# Runner-Ups and Nearly WTB



## KillerZavatar (Jun 22, 2010)

So this thread is about towers that never made it into the history books, yet tried to archive so. This is not about visionary projects, this is about projects that came close to become the world's tallest building (or tallest building of a specific country/area), but ultimately failed so, because they either were delayed and finished after their rival went up, design change or any other cause.

Metropolitan Life North Tower
if buit ESB's reign as the tallest building would have been shortened by at least decades or even got the title before the empire state building would ever get it. The depression sent the building into the on hold status and it never rose over 33 floors that it still has of today.

1WTC (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?buildingID=7788)
The 1WTC was originally designed to become the worlds tallest building and with only Taipei 101 in sight all the previous designs featured a long spire that would have beaten it as the world's tallest building. Yet delays over delays made it impossible for the tower to start for years to come and Burj Khalifa went up in no time. Today even the spire is questionable for financial reasons and it seems like the building will not even stay within the 10 tallest buildings of the world.

Nakheel Tower (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?buildingID=35358)
First named the pinnacle it was designed ~ 750m in Dubai to become the world's tallest building. With Burj Khalifa rising in the same city the plans changed and the Tower was moved over to the Waterfront and the height was changed upwards to over a kilometer in height. the project was renamed Al Burj. Yet the project got changed again, because the original waterfront was scratched all together. The project got moved into the center of Dubai and renamed again and for the last time to Nakheel Tower. There it looked good, the site had progress and piling actually started. When the crisis hit Dubai however the developper Nakheel had to on hold the project for a whole year. After the year however the project never got touched again. The site got cleared right after it was clear that this project will never be.

Now it is your time, tell stories of towers that would have become the tallest, but they failed for whatever reason.


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## Kolony (Jan 20, 2012)

PALACE OF THE SOVIETS 

Comissoned in 1931 by Joseph Stalin. In 1931-1933 the Catherdral of Christ the Saviour was demolished to make way. The foundations and the Metro Station "Kropotkinskaya" (which in 1935 was named "Palace of the Soviets Station") were started. In 1941-1942 the foundation was removed to make the defence barriers around Moscow. The project was then officialy canceled. In 1958-1960 it was converted to the Moskva Pool. in 1995-2000 the new Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was constructed. It opened in 2000. 
The only part of the project that was completed was the Metro Station. 

The Palace of the Soviets would of had 100 floors, be 495 meters to Spire, 415 meters to roof, and have its own Metro Station. 
The Palace of the Soviets would have been the tallest building in the world until the 1 WTC in New York was completed on December 23, 1970.


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## Kolony (Jan 20, 2012)

Rendering:


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## Kolony (Jan 20, 2012)

ZARYADYE ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING: 

The Zaryadye Administrative Building was comissioned in 1934. The original site was to be where the current-day GUM Department Store stands, but the location was changed. In 1947 The Zaryadye neighborhood was razed to make room for the building. The foundations were completed by 1951. The project was then strangely abandoned. In 1964 the Rossiya Hotel began construction using the foundation and opened in 1967. The Hotel was later demolished in 2006-2007. There is a new entertainment Complex designed by Sir Norman Foster planned at the location. This building may have been the tallest in Europe and Asia until the OUB Centre in Singapore opened in 1986. 

The building would of had 32 floors and 275 meters in height.


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## Kolony (Jan 20, 2012)

Rendering:


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## KillerZavatar (Jun 22, 2010)

yeah i remember reading about the palace of the soviets. too bad it never had seen light. :banana:


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