Top 10 Worst Architectural Disasters

People travel the world over to see beautiful places and great monuments. They love watching the wonders of architecture that are scattered all over the world. Be it the Taj Mahal in India, the great Pyramids of Egypt or the Eiffel Tower in Paris; each of these monuments have great architectural stories to tell. But do you think the science of architecture that can create some of the most beautiful monuments in the world, can also create some of the world’s worst architectural disasters? Given below are the top 10 worst architectural disasters of the world.

1. The Lotus Riverside Complex, Shanghai:

This complex is made up of many buildings. In 2009 one of the blocks of this complex was crushed to dust. Poor constructions and no proper planning were considered as some of the factors that led to the fall. The construction of this block had just been rounded up and many of the flats were already sold. Naturally many of the tenants demanded their money back. Many officials were also detained and brought up for questioning regarding the fall of the building.

2. Chelsea Waterside Park, New York City:

This Park was renovated in the year 2000. After renovation the people were astonished to find some crazy or phallic shapes and structures used in creating the water park. This was objected and many people have asked for the park to be remodeled. Although the park might not favor the tastes of parents, children love it.

3. Experience Music Project- Seattle:

This piece of architecture was founded by the co – founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen. The structure was created using pictures of Stratocasters and guitar bodies. It was designed by the famous Frank Gehry who had also designed buildings like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. But this construction received mixed reviews and was not appreciated much by the Seattle public. Forbes magazine even called it one of the world’s 10 ugliest buildings.

4. The Dubai Aquarium:

This aquarium is located in the Dubai Mall. It is home to almost 33000 fishes that also include sharks and stingrays. It is the largest suspended aquarium in the world. But despite everything in the year 2010, there was a leak found in the aquarium. Shops had to close down and people were evacuated. Six divers worked throughout the day to stop the leak. Although it reopened again after a day, the incident did leave a black spot on the beautiful city of Dubai.

5. The Millenium Dome, London:

This dome is built on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London. It was built to mark the beginning of the new century. It took 1.25 billion dollars to create this dome. However it was not very successful in attracting the tourists to it, looking at all the hype that had been created. In fact the response was so bad that the dome had to be shut within a span of one year. In the year 2007 it was reopened and now is used for the purpose of hosting entertainment events only.

6. Ryugyong Hotel, North Korea:

This is a hotel based in Pyongyang in North Korea. It is a 105 storied building whose construction was started in the year 1987. It was later halted and was restarted in 1992. But till today the construction remains incomplete. This was because of the problems in the building methods, materials and lack of funds. The construction started again in 2008 and the North Korean government is hopeful to finish it by 2012.

7. Mets Citi Field, Queens New York:

This stadium opened in the year 2009 as a replacement to the Shea Stadium. Its total construction cost was about 900 million dollars. But despite the huge amount been spent, the construction and amenities provided were not up to the mark. There were problems with broken elevators, water leaks, short circuits and flooding.

8. Kangbashi District of Ordos City, China:

This city was created to take care of the depleting natural resources and the expansion of the Ordos desert. It was built to house around 1 million people. But now it is just a ghost town with around 20 to 30 thousand residents only. Most of the apartments have been bought only as investments and as such the whole area has an almost deserted look.

9. Olympic Stadia in Athens, Greece:

This stadium was built for the Olympic games of 2004. Detailed preparations were made and Athens spent almost 11 billion dollars to make them which were over – budgeting. Many stadia were built and most of them are now empty, vacant and of no use.

10. The Burj Khalifa, Dubai:

This is famously earlier known as Burj Dunai, is the tallest structure ever made by man. Although Dubai was in huge debt, this structure was completed in the year 2010. Dubai had to take financial help from its neighbor Abu Dhabi and this is when the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa after the UAE president Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. But despite the huge amount of money spent, the building had electrical problems on the observation deck because of which the tickets to the deck could not be sold.

Mentioned above are some of the disasters that architecture created. They are in the forms of bad designs, poor constructions and hasty planning. Although architectural structures should be symbols of pride for any town, city of even country, these disasters are considered only as red spots on the earth.