The Chicago Spire wasn’t going to be the tallest building in the world, but it sure was going to be the most fantastic, teleported-from-the-future skyscraper on Earth if this video is to be believed. It’s the kind of structure that I can imagine on some alien planet, with an evil and very stylish emperor living in the penthouse.
Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the 600m tall Chicago Spire was supposed to be finished a year ago. It never materialised because of the 2008 real estate crash. Or their space warp rings didn’t work as expected. Perhaps this HD video — made at the time and just published on YouTube — is a metaphor of that real estate crash, all dreamy fluff with no real substance.
Built or not built, however, it’s a fantastic structure. [wbez]