Featured Image Credit: Anadolu / Contributor / VCG / Contributor / Getty
Imagine putting all the time and labor into building a skyscraper nearly 600 meters tall, only to then have it abandoned.
It's not the most auspicious use of any building - but that's what happened to the Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin, China.
A fascinating new video from YouTube channel Curious Minds (@TheCuriousMinds1), which looks at interesting phenomenons you might not have heard about and has 13.2K subscribers, has taken a look at the strange history of Goldin Finance. Check it out:
According to the video, construction on the tower first started way back in 2008 - by 2015, it finally topped out at a height of 597 meters.
It's made up of 128 stories above ground, with 117 of them meant to be dedicated to housing, hotel and commercial space.
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But this wasn't the fate of the unfortunate project, with the video saying: "As of today, Goldin Tower remains unfinished and unoccupied."
According to construction website The B1M, trouble first hit the building early on in the form of the global financial crisis, causing work to be paused in January 2010.
Things reportedly restarted the following year, but June 2015 saw the popping of China's stock market bubble, which had widespread financial ramifications across the country.
This caused the project to be put on hold yet again, and while it looked like it might restart in 2018, no more movement was seen on the building.
According to The B1M, the tower was even later put up for sale - but no one seemed keen to take it on.
Goldin Finance 117 is now seen as something of a cautionary tale. The tower, along with some other failed megaprojects, apparently contributed to China's government restricting the construction of skyscrapers over 500 meters tall - to prevent vanity projects being started and never finished.
But China isn't the only country with mega skyscrapers that are totally abandoned. North Korea is home to the cheerily-named 'hotel of doom', AKA Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang.
This pyramid-shaped eyesore is 330 meters tall and dwarfs the city's skyline - but it's also totally empty.
Construction on the building first started way back in 1987, and while it's an 105-storey shell, economic problems mean it's been beset by difficulties and never fully finished.
And with a nickname like the 'hotel of doom', if it ever did open, we're not sure if anyone would be rushing to check in...
