Wikipedia

Angela Nikolau

Angela Nikolau (born 24 June 1993) is a Russian rooftopper and Art Creator who gained recognition due to her unusual photographs taken on the roofs of skyscrapers around the world.

Angela Nikolau
Born (1993-06-24) 24 June 1993 (age 31)
Moscow, Russia
NationalityRussian
Occupation(s)Art Creator, scaling skyscrapers
Known forScaling skyscrapers
Parents
  • Dmitriy Nikolau, circus performer (father)
  • Olga Nikolau, circus performer (mother)

Early life

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Angela Nikolau was born in Moscow on 24 June 1993, to a family passionate about circus art.[1][2]

For the first six years of school, she attended public schools, later transferring to a Christian School of Arts. Nikolau did rhythmic gymnastics from the age of seven until she was 16. She has worked as an art teacher for children since she was 16.[3]

After graduating, Nikolau entered the Russian State Specialized Academy of Arts. She studied there for five years but left during her senior year to pursue her passion in rooftopping and photography.[4]

Rooftopping

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Nikolau took her first rooftop images in Moscow. After that she was actively travelling around the world and publishing photos taken at height.[5][6][7][8][9]

In 2015, Nikolau was engaged as a witness in an investigation against a rooftopper Vladimir Podrezov and his friends who painted the star of the Stalinist skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment into Ukrainian flag colours.[10]

In 2016, Nikolau went to China for the first time to scale the highest construction site in the world. Together with Ivan Beerkus, they climbed Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin and the construction crane at the top of the tower. As of April 2020, the video shot by the two, was viewed more than 920,000 times. The video attracted the attention of the global media.[11][12][13]

In 2017, Nikolau played the main character in the Danish documentary On the Edge of Freedom.[14][15]

In 2018, she played one of the lead roles in a Who is Next? documentary by Slovak documentarian Miro Drobný.[16]

In 2022, Nikolau and Beerkus scaled the rooftop of the Malaysian skyscraper Merdeka 118 - the second-tallest building in the world. This event was covered by multiple media around the world. Instagram videos of the accomplishment reached 8.6 million views.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

Nikolau gained 730,000 followers on Instagram during her career.[24][25][26][27]

Nikolau creates non-fungible tokens (NFTs) using photographs of her pursuits. Her works were included in the NFT Yearbook in 2022.[28]

Angela appeared in the feature-length documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, which premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2024 and was acquired by Netflix in the same year.[29][30]

Notable climbs

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Location Building Date Height, m
Moscow, Russia Kudrinskaya Square Building 2013 156
Moscow, Russia Triumph Palace 2013 264.1
Moscow, Russia Federation Tower, Vostok Tower 2013 373.7
Moscow, Russia Victory Park, Victory Monument 2014 141.8
Moscow, Russia Four Seasons Hotel Moscow 2014 70
Moscow, Russia Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya 2014 136
Moscow, Russia Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building 2014 176
Moscow, Russia Moscow Kremlin Wall 2014 19
Moscow, Russia Evolution Tower 2015 246
Moscow, Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia main building 2015 172
Moscow, Russia OKO 2016 354.1
Moscow, Russia Sberbank City 2016 168
Moscow, Russia Russian Academy of Sciences Presidium Building 2016 120
Moscow, Russia GUM (department store) 2016 33
Tianjin, China Goldin Finance 117 2016 597
Hong Kong Tsing Ma Bridge 2016 206
Hong Kong Island Shangri-La 2016 213
Shenzhen, China Ping An International Finance Centre 2016 599
Macau L'Arc Macau 2016 217
Guangzhou Xinguang Bridge 2016 130
Bangkok King Power Mahanakhon 2017 314
Bangkok Grande Centre Point Hotel 2017 150
Shanghai The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai 2017 160
Hong Kong Lee Garden One 2017 240
Dubai Al Yaqoub Tower 2017 328
Paris Sainte-Clotilde 2017 70
Paris Cheminée du Front de Seine 2017 130
Shanghai K11 (Shanghai) 2019 278
Chongqing Chongqing World Trade Center 2019 283.1
Chongqing United International Mansion 2019 286
Chongqing Chaotianmen Bridge 2019 142
Almaty Esentai Tower 2022 168
Almaty Curly Tau 2022 132.5
Kuala Lumpur Merdeka 118 2022 678.9

Personal life

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Father – Dmitriy Nikolau, circus performer, clown and animal trainer.

Mother – Olga Nikolau, circus performer.

Siblings: Diana, Tikhon, Matryona, Maria, Matvey.

References

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  1. ^ "АНГЕЛИНА НИКОЛАУ". zvezdi.ru. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  2. ^ Люси Эш (24 March 2017). "Селфи по-русски: что движет безбашенными ловцами адреналина?". BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  3. ^ Холли Голайтли (2 November 2018). "Руфер Ангелина Николау: биография, личная жизнь". SYL.ru. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Meet Angela Nikolau, The Russian Girl Who Takes The World's Riskiest Photos". designyoutrust.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Mind Boggling Photos Of Russian Girl Angela Who Takes Photos On Worlds Highest Points !". youngisthan.in. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Russian Girl Takes Riskiest Selfies On Skyscra-pers". News18.com. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Meet Angela Nikolau, the Russian Da-redevil Girl Who Climbs Most Dangerous Places to Take a Selfie". slavorum.org. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Meet Angela Nikolau & Her Death Defy-ing Selfies". Indie88. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Incredible pictures show model 'roofer' teetering on edge of world's tallest buildings". Daily Mirror. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Высотное дело». Допрос Подрезова". Mediazona. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Fearless model famed for stomach-churning 'roofing' selfies climbs to top of world's tallest crane hand-in-hand with boyfriend". Daily Mirror. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  12. ^ "This Girl Takes The World's Scariest Selfies (Look Away If You're Terrified Of Heights)". yahoo.com. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Hot AND brave: Instagram babe stuns in death-defying photos atop skyscrapers". Daily Star (United Kingdom). 23 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  14. ^ "На краю свободы (ТВ, 2017)". Kinopoisk. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  15. ^ "На краю свободы (2017)". filmnavi.ru. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  16. ^ Martin Kudláč (13 September 2019). "Miro Drobný. Director of Who's Next?". Cineuropa.
  17. ^ "Daredevil couple who scaled Malaysia's Merdeka 118 tower under probe". The Straits Times. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  18. ^ Teh Athira Yusof. "Not fake — Internet daredevil couple confirms Merdeka 118 climb". New Straits Times. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  19. ^ "挑战攀爬默迪卡118 警方将传召俄罗斯情侣调查". Oriental Daily News (Malaysia). 28 December 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Merdeka 118, le deuxième plus haut gratte-ciel du monde, doit ou-vrir ses portes en 2023" (in French). Ouest-France. 30 December 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Menara Merdeka 118 paling diidamkan – Ivan Beerkus". Kosmo!. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Russian daredevil apologises to M'sians for Menara 118 ascent". thevibes.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Russian Rooftopper Hid in a Small Concrete Box for 20 Hours to Scale Malaysia's Tallest Tower". sea.mashable.com. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  24. ^ "Woman defies death for her collection of selfies on Instagram". Global News. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  25. ^ "The daredevils feeding a dangerous Russian craze". BBC News. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  26. ^ "People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot". Fast Company. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Ivan Kuznetsov and Angela Nikolau take the world's most dangerous Instagram shots in Kent & Curwen". hashtaglegend.com. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  28. ^ "The Popular Russian Blogger And Roof-Topper Angela Nikolau Challenges New Heights In NFT World". The Art Insider. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  29. ^ Horton, Adrian (19 January 2024). "'Our full potential is on the other side of fear': a vertigo-inducing look at 'rooftopping'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  30. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr (27 January 2024). "Netflix Lands Sundance Docu 'Skywalkers: A Love Story'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
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