Unfinished building

An unfinished building is a building (or other architectural structure, as a bridge, a road or a tower) where construction work was abandoned or on-hold at some stage or only exists as a design. It may also refer to buildings that are currently being built, particularly those that have been delayed or at which construction work progresses extremely slowly.

Many construction or engineering projects have remained unfinished at various stages of development. The work may be finished as a blueprint or whiteprint and never be realised, or be abandoned during construction.

One of the best-known perennially incomplete buildings is Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família in Barcelona, a church that has been under construction since the 1880s, and that is now expected to be complete in the 2020s.

Partially-constructed buildings

There are numerous unfinished buildings that remain partially-constructed in countries around the world, some of which can be used in their incomplete state but with others remaining as a mere shell. An example of the latter is the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea. If finished it would become the tallest hotel in the world and the seventh largest building [Emporis. " [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=130967 Ryugyong Hotel] ". Accessed 20 August 2006.] but is uninhabitable and will not be completed due to the cost and the poor structural integrity. [Emporis. 28 July 2000. " [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=ryugyonghotel-pyongyang-northkorea Ryugyong Hotel on hold] ". Accessed 20 August 2006.] Some projects are intentionally left with an unfinished appearance, particularly the follies of the late 16th to 18th century.

Some buildings are in a cycle of near-perpetual construction, with work lasting for decades or even centuries. Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, has been under construction for around 120 years, having started in the 1880s. Work was delayed by the Spanish Civil War, during which the original models and parts of the building itself were destroyed. Today, even with portions of the basilica incomplete, it is still the most popular tourist destination in Barcelona with 1.5 million visitors every year. Gaudí spent 40 years of his life overseeing the project and is buried in the crypt. [Barcelona Information. " [http://www.barcelona-information.com/sagrada-familia.html Barcelona Sagrada Familia] ". Accessed 24 August 2006.] Germany's Cologne Cathedral took even longer to complete; construction started in 1248 and finished in 1880, a total of 632 years. [UNESCO World Heritage. " [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=292 Cologne Cathedral] ". Accessed 24 August 2006.]

Buildings (and other architectural structures) never completed

Buildings that were never completed and remain in that state include:
* Duomo di Siena, Siena, Italy
* Goodwood House, West Sussex, England
* Herrenchiemsee, Bavaria, Germany
* Szkieletor, Kraków
* Woodchester Mansion, Stroud, Gloucester, England
* Parliament House, Wellington, New Zealand
* Bishop Castle, Colorado, USA
* Super Power Building, Clearwater, Florida, USA
* Boldt Castle, Thousand Islands, New York, USA
* National Monument, Edinburgh
* Ajuda National Palace, Lisbon, Portugal
* Cuenca Cathedral, Cuenca, Spain
* Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California, USA
* Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
* Torre de la Escollera, Cartagena, ColombiaIn other cases construction works proceeds extremely slow, so one can also say from incomplete structures. Examples therefore:
* Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, USA
* Sagrada Família, Barcelona, Spain
* Kaliakra transmitter, Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria
* Westminster Cathedral, London, UK

Other unfinished structures

There are of course not only buildings that remained unfinished. There are also roads, railway lines and channels which remained unfinished.

Roads

* Olimpijka in Poland
* an urban motorway in Cape Town, South Africa
* B 464 near Sindelfingen, in Germany
* Strecke 46
* Strecke 77
* Strecke 85

Rails

* Cincinnati Subway
* Mosel Railway (German: Moselbahn)
* Ahrtal Railway (German: Ahrtalbahn)
* Old Railway at Willebadessen
* Strategic Rail Dam (German: Strategischer Bahndamm)
* Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (Thailand : Bangkok)

Arenas

* Deutsches Stadion

Industrial plants

* Kramatorsk Metallurgical Plant [http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=54622]
* Unit 5,6,7,8 of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station

Power transmission

* Wolmirstedt HVDC-back-to back plant
* Elbe Project

Towers

* Watkins' Tower, London, UK
* Yekaterinburg TV Tower, Yekaterinburg, Russia
* Berlin-Müggelberge TV Tower, Berlin, Germany
* Belgorod TV Tower, Belgorod, Russia
* Deutschlandsender Herzberg/Elster, Germany
* Wardenclyffe Tower, Shoreham, New York, USA
* Hakell Creative Educational Media, Haskell, Oklahoma, USA [http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=2649733] at 35°53'0"N 95°46'15"W

Visions and plans

Many projects do not get to the construction phase, halted during or after planning. Ludwig II of Bavaria commissioned several designs for Castle Falkenstein, with the fourth plan being vastly different from that of the first. The first two designs were turned down, one because of costs and one because the design displeased Ludwig, and the third designer withdrew from the project. The fourth and final plan was completed and some infrastructure was prepared for the site but Ludwig died before construction work began. [Yan, Mark. King Ludwig II of Bavaria — his Life and Art. " [http://us.geocities.com/sharmar505/falkenst.htm Falkenstein] ". Accessed 21 August 2006.] The Palace of Whitehall, at the time the largest palace in Europe, was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1698. Sir Christopher Wren, most famous for his role in rebuilding several churches after the Great Fire of London in 1666, sketched a proposed replacement for part of the palace but financial constraints prevented construction.

Even without being constructed, many architectural designs and ideas have had a lasting influence. The Russian constructivism movement started in 1914 and was taught in the Bauhaus and other architecture schools, leading to numerous architects integrating it into their style.

Further examples

Construction never started

"See also "
* The Illinois
* Millennium Tower
* Point Park Civic Center
* Pyramid City
* Sky City 1000
* Tatlin's Tower
* Ville Contemporaine
* Volkshalle
* X-Seed 4000
* Palace of the Soviets

Use of computer technology

Computer technology has allowed for 3D representations of projects to be shown before they are built. In some cases the construction is never started and the computer model is the nearest that anyone will ever get to seeing the finished piece. For example, in 1999 Kent Larson's exhibition "Unbuilt Ruins: Digital Interpretations of Eight Projects by Louis I. Kahn" showed computer images of designs completed by noted architect Louis Kahn but never built. [Eiteljorg II, Harrison. 1999. CSA Newsletter, " [http://csanet.org/newsletter/spring99/nls9902.html Seeing Buildings that Were Never Built] ". Accessed 21 August 2006.] Computer simulations can also be used to create prototypes of projects and test them before they are actually built; this has allowed the design process to be more successful and efficient.

ee also

*Unfinished work

References

External links

* [http://www.unfinishedbuildings.org/ Rick Edmondson's Unfinished Buildings]
* [http://pathetic.org.uk/siteitems/sitewide/unbuilt.shtml Unbuilt British motorways] at Pathetic Motorways