In the world of tall building construction, projects can stall for any number of reasons—financial, political, cultural—and for long periods of time.
The CTBUH Research team, in the latest installment of Tall Buildings in Numbers, has undertaken to find the top 20 tallest never-completed buildings, and the 15 longest construction periods from 1985 to the present, listing the stop and start dates, and last known status of these 35 projects.
We learned a lot along the way, turning up some interesting findings on familiar names and long-forgotten projects alike, including:
• Now over 28 years since it started construction, Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongang holds the record for longest construction period by over seven years.
• There are 50 buildings 150 meters or taller currently on hold (i.e., construction had started and stopped, but is planned to resume) around the world.
• The Palace of Soviets in Moscow was actually started in 1937, but construction was halted during frame construction with the coming of World War II. It would have been topped with a statue of Joseph Stalin, making it the world’s tallest structure
• Now over 28 years since it started construction, Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongang holds the record for longest construction period by over seven years.
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE Source: CTBUH
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE Source: CTBUH
Related Stories
| Oct 4, 2022
Rental property owners want access to utility usage data for whole properties
As pressure from investors for ESG reporting mounts, owners of multifamily properties increasingly look to collect whole-building utility usage data.
| Oct 4, 2022
In dire need of affordable housing, Aspen, Colo. will get a development that provides 277 affordable homes
A few miles from downtown Aspen, Colo., a development will provide 277 new affordable homes for an area experiencing a dire affordable housing crisis.
Green | Oct 3, 2022
California regulators move to ban gas heaters for existing buildings
California regulators voted unanimously recently on a series of measures that include a ban on the sale of natural gas-powered heating and hot water systems beginning in 2030.
| Oct 3, 2022
The College of the Holy Cross completes a $110 million performing arts center
In Worcester, Mass., a one-hour drive from Boston, the College of the Holy Cross has completed its $110 million Prior Performing Arts Center.
Resiliency | Sep 30, 2022
Designing buildings for wildfire defensibility
Wold Architects and Engineers' Senior Planner Ryan Downs, AIA, talks about how to make structures and communities more fire-resistant.
| Sep 30, 2022
Manley Spangler Smith Architects partners with PBK in strategic merger
Manley Spangler Smith Architects (MSSA), a Georgia-based, full-service architectural firm specializing in educational and municipal facilities, announced today a significant development aimed at increasing its capabilities, expertise, and suite of services.
| Sep 30, 2022
Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material
A team of students at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a process to grow bricks using bacteria.
| Sep 29, 2022
FitzGerald establishes Denver office
The new location bolsters FitzGerald’s nationwide reach and capitalizes on local expertise and boots-on-the-ground to serve new and existing clients seeking to do business in Denver and the Front Range, as well as the Southwest United States, California, and Texas.
| Sep 28, 2022
New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor
Design for Freedom by Grace Farms and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability formed a partnership to advance shared goals regarding sustainable and ethical building material supply chains that are free of forced labor.
| Sep 27, 2022
New Buildings Institute released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code
New Buildings Institute (NBI) has released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code.
