The Sad Fates of the World's Six Tallest Unfinished Buildings
Building a house is stressful. Building a skyscraper is a nuclear bomb
of stress, problems, and carefully-coordinated chaos—chaos that is
closely tied to the economy, and that is easily derailed by war,
politics, and financial downturns.
It's not an uncommon story. There are plenty of super-tall (over 984
feet) buildings that were proposed but never made it through to reality.
Humans have a tendency towards bombast when it comes to skyscrapers.
But recently, the
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat looked at a unique subset of these failed projects that are especially interesting: Super-tall buildings that actually did begin construction, but were never completed.
Below you'll find a few of the buildings that, as proposed, would have
become the world's tallest (or close to it). Keep in mind, there are
plenty of other stalled or on-hold projects out there—CTBUH defines
unfinished as "when site works had begun, but were completely halted,
and no reports indicate that construction will continue." You can check
out CTBUH's full study in PDF form here.
Nakheel Tower: Pilings Begun
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Nowhere was the 2008 financial crisis quite as visible as Dubai, where
dozens of high-profile projects ground to a halt. One of those was
Nakheel Tower, a proposed 3,300-foot-tall skyscraper with 156 planned
elevators. Nakheel was designed to be the visual and economic focal
point of the man-made Palm Jumeirah, the fake series of islands off of
Dubai that is now experiencing
extreme erosion and other environmental problems.
Image: Inhabitat
India Tower: Foundation Under Way
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India Tower, on the other hand, was a purely post-Recession idea. The
2,356-foot tower was planned for Mumbai in 2010, but was halted the
following year after construction had begun. It's currently on hold.
Image: Skyscraper City
Russia Tower: Digging Begun
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Yet another victim of the 2008 crisis: The 2,008-foot Russia Tower was
already under construction when the downturn hit the following year, and
the building's developer announced he'd be unable to put up the $3
billion needed for the building work. The construction site was turned
into parking.
Image: Foster and Partners
Doha Convention Center Tower: Foundation Finished
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At 1,808 feet, this tower in Doha was destined to become one of the
world's tallest buildings. Just one problem: It was so tall, officials
worried it would make it tough for pilots landing and taking off from
the new airport. Construction
was halted until Doha'sn new airport was finished... Until the project was abruptly cancelled anyways.
Image: World Visits
Burj Al Alam: Pilings In Place
Again, Dubai makes many appearances on this list. The city's real
estate boom was growing exponentially leading up to 2008, and dramatic
and expressive towers like this one were en vogue. Burj Al Alam was a
flower-shaped tower proposed to rise 1,670-feet into the air—it was
cancelled in 2013 after a long, slow, much-denied decline.
Image: Skyscraper City
Palace of the Soviets: Building Started
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The Palace of the Soviets was to be antithesis of the aristocratic
Russia—a people's palace built on the ruins of a demolished church where
delegates from the newly-formed Soviet Republic could meet. It would be
enormous: At 1,624 feet, by far the tallest building in the world. It
actually made it to construction, extraordinarily, but was halted by the
onset of World War II.
The circular foundation was eventually turned into the Moskva Pool—the world's largest for decades.
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Image: Pabouk
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