Construction has been an integral part of the evolution of mankind. Today we are able to built immense structures which cover huge areas and which can provide shelter or business opportunities to numerous people simultaneously. However, not all construction projects have become a reality as some of them were simply too costly, extravagant or big to be made. Here are some of the most fascinating edifice concepts that were never realised.
Hotel Attraction
Designed by the legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, the Hotel Attraction was supposed to be the tallest building in New York. The edifice was planned to be 360 metres high but was discarded as the concept was too unrealistic for its time. Until the mid-1950s little was known about the structure. It was the release of Joan Matamala i Flotats’s report “When the New World called Gaudí” that shared more light about the building. However, Gaudí’s work was not in vain as his plans were used as a basis for the reconstruction of Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York.
Ville Contemporaine
French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier thought he could solve Paris’s urban housing crisis by creating a large modern neighbourhood which would have the capacity to accommodate a total of three million residents. The focal part of his construction concept was a cluster of skyscrapers built on steel frames with glass façades. Each edifice would be 60 floors tall and have both commercial and residential properties. The quarter was supposed to be linked to the remainder of the French capital via a gigantic transportation hub that would provide both bus and rail services. It would also have had its own airport and highway network that will connect Ville Contemporaine to the other nearby settlements of the area. Although it sounded good on paper, the project had numerous downsides, such as the fact that the architect emphasised on automobile transportation and kept pedestrian circulation to a minimum and more importantly that after completion the price of the properties would be so high that only the richest people in France would be able to afford to live in the neighborhood which ultimately doesn’t serve the initial goal of the quarter.
Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid
This super structure was supposed to be located in the Tokyo Bay in Japan. It was designed by the Shimizu Corporation and if it was built it would have been the largest man-made edifice on the planet. The mega-city was planned to be twelve times higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza and would had the capacity to house a total of one million people. The structure would have been comprised of 55 smaller pyramids (each the size of the prolific Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, USA) which would have been connected to one another via nanotubes. Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid would have been resistant to strong winds, earthquakes and tsunamis and would have been covered with photovoltaic film that would transform sunlight into electricity. Pond scum and algae would have been used as a secondary power source. Upon completion the structure would have covered an area of 8 square kilometres and would have had a height of over 2.000 metres. The reason why it never left the planning table is that it couldn’t be built with the present conventional materials.
Fourth Grace
New structures are being built in the city of Liverpool on a frequent basis and this keeps all contractors that provide eco-friendly rubbish removals in Liverpool extremely busy. Sadly, one of the structures that never got the green light was the Fourth Grace. The edifice’s concept was created by Will Alsop and was submitted under the name “The Cloud”. It got its name due to the fact that it was supposed to be constructed in close proximity to the world famous Three Graces of Liverpool which are:
- Cunard Building which dates back to the mid-1910s
- Port of Liverpool Building which was construction from 1903 to 1907
- Royal Liver Building which was built between 1908 and 1911
The Fourth Grace would have been one of the tallest buildings in the city with a height of about 119 metres and would have overshadowed any of the aforementioned edifices. It was designed in the Zoomorphic architectural style and would have been used as an office building. It would also have housed a 107-room hotel. The local authorities however decided to cancel the construction of the structure in 2004 as it would have been too expensive.
The Palace of the Soviets
The Palace of the Soviets was supposed to be an administrative centre and congress hall in Moscow, Russia. The structure was to be built on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and upon completion would have been one of the tallest buildings on the globe. It was designed by Boris Iofan who planned to top the edifice with a gigantic statue of Lenin. The total height of the structure would have been 495 metres (antenna spire included) and would have had a count of 100 floors. Unlike the other entries from the list, the Palace of the Soviets got green lighted and its building began in 1937. The construction work was halted during World War II and in 1942 the structure was dismantled so that its steel can be used for the fortifications of the Russian capital. After the end of the war the steel was used for the construction of the Bolshoy Krasnokholmsky Bridge. The aforementioned mentioned cathedral was rebuilt on the site during the late 1990s.
Volkshalle
This mammoth monumental edifice was designed by German architect Albert Speer and commissioned by Adolf Hitler. It was supposed to become Berlin’s most importantly and emblematic structure and a symbol of the German’s strength and power. If completed it would have had the largest dome on Earth and would have been one of the largest structure made by man. The project however was never realised due to the break of the Second World War. CG Images of Volkshalle have been used in scenes of the highly rate television show “The Man in the High Castle”.
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