08-16-2020, 07:37 PM
Over the past thousands of years, we humans have constructed countless millions of buildings - both small and large. However, there are also those buildings that never were: they were designed, but they never left the drawing board. Perhaps the money wasn't there fore them; perhaps they were rejected in favour of an alternative proposal; or perhaps outside events intervened that stopped them from being built. Whatever the reason, this is a place to talk about all of our unbuilt buildings.
I'll start with the following AlternateHistoryHub video, that introduces several of these hypothetical structures:
This video talks about the following unbuilt buildings:
So, do you have any thoughts on any of the above - or any more unbuilt buildings that you want to discuss?
I'll start with the following AlternateHistoryHub video, that introduces several of these hypothetical structures:
This video talks about the following unbuilt buildings:
- Hotel Attraction - A 360m-tall New York hotel, designed in 1908 by Antoni Gaudí. He's best known for designing Barcelona's Sagrada Família (and, if you look at this sketch of Hotel Attraction, then you'll see that it follows the same basic outline, but more rounded and curved). Perhaps it was too far ahead of its time - but, had it been built, it would have defined the New York skyline - just like the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center (both old and new).
- Palace of the Soviets - The planned administrative centre of the Soviet Union, which would have been built in Moscow. It was intended to be the tallest building in the world at the time - with a roof height of 415m, and then an 80m statue of Lenin on top of that.
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was demolished to make way for it; however, construction was abandoned on the outbreak of World War II, and never re-started after the war was over. In the end, the cathedral was rebuilt on the site after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- Phare du Monde ("Lighthouse of the World"): A 701m-tall concrete tower in Paris, which was intended to be built for the 1937 Worlds Fair. The idea was that you were supposed to drive up a spiral road around the tower's exterior, then park your car 500m above ground level, then go to the restaurant and observation deck at the top. Had this been built, it would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower (at a measly 300m); however, it would have created ludicrous spiral traffic jams .
- Lower Manhattan Expressway: A ten-lane elevated highway, which would have run from west to east across lower Manhattan, splitting it into thirds. This was proposed in the 1960s - and, accordingly, it would have been lined with numerous brutalist structures. However, it would have required 2,000 families to be evicted, so that their homes could be demolished to make way for the highway. In the end, the backlash proved impossible to resist - and the project was cancelled in 1971.
So, do you have any thoughts on any of the above - or any more unbuilt buildings that you want to discuss?
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