THE TOWERS WORLD

BUILDINGS THAT WERE NEVER BUILT

Tatlin’s TowerDesigned around 1917 for St. Petersburg Russia

Tatlin’s Tower would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The tower was to be built from industrial materials: iron, glass and steel.

It was envisioned as a towering symbol of modernity. The tower’s main form was a twin helix which spiraled up to 400m/1312ft in height, where visitors would be transported around with the aid of various mechanical devices. 

Tatlin’s TowerDesigned around 1917 for St. Petersburg Russia

Interesting Fact: At the base of the structure was a rotating cube which was designed as a venue for lectures, conferences and legislative meetings.

The cube would complete a rotation in the span of one year. Above that cube would be a smaller pyramid housing executive activities and completing a rotation once a month.

The IllinoisDesigned in 1956 for Chicago Illinois

The Illinois was a proposedmile-high (1,609 meters/5,280 feet) skyscraper, envisioned by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wright believed that it would have been technically possibleto construct such a building even at the time it was proposed. The designin cluded 528 stories, with a grossarea of 18.46 millions quarefeet.

The IllinoisDesigned in 1956 for Chicago Illinois

InterestingFact:

A number of problems occurred in Wright’sdesign of The Illinois including space that was needed to sevice the elevators which would occupy all of the space available on the lower floors, thus defeating the purpose of the building’ s height.

Beacon of ProgressDesigned around 1891 for Chicago Illinois

Plans called for a 457 meters / 1500 footstonetower in Jackson Park, Chicago, onthesite of the 1893 Chicago World’sFair.

French-bornarchitect and MIT Professor Désiré Despradelle came up with the winning design. With more financial backing the structure would have been by far the tallest man-made object in the world.

Beacon of ProgressDesigned around 1891 for Chicago Illinois

InterestingFact:

The design called for an amphitheater at the base to seat 100,000 people and sweeping piers that would extend into Lake Michigan for regattas.

Ultima TowerDesigned in 1991 for San Francisco California

This design is obviously more of a far fetched vision than a seriously considered project. The Architect Eugene Tsui originally conceived the idea of the Ultima Tower as part of a study of the compact urbanarea of San Francisco.

The structure would utilize atmospheric energy conversion by conver ting the difference in atmospheric pressure at the top and bottom of the structure into electrical power. The Ultima Tower is 500 storiestall (two miles high) and is intended to house one million residents.

Ultima TowerDesigned in 1991 for San Francisco California

 Interesting Fact: 

The structure’s shape is modeled after the tallest structure not made by man– African termite nests.

Hotel AttractionDesigned in 1908 for New York City

 Hotel Attraction was to be the tallest building in New York at the time and was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi. The planned total height was 360 meters / 1181 ft and was probably unrealistic for its time.

Little is known about the origins of Hotel Attraction and was unknown until 1956, when a report called “The New World Called Gaudí” was published.

Hotel AttractionDesigned in 1908 for New York City

 Interesting Fact: The drawings by Gaudi of the Attraction Hotel had actually been proposed as a basis for the rebuilding of the Ground Zero project in Manhattan.

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