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As soon as it leaves the protective environment of drafting boards, specialized computer programs, and sophisticated 3-D models, every architectural project is inevitably forced to face the circumstances of real life. In most cases, it's a relatively painless experience, it nevertheless progresses without major problems – but sometimes things go wrong and it fails miserably! What remains are unfulfilled expectations and broken dreams of overly optimistic architects, owners, and clients.
With a tongue in cheek approach, this book presents a selection of the most spectacular architectural flops from the 20th century to the present. Each project is described briefly and its circumstances analyzed and extensively documented via photos. The reader is taken to monumental ghost towns in Asia, grotesque remnants of amusement parks, for example in the USA, and a nuclear power plant in Crimea. The author is not aiming to uncover faults and condemn failed projects but rather to contemplate on how difficult and nearly impossible it is to predict the future for any type of endeavor.
