Seven designs that were never built

In honor of the

, we are going to highlight some of our favorite designs that were never built. Some of these were just ideas and others, despite their unlikelihood, were honestly being considered during the boom times.

Before arriving in Dubai, most people do a cursory Google Image search to get a sense of what the city will look like. More often than not, they mostly see artist's renderings of buildings that may never get as far as breaking ground. Still, it's a visual feast of some of the craziest, most ambitious ideas for buildings in the world.

The question is: will this tradition continue, even at a slower pace, or have the region's property developers developed a permanent taste for economic feasibility? Earlier this month, we reported about the decline of so-called fantasy architecture in an article titled "

". Bernardo Fort-Brescia, an architect and founder of the firm Arquitectonica, declared: "The era of shock architecture is over."

(pictured at right)

Last summer, a design began circulating in the property scene for a tower that was so huge it would be the equivalent of three Burj Dubais on top of each other. The 2.4km behemoth would be called the

.

"For centuries man has pushed construction toward the heavens. The sheer scale of this project will focus the world's eye towards the city of Dubai, but it will be the tower's design and image that will preserve Dubai City Tower's grandeur into the future."

It would have 400 storys with each set of 100 storys forming a "neighbourhood" and a Sky Plaza operating as a "town centre". A vertical bullet train would ferry people from one "neighbourhood" to another. The building would be fitted with solar panels and wind turbines, and biospheres that double as recreational parks and water purification centres.

It later emerged that Meraas Development was considering the building at one point for the Jumeira Gardens project in what is now Satwa and Al Wasl. But by the time of Cityscape Dubai, things were taking a turn for the worse. Meraas announced three other buildings for the project, all designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill (including the stunning 600m Meraas Tower with three buildings connected by inhabitable sky bridges). Meraas has since halted work on Jumeira Gardens and is now quietly reassessing its future.

See the rest of the images after the jump . . .And send in your own favorite to

Like many of the UAE's most ambitious projects, Hydropolis - the planned underwater hotel off the coast of Dubai - has stuck around in people's minds even though nothing has been heard from its developers in years.

The hotel would have been

. And get this: It would be a 10-star hotel! That new metric would make the 7-star Burj al Arab the equivalent of a 3-star hotel, I imagine.

Wikipedia says: "The hotel was scheduled to open in late 2006; however, due to the engineering and environmental difficulties of constructing an underwater hotel, the project is currently delayed and there is no sign of construction beginning anytime soon."

Imagine flying into Dubai from London or New York and peering out the window. What's that? An 140-metre tall Emirati man?! Yes, that was

AAA Group

's plan in 2007. They unveiled a Dh500m project called

Burj al Arabi

(Arab Tower, or Tower of the Arab) for Jumeirah Village. It was set to be completed this year and was gunning for the Guinness Record for largest concrete and glass human-shaped building in the world.

Mohammad al Syoufi

, chairman of AAA Group, said at the time that it would "rank alongside the Burj Arab and similar projects as a truly local icon that reflects both Islamic and Arabic history". The project has since faded away.

While three developers were publicly battling for attention in the race to build a rotating skyscraper, a team was were secretly plowing ahead on plans for the Cobalt Tower. The 1,350 ft. structure would have rotating floors and a dramatic spire encased in blue glass. A total of 61 of its floors would have rotated, under the plans.

Check out

at the

Thornton :: Termohlen Group

website.

Meanwhile, the other three rotating towers proposed for Dubai have yet to take off.

Dubai Property Ring

, however, says it is poised to hand over the land to its contractor to start construction on 55 Time Dubai.

This amorphous structure doesn't even look like it adheres to the laws of physics, much less financial responsibility and everyday sanity. It was designed by

George Katodrytis

, a professor of architecture in Sharjah and principal of

Studionova Architects

.

The proposed building would manipulate "the urban fabric by inserting structures that trigger chnage, provoke and demand response".

It turns out to be a cultural centre that can transform from an art gallery to a recital space with minimal effort. Dr Katodrytis describes the facade as having "an external skin structure and glazing ... using algorithmic weaving scripts".

Let us not forget Abu Dhabi. While the capital has been more cautious about dramatic architecture than its neighbor just up Sheikh Zayed Road, it has had its share of exceptional concepts promoted for its growing skyline.

New York architect

Eytan Kaufman

's

is a prime example. The 264-room hotel would actually be suspended in a blimp-like structure over a bridge that connects the main island to Lulu Island. It's probably better just to look at the picture, because I am finding it difficult describe in words.

In a recent correspondence (yes, I spend my free time talking to people with ideas like these), he lamented that "there is no progress to report" on his dream building.

"The climate has changed and such a futuristic and out of all boxes project is extremely hard to promote," he wrote. "The people who were promoting it must have reached their limits."

This one is another testament to the fact that Abu Dhabi too had an appetite for grandiose projects. In one of two plans (now scrapped) for the Mina Zayed section of the main island, Aldar Properties envisioned a really, really tall tower called Crystal Palace.

The image here is just a grab from an animation created by an Australian company for Aldar. Check out the video

.

The artist's renderings really show this giant structure would preside over a whole city - potentially the whole city of Abu Dhabi. Aldar tells me that they have decided against this plan for the area and are currently coming up with a new master plan. These supertall structures really can make you dizzy just by thinking about them.

And that's all! Send more and I'll update this post ...