Buzz
Throughout history, there have been countless bizarre and fascinating structures that were never constructed. However, not every architectural vision that remained unrealized would have improved our world. For every stunning cenotaph for Isaac Newton, there are numerous proposals that could have devastated natural landscapes, erased historic neighborhoods, and ultimately made the world a less appealing place.
10. The Plan to Completely Destroy Glasgow
Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, is renowned for its Victorian architecture and vibrant nightlife. However, if 20th-century urban planners had succeeded, only the latter would remain. In 1945, a city report proposed the radical idea of razing the entire city of Glasgow to the ground.
If the proposal had stopped there, it might have garnered some approval from Glasgow’s rivals in Edinburgh. However, the Bruce Report aimed not just to eliminate Glasgow but to transform it beyond recognition. The historic city center, along with numerous Victorian homes, slums, and even the Glasgow School of Art, would have been demolished. In their place, a series of stark, communist-inspired concrete towers surrounded by an expansive motorway would have risen. This wasn’t a far-fetched idea dismissed by everyone; in 1947, the plan received official approval.
Why isn’t Glasgow synonymous with concrete today? The answer lies with Adolf Hitler. After more than five years of World War II, Britain was financially drained, making the project too costly to execute. Although the city abandoned the plans two years later, several historic areas of Glasgow were already demolished and replaced with unsightly concrete structures.
9. Building Two Massive Highways Through Manhattan’s Core
SoHo, a Manhattan neighborhood known for its artist lofts and rapid gentrification, is one of New York City’s most iconic areas. It was even designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978. However, it’s a miracle that the district survived at all. In the 1950s, New York nearly demolished the entire area to construct two massive expressways through it.
First proposed in 1946, the Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX) aimed to link the Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and the Holland Tunnel. This sprawling network of roads would have cut through Manhattan’s core, converging above SoHo. The plan was as impractical as it sounds, requiring the demolition of 14 blocks, erasing Little Italy and much of SoHo, and displacing nearly 2,000 families and 800 businesses. Those remaining would have endured constant traffic noise and the bleak reality of living beneath a concrete overpass.
Similar to the Glasgow proposal, LOMEX received official approval. In 1968, the Federal Bureau of Public Roads greenlit the project. Fortunately, public opposition had grown by then, and in 1971, Governor Nelson Rockefeller halted the project indefinitely.
8. The Plan to Fill Santa Monica Bay
Santa Monica Bay, one of California’s most beloved coastal areas, offers a natural escape from the hustle of downtown Los Angeles. Its beaches are refreshing, the surfing is excellent, and the marine life is incredibly diverse. Yet, in the 1960s, the idea of filling this paradise with rubble was seriously considered.
Back then, the Pacific Coast Highway near the Santa Monica Mountains was perpetually congested, causing traffic jams in downtown LA and Santa Monica. To solve this, city officials proposed constructing a new freeway linking Santa Monica to Malibu. With no available land, they turned their attention to the ocean.
The proposed Santa Monica Bay Causeway would span 10 kilometers (6 miles) and involve creating numerous artificial islands. The project’s cost was estimated at half of the city’s total value. It would have required flattening parts of the nearby mountains and dumping the debris into the bay, destroying ecosystems, beaches, and iconic views. Despite its ambition, the plan was ultimately deemed too costly and impractical, leading to its abandonment.
7. Thomas Willson’s Pyramid of Death
It sounds like a plot from a dystopian sci-fi movie: a towering, 94-floor pyramid dominating a stormy cityscape. Inside, labyrinthine catacombs wind through countless chambers filled with the deceased. Millions of bodies, piled high, all contained within this eerie structure. In 19th-century London, this grim vision almost came to life.
Thomas Willson’s Pyramid of Death was designed to cover 7 square kilometers (2.7 mi) atop Primrose Hill, serving as a repository for London’s dead. For anyone familiar with London, this idea was utterly absurd. Primrose Hill is a cherished viewpoint and parkland, beloved by locals and tourists. Constructing such a massive structure would have not only ruined the area but potentially crushed the hill under its weight. Even more unsettling was Willson’s motive: he aimed to profit by selling storage spaces for the dead, hoping to make £10 million.
The project was ultimately scrapped due to the destruction it would cause to Primrose Hill. Interestingly, the decision wasn’t based on aesthetics, even though the structure was later described as a “massive parking lot for the dead.”
6. The Plan to Raze Manhattan’s Entire West Side
New York City is a place that evokes strong emotions—some adore its vibrant arts and gritty streets, while others fantasize about tossing it all into the Hudson River. If you fall into the latter camp, the Hudson River Terminal proposal might have seemed like a dream. In 1946, there was a plan to demolish Manhattan’s entire West Side and replace it with an enormous airport.
The idea came from William Zeckendorf, a real estate tycoon who shaped much of modern New York City. He wasn’t just a dreamer; he had the resources to make his visions a reality. In a 1946 issue, Life magazine argued that rising air traffic would make such an airport essential in the future. If built, it would have spanned 144 blocks, matched the size of Central Park, and handled as many flights per hour in the 1950s as JFK Airport does today.
Due to its astronomical cost and sheer impracticality, the Hudson River Terminal was abandoned before it could begin. However, Zeckendorf didn’t stop there. Around the same time, he attempted to create a self-contained city on the land where the UN Headquarters now stands.
5. Transforming London Into a Massive Highway Network
For many, living near a bustling highway might sound like a nightmare. If your immediate reaction to that idea is disbelief, you’re already wiser than London’s city planners in the 1960s. Back then, a proposal was approved to construct a vast network of concrete roads, bringing endless streams of cars into every part of London.
Dubbed the London Ringways project, it displayed a shocking disregard for preservation. The plan involved four concentric loops cutting through the city, effectively placing London in a concrete stranglehold. Outer parks and green spaces would vanish, replaced by a dystopian vision straight out of J.G. Ballard’s imagination. The most alarming part was Ringway One, the central loop that would have bulldozed iconic districts like Camden Town, Hackney, Hampstead, Islington, Brixton, and Clapham Junction. In 1973, the Conservative government officially approved the project, giving it the go-ahead.
Fortunately, Britain’s financial struggles in the late 20th century meant the project was deemed too costly and abandoned. Sometimes, being broke has its advantages.
4. John Stuart McCaig’s Scottish Colosseum
In 1896, Scottish entrepreneur John Stuart McCaig wanted to leave a legacy for his hometown of Oban, a small coastal town on Scotland’s west coast. While Oban needed many improvements, a full-scale replica of Rome’s Colosseum wasn’t one of them. Yet, that’s precisely what McCaig chose to construct.
McCaig’s Tower, as it came to be known, was both impractical and absurd. McCaig personally designed the structure and selected a hilltop location overlooking the bay. While it would dominate the town’s skyline, its purpose wasn’t for public benefit. McCaig, a man of immense ego, planned to fill the Colosseum with statues of himself and his family, keeping it closed to the public. It was an unparalleled vanity project—akin to a Victorian-era Trump Tower, but with even greater narcissism.
After McCaig’s death in 1902, he left the modern equivalent of £6 million to complete the tower. His sister successfully petitioned a judge to invalidate his will. Today, the unfinished structure stands as a beloved local landmark.
3. Building a Railway Straight Through Stonehenge
Stonehenge stands as one of the world’s most remarkable ancient monuments. This collection of towering stones, erected thousands of years ago in England, rivals the Pyramids and Machu Picchu in mystery and grandeur. It’s also a site of immense scientific importance, encompassing a vast area that includes the enigmatic Avebury stone circle. Yet, in the 19th century, the Victorians seemed determined to ruin it.
The most egregious attempt occurred in 1886 when the London South West Railway company proposed a railway line directly through the heart of Stonehenge. The track would have passed dangerously close to the stones and severed the Stonehenge Cursus, an ancient ditch believed to predate the monument. Although the plan was rejected, a decade later, another railway proposal threatened to encroach on the site.
Avebury, however, faced even greater peril. This expansive henge, arguably more impressive than Stonehenge, was nearly destroyed when it was sold for housing in 1872. Only the swift action of British MP John Lubbock, who purchased the land to protect it, saved Avebury from demolition. Without his intervention, this iconic part of England would have lost a priceless piece of its heritage.
2. The Plan to Demolish Central London
If there’s one takeaway from this article, it’s that London’s council has a peculiar disdain for the city’s heritage. Before the motorway proposals, there were serious plans to raze nearly every historic structure in the city center.
Piccadilly Circus, one of London’s most iconic landmarks, was a prime target. Known for its stunning 19th-century architecture, it faced a 1960s proposal by Sir William Holford of the London County Council to demolish 75% of its buildings. The goal was to alleviate traffic congestion—a solution as extreme as amputating a limb to cure a foot itch. Tottenham Court Road was also slated for an unsightly overhaul.
The most outrageous plan involved Soho, London’s vibrant district of narrow streets, historic pubs, and eclectic nightlife. In 1954, a proposal emerged to flatten the entire area and replace it with towering office blocks and a network of underground highways.
1. The Plan to Destroy Grand Central Station
We previously highlighted the architectural tragedy of Penn Station’s demolition in NYC. However, that was almost overshadowed by an even more shocking proposal. Between 1954 and the 1970s, New York Central Railroad aggressively pushed to demolish Grand Central Terminal.
Anyone who has visited Grand Central knows how catastrophic this would have been. The terminal feels like a relic from a bygone era, when train travel was a formal affair. Yet, its owners repeatedly targeted it for destruction. In 1963, they attempted to ruin its upper levels by constructing a bowling alley above them. Shortly after it was designated a historic landmark in 1967, Stuart Saunders—the same man responsible for Penn Station’s demolition—sought bids to replace the terminal with a bland tower. When the Landmarks Commission objected, Saunders took legal action.
By the early 1970s, a judge had ruled in favor of demolishing Grand Central, threatening the very idea of historic preservation. Only a passionate public letter from Jackie Onassis to the mayor swayed an appellate court to overturn the decision by a narrow 3-2 vote. Ironically, the same individuals who sought to destroy the terminal later nearly bankrupted NYC, necessitating the largest bailout in history at the time.
