What could Moscow be like: the most ambitious projects of the USSR that have never been realized

During the existence of the USSR, the government continually attempted to change the face of the capital, by erecting the most grandiose architectural structures to demonstrate to its people and the rest of the world the greatness of the socialist regime. That is why Soviet architecture has always been remarkable for its monumentality and entertainment. However, not all ideas were realized, many projects remained only on paper. Here, for example, are several masterpieces of Soviet architects who were supposed to take their place of honor in Moscow, but something went wrong, and in the end they failed to perpetuate themselves in the capital's appearance.

The building of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry architect Ivan Fomin

At a time when heavy industry in the USSR began to develop rapidly, the government planned to create a large building for the People's Commissariat of Industry. Even a tender was announced for the best architectural project. However, soon the organization broke up, all the sketches remained only on paper. One of the most winning was the idea of Ivan Fomin. For the sake of his project, at first they even wanted to increase the size of Red Square by an order of magnitude.

One of the criticized projects, its author Ivan Leonidov.

Grand Academic Cinema of Dmitry Chechulin and Konstantin Orlov

The building was supposed to be located directly opposite the Bolshoi Theater, however, none of the architects' projects was liked by the authorities.

Central House of Aeroflot Dmitry Chechulin

A huge concrete giant was planned to be placed on the square near the Belorussky railway station. In a similar way, they wanted to immortalize the exploits of the soldiers of Soviet aviation. But as soon as the project was ready, an abundance of criticism fell upon him, so that in the end they completely abandoned it.

However, later some of his ideas were partially embodied in the design of the building of the House of Soviets:

Pantheon of Nicholas Collie

After the death of Joseph Stalin, the idea came to build a memorial on Red Square, in which sarcophagi with the bodies of Lenin and Stalin would rest. There is no reliable information why the project was never implemented, but of all the proposed architectural solutions, the Pantheon Collie was preferred.