNKh
Ostankino Palace
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Ostankino Tower — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Ostankino Tower is in the Ostankinsky District in the north of Moscow, next to the old Sheremetev estate and the VDNKh exhibition park. The nearest metro is VDNKh on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line.

The tower is 540.1 metres tall, including its antenna. It was the tallest free-standing structure in the world from its completion in 1967 until the CN Tower in Toronto surpassed it in 1976.

Construction ran from 1963 to 1967, and the tower was inaugurated on 4 November 1967 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution. It was designed by the engineer Nikolai Nikitin.

On 27 August 2000 a fire broke out near the 460-metre level, destroyed many of the internal steel tension cables, and killed three people. The tower required years of restoration before reopening fully to visitors.

Yes, with advance booking and a passport. The main observation deck is at 337 metres and includes a transparent-floor section. The Seventh Heaven rotating restaurant sits just below it at 328 metres.

The structural engineer was Nikolai Nikitin, who also worked on the foundation of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman monument and the main building of Moscow State University. The architect was Leonid Batalov.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful piece for customers who grew up in northern Moscow, for engineers who admire Nikitin's tower, and for families who watched Soviet television under its signal. A Small or Medium carries well.

The tower's vertical line and saturated palette sit well in mid-century-modern rooms, in Soviet-modernist and constructivist-influenced interiors, and in dark walls that let one tall piece carry the column of the wall.

Yes. The piece works as a singular tall accent above teak or walnut casegoods, alongside warm metals and graphic-print textiles. It carries the geometry without competing with smaller objects.

A single Large reads well above a sofa. For a taller wall above a console, a vertical 2-tile or 3-tile arrangement matches the tower's proportion. A 4-tile Mural carries a larger room.

Yes, ordered in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and suited to humid rooms, splash zones, and vertical installations behind a sink or stove.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water is enough for routine cleaning. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so it will not fade with normal wiping or with indirect sunlight.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in our Knoxville studio under Reid Wender's eye, then hand-finished here. The work is not licensed from any third party.

— if this one stayed with you

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