What are the most interesting unrealised urban visions?

Buildings, infrastructure, entire planned cities that didn't get built etc.

Speer's Berlin is cheating (though if somebody knows a resource showing what it would've looked like, I'm all ears).

Well, Speer himself acknowledged that it was absolutely terrible (there are some photos in "Inside the 3rd Reich" and the book describes the general concept and some details).
 
Palace of the Soviets was a quite enormous project
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Height 316 meters plus statue on the top - 100 meters, weight – one and a half million tons. Foundation made the world's largest swimming pool but in 1990's it was replaced with a cathedral (substitution of one demolished for Palace's construction).
 
The Plug-In City / Peter Cook, Archigram

The Idea that city is build of standardized Modules who are plug-in a massive framework that supply the city with power, water and information.
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Unfinished Stalin's Stadium in Izmajlowo (Moscow). Planned capacity up to 200,000 viewers.
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That's how it really looked prior to 1980 (and a LOT of dirt all around it; but it did look impressive). Was somewhat cleaned (ditto for the area around it) and put to use in the Moscow Olympics of 1980(?)

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Palace of the Soviets was a quite enormous project
It was actually started but construction stopped due during early construction to World War 2.
Post war Stalin had other priorities, so the whole thing was put on hold and eventually demolished.
 
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Height 316 meters plus statue on the top - 100 meters, weight – one and a half million tons. Foundation made the world's largest swimming pool but in 1990's it was replaced with a cathedral (substitution of one demolished for Palace's construction).
We all know there was no way that building would have ever been completed with a statue of Lenin on top
The builders would have "spontaneously decided" to replace it with a statue of Comrade Stalin.
 
We all know there was no way that building would have ever been completed with a statue of Lenin on top
The builders would have "spontaneously decided" to replace it with a statue of Comrade Stalin.

How's this for a tradition: every time a Soviet leader is deposed his successor's first act is to replace the giant statue atop the palace with a statue of himself. So Stalin gets replaced by Khrushchev, Khrushchev by Brezhnev, and so on. By the time of Andropov the statue makers start making statues ahead of time for the likely successors so there aren't any delays.
 

iVC

Donor
Height 316 meters plus statue on the top - 100 meters, weight – one and a half million tons. Foundation made the world's largest swimming pool but in 1990's it was replaced with a cathedral (substitution of one demolished for Palace's construction).

I wonder how this statue could be dismantled or kept in disguise during the Yeltsin's years. It would be utterly dominating over the landscape and ideologically undesirable in the 90s.

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Of course, the Palace itself can be used as host for some of the post-Soviet governing body, but the situation would look ridiculous.
 
I wonder how this statue could be dismantled or kept in disguise during the Yeltsin's years. It would be utterly dominating over the landscape and ideologically undesirable in the 90s.

ShEPqzO.jpg

jhNPUvj.jpg
Wu6aykJ.jpg

g24EiQm.jpg


Of course, the Palace itself can be used as host for some of the post-Soviet governing body, but the situation would look ridiculous.

It was supposed to host the Party congresses with the main hall capable to accommodate some huge numbers of people. Which created additional problems: people in that enormous hall had to be able to hear and see the leaders making speeches. I was told that 2 special research institutions had been created to resolve the issues of acoustics and visibility (we are talking 1930's and the huge TV screens are not yet available). Not sure that this monstrosity could be used for something meaningful except, if all the problems were resolved, as a concert hall (as Palace of the Congresses built during Khruschev's time). Dismantling of the statue would be an interesting engineering task. And quite expensive one.

IMO, public swimming pool was the best usage of the site because Soviet Moscow was desperately short of them but there was (surprise, surprise) a major drawback: the pool was within a spitting distance from the main Moscow art museum and with the pool being open one and functioning the whole year, moisture (in the winter you could see a big steam cloud over it) had been allegedly damaging the valuable paintings.

Well, now they rediscovered religion (as in figured out which hand to use when making a cross sign) and "rebuilt" the huge cathedral which was initially on the site. In a process, invented a legend regarding construction of the original one, and couple other related things. The people seemingly swallowed all the BS hook, line and sinker.
 
to save time, just replace the head, leaving the body of the statue alone

Funny as it may sound the idea was used in a Soviet comedy based upon "Cabbages and Kings" by O. Henry: there was a status of a President in the main square of Anchuria's capital and the only thing you had to do after the next coup was to change the head. :)
 
How's this for a tradition: every time a Soviet leader is deposed his successor's first act is to replace the giant statue atop the palace with a statue of himself. So Stalin gets replaced by Khrushchev, Khrushchev by Brezhnev, and so on. By the time of Andropov the statue makers start making statues ahead of time for the likely successors so there aren't any delays.

Costume could be a problem: Lenin was always in 3 piece suit and Stalin in the military style jacket. Things became easier afterwards but for Breznev the statue would need to have an enormous and ever-growing number of decorations. :)
 
Costume could be a problem: Lenin was always in 3 piece suit and Stalin in the military style jacket. Things became easier afterwards but for Breznev the statue would need to have an enormous and ever-growing number of decorations. :)
By law everyone post Stalin Dress as Lenin to keep the cost low
 
By law everyone post Stalin Dress as Lenin to keep the cost low

"When it comes to glory, I'm not bargaining about the cost!" (Louis XV in "Fanfan the Tulip", old version of the movie).

No, unfortunately it would not work: the Soviet art was somewhat "iconic" in the terms of who had been depicted in which way (and size). Lenin's outfit was obsolete and the Glorious Leaders of more recent period would not like to look as complete jerks.
 
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