# Your favorite building or structure that was never built? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489 "2003-09-14T02:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/1 "2003-09-14T02:09:11Z")
…or hasn’t been built yet, even. My personal favorite is Frank Lloyd Wrights [“Illinois”](http://www.delmars.com/wright/flw7a.htm), a _one mile high_ skyscraper complete with atomic-powered elevators. And from an archetect born in 1865. Truly amazing. And, while seeing them built would have entailed the downfall of free western civilization, I have to admit that some of [Speer’s designs for Berlin](http://arno.breker.free.fr/photos03/konigsplatz01.JPG) looked pretty darn spiffy. So…anyone else have any favorites? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/2 "2003-09-14T03:10:56Z")
[This](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2687565.stm) 1908 design by Antoni Gaudi, which was briefly floated as a possibility for the new World Trade Center site. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/3 "2003-09-14T03:16:53Z")
No doubt in my mind. The supercollider. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/4 "2003-09-14T03:31:33Z")
The first thing I thought of was that FLW building, too! Here in Kansas City, we have the Truman Sports Complex, which contains [Arrowhead Stadium](http://www.kcchiefs.com/broadband/index.html) for football and [Kauffman](http://espn.go.com/page2/s/ballparks/kauffman.html) (formerly Royals) Stadium for baseball. The part that was designed but never built was a moveable roofing system built on tracks that could roll out and cover either stadium if needed due to weather conditions. I just found out the other day that they even built the tracks for the roof, but that’s as far as they got before scrapping the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/5 "2003-09-14T03:45:30Z")
Another vote for the supercollider. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/6 "2003-09-14T04:40:39Z")
[Behold!](http://dsc.gc.cuny.edu/part/part7/articles/loranc.html) A central mast. A house suspended by wires. A marvel that was never built. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/7 "2003-09-14T05:03:15Z")
> [@](#): > > My personal favorite is Frank Lloyd Wrights “Illinois”, a one mile high skyscraper complete with atomic-powered elevators. Why atomic elevators? I assume that the elevators would not have built in reactors. So what difference would the external power source make? Anyone interested in the subject should try to find a copy of _The City That Never Was: Two Hundred Years of Fantastic and Fascinating Plans That Might Have Changed the Face of New York City_ by Rebecca Read Shandor. As the title indicates it’s a history of plans for NYC that were never built. Unfortunately out of print. I believe there was a similar book on London. ---
**Author:** ![Rayn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rayn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayn)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/8 "2003-09-14T05:25:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*[This](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2687565.stm) 1908 design by Antoni Gaudi, which was briefly floated as a possibility for the new World Trade Center site. \*\* I hadn’t seen that Gaudi design before. I much prefer it over the one chosen for the WTC memorial. Here’s another Gaudi, the [Sagrada Familia](http://www.op.net/~jmeltzer/Gaudi/eltemple.html). Unfinished, but still amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/9 "2003-09-14T08:16:53Z")
Any of [Etienne-Louis Boullee](http://expositions.bnf.fr/boullee/arret/d1/indexdoss.htm)’s designs, but especially the [cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton](http://expositions.bnf.fr/boullee/plan/indexc.htm) (from an exhibition at the Bibliotheque Nationale–this particular exhibit is only available in French, but the images are neat, anyway). The planned exterior: [http://expositions.bnf.fr/boullee/grand/79.htm](http://expositions.bnf.fr/boullee/grand/79.htm) The planned interior: [http://expositions.bnf.fr/boullee/grand/81.htm](http://expositions.bnf.fr/boullee/grand/81.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/10 "2003-09-14T11:37:09Z")
Not sure the supercollider is within the intent of the OP, but if it is I have to vote for it. However, if the intent of the OP is as I fear, then there’s no contest! Answer: the other Taj Mahal, an identical building but in black, facing the first one. This half of the original plan was never done. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/11 "2003-09-14T21:01:32Z")
Ooh, Shah Jegan’s intended tomb. Good one **Napier**. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/12 "2003-09-14T21:16:47Z")
Well, they haven’t built a space elevator yet . . . ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/13 "2003-09-15T15:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*[This](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2687565.stm) 1908 design by Antoni Gaudi, which was briefly floated as a possibility for the new World Trade Center site. \*\* If they’d started building it in 1908 it still wouldn’t be finished… nice designs, that Gaudi, but not too hot on deadlines… I’d vote for that extraordinary 1920’s style Cubist Russian parliament design. Can’t find any links though… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/14 "2003-09-15T16:08:04Z")
Another vote for the Gaudi building, too. The very existence of the plans is a gift, and it would have been a wonderful memorial. And [Millennium Tower](http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/eti/projects/towermain.html) (which used to be slated not to be built in Tokyo harbor, but now seems to be not being built in Hong Kong). ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/15 "2003-09-16T01:37:54Z")
The world’s largest public swimming pool is in Moscow, Russia. For several years before they converted it to a swimming pool it was once a great pile of cement, the foundation to a gigant building which was to have atop it a statue of Lenin many times larger than the Statue of Liberty. That sounds like a pretty cool building too. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/16 "2003-09-16T02:49:05Z")
[The Freedom Ship.](http://www.freedomship.com/) It just sounds so cool! Sounds like they’re serious about building it, but I’ve got my doubts. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/17 "2003-09-16T02:55:22Z")
[The Freedom Ship.](http://www.freedomship.com/) It just sounds so cool! Sounds like they’re serious about building it, but I’ve got my doubts. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/18 "2003-09-16T02:58:42Z")
There was a proposed Mnument to Isaac Newto that is pictured n the IBM Mathematics time-line (in the Boston Museum of cience, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the LA Museum, and elsewhere) that would have been pretty nat. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/19 "2003-09-16T03:04:42Z")
There was a proposed Mnument to Isaac Newto that is pictured n the IBM Mathematics time-line (in the Boston Museum of cience, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the LA Museum, and elsewhere) that would have been pretty nat. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489/20 "2003-09-16T07:52:34Z")
I’ve always been partial to the Flat Iron Building in NYC. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-building-or-structure-that-was-never-built/201489.md?page=2)