The Greatest Buildings Never Built

Palace of Soviets

The Palace of the Soviets was an ambitious project envisioned by the Soviet Union to symbolize their power and grandeur. Designed to be taller than the Empire State Building, it featured a grand hall for 21,000 people, an office building, and a massive statue of Lenin on top 1. Construction began in 1935 but was halted by World War II, and the steel was repurposed for the war effort. Post-war attempts to revive the project failed as Stalin lost interest 1.

The palace of the Soviets wasn't the only over-the-top Soviet structure that was proposed. Another crazy structure was known as Tatlin's Tower.

--- Gary Arndt

The Palace of the Soviets remains one of the closest unrealized architectural dreams of the Soviet era 2.

   

Tatlin's Tower

Tatlin's Tower, conceived by Russian artist and architect Vladimir Tatlin, was another grandiose Soviet project that never materialized. Intended as a monument to the Third Communist International, the tower was designed to be 400 meters tall with a double metal helix structure 1. The most unique aspect was its rotating parts, which would move on a schedule ranging from a day to a year. However, the Soviet Union lacked the resources to build it in the 1920s 1.

His design looked more like a roller coaster with a double metal helix going around it.

--- Gary Arndt

A model of Tatlin's Tower can be seen today at the Royal Academy in London, serving as a testament to its ambitious design 1.