The Palace of the Soviets
Uncompleted.
Architect: Boris Iofan / Date 1937 - 1958 / Location: Moscow
The Palace of the Soviets (Russian: Дворец Советов, Dvorets Sovetov) was a project to construct an administrative center and a congress hall in Moscow, Russia, near the Kremlin, on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The architectural contest for the Palace of the Soviets (1931–1933) was won by Boris Iofan’s neoclassical concept, subsequently revised by Iofan, Vladimir Shchuko and Vladimir Gelfreikh into a supertall skyscraper. If built, it would have become the world’s tallest structure. Construction started in 1937, and was terminated by the German invasion in 1941. In 1941-1942, its steel frame was disassembled for use in fortifications and bridges. Construction was never resumed. In 1958, the foundations of the Palace were converted into what would become (at the time) the world’s largest open-air swimming pool. The Cathedral was rebuilt in 1995-2000.
(Words from Wikipedia.)
