Shukhov tower in Polibino, Water tower in Polibino, Russia.

The Shukhov tower in Polibino is a steel structure that rises roughly 37 meters tall with a continuous lattice pattern forming its hyperboloid shape. The framework consists of curved steel ribs that create an open gridwork, making the tower appear light yet structurally sound.

Vladimir Shukhov designed the 37-metre steel tower for the 1896 All-Russia industrial and art exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod, where it was the first hyperboloid structure ever built. After the exhibition closed at the end of 1896, the glassware manufacturer Yury Nechaev-Maltsov bought it and moved it to his Polibino estate near Kulikovo Field. It has stood there since, and emergency repairs began in March 2025.

The tower stands on the former estate of Yury Nechaev-Maltsov, a glassware manufacturer and art patron who bought it after the 1896 Nizhny Novgorod exhibition. The estate is a federal-level protected property with a palace, an English park, regular gardens and ponds. The tower's presence there reflects how industrial engineering entered rural estate life.

The tower functions as a water storage structure and is located on an estate with several other historic buildings, so visiting is limited to the grounds. It makes sense to spend time walking through the gardens and to visit during daylight hours so you can see all the details of the construction.

This was the first hyperboloid structure ever built from steel, and its innovative gridshell design later inspired hundreds of similar constructions around the world. The fact that it was originally conceived as a temporary exhibition piece makes its durability and continued function particularly noteworthy.