Biggest Megaprojects in the World

From the world’s largest statue in the  middle of nowhere in India to an exact copy of Paris in China, and from this really  unusual bridge to the biggest stolen building in the world. Here are seven of the  weirdest megaprojects in the world. This video was is made possible  by Morning Brew.

And this is Number 7: MSG Sphere in Las Vegas Las Vegas is sometimes called the Entertainment Capital of the World, and the new MSG Sphere is  a testament to that nickname. The “Madison Square Garden” sphere is a new music and entertainment  area which is currently under construction. The Sphere will be 112m high and 157m at its  widest point - making it the largest sphere in the world.

The arena inside will  have 17,500 seats for concerts, shows, and other entertainment experiences. It’s meant  to be entirely immersive and will use motion, sound, visuals, scent, and temperature  to fully engage audience members. On the visual side, the MSG Sphere will have the  world’s largest LED screen, which at an insane resolution of 19,000 x 13,500 will wrap around  the audience for a fully immersive experience.

The exterior will be entirely  made of screens as well, which will transform the sphere into anything for  people walking by - including holiday displays, events inside the sphere, or even the Earth. The MSG Sphere is built to be the largest, most immersive entertainment experience in  Las Vegas. Ground broke in , and construction on the basement began in July of 2019.

The exterior of the Sphere was completed in June of 2021, and interior work began  in August 2021. Officials project that the sphere will open in 2023 for audiences  wanting an amazing entertainment experience. In total, the MSG Sphere will most likely  cost $1.

8 billion USD by the time it opens. Next up on our list is the  biggest statue in the world. Do you also think that it is difficult to  consume relevant news these days with the constant distractions from social media?

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It only takes 15 seconds to sign up, click the link in the description or the icon in  the top right corner to subscribe today. Not only is it a great way to stay up to date completely  free but also to support our channel. And this is Number 6: Statue of Unity This memorial statue is the largest statue in the  world, reaching a total height of 240 meters above Gujarat, India.

The statue depicts Vallabhbhai  Patel, an important Indian historical figure. To give you an idea, this statue is 110 times  taller than the average human. But how does it stack up to other megaprojects?

It’s 6 times as  tall as the 38m tall statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, more than two and a half times as  tall as the Statue of Liberty at 93 meters, and still much taller than the second tallest statue  in the world, the Spring Temple Buddha in China. And for reference, here is the Statue of Unity  in comparison to the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Eiffel Tower, and the Empire State Building. Each foot of the Statue of Unity is about 70 feet long.

Considering that the average  shoe size for men is about 10. 5 in the US, his shoe size would be an 80 in the US which  equals a 352 in the EU. This statue is so tall that you can easily see it from 7km away.

Inside are a museum, exhibition area, memorial gardens, and an observation gallery.  Of the five zones inside the statue, three are accessible to the public, the  other two are maintenance areas. Every day, about 15,000 tourists visit the statue.

Although the color of the statue is reddish copper right now, the Statue of Unity will  slowly turn green over the next 100 years due to copper oxidation. This is the same thing  that happened to the Statue of Liberty which used to have a copper color as well. The massive statue is meant to represent Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home  minister of independent India.

He managed to unite all 562 princely states in  pre-independent India which won him the honor of the statue and a memorial from his people. Even so, Patel received criticism during his time as Prime Minister due to an  alleged bias against Muslims. However, the Statue of Unity began construction  in October of 2013 in the middle of protests from the surrounding villages.

22 villages in the  area complained that the construction of the statue would lead to environmental destruction  and the displacement of several villages. Still, the construction continued. Three small  models were created to perfect the design, which was revised each time until it  was finally approved.

The ‘approved’ model was then scanned using 3D technology  and sent to large factories in China. These factories would be responsible for casting  the massive copper plates that would create the exterior of the statue. China had the only  facilities big enough to perform this casting.

The pieces were then sent overseas  and assembled in a nearby warehouse, where they waited to be lifted onto the statue. 3,000 workers and 250 engineers worked together to make the Statue of Unity a reality. As far as other safety features, the statue features two 250-ton mass  dampers, just like a skyscraper.

These dampers help to improve structural security.  Because of these and other safety measures, the statue can withstand 180 kilometer-per-hour  winds and earthquakes of up to a 6. 5 category.

The complete construction of the statue,  including all of its safety measures, cost 27 billion rupees, or $422 million USD. It  was opened on October 31st, 2018, Patel’s 143rd birthday. While most see the statue as a great way  to honor the person who united India, some see the construction as having a strong political agenda.

Number 5: Pont Jacques Chaban Delmas In 2013, a new vertical-lift  bridge opened in Bordeaux, France. Built to increase traffic across the  Garonne River, it’s a feat of engineering and boasts a unique design as well. The Pon Jacque Chaban Delmas began construction in 2009 and includes 4 pylons with a  117m lifting span between them.

In total, the bridge spans 575m, making it the  longest vertical-lift bridge in Europe. The pylons house counterweights to help  the span lift to their height required by river traffic. They also contain lights that  change based on the water level - they glow blue for high tide, and green for low tide.

When building this bridge, officials knew they had to keep the river traffic flowing even as they  connected the Bacalan and Bastide areas, which are undergoing revitalization efforts. The bridge had  to lay close to the water, and the proposed design would blend in with the surrounding quays. It takes only 12 minutes to raise the bridge span.

Car traffic can be delayed for up to 90  minutes at a time for river traffic. Still, the bridge which is named for the former French  Prime Minister and Mayor of Bordeaux, will handle 43,000 vehicles per day. The total cost of this odd construction project was 160 million euros,  or roughly $195 million USD.

Number 4: Dubai Frame The largest picture frame in the world stands 150m above Zabeel Park in Dubai.  This glass, aluminum, and steel structure stands as a gateway between the past and the  future and stands to emphasize where Dubai has been - and where it’s going next. Although there are similar frame statues like the much smaller Morecambe Promenade in the  UK, Dubai's $62 million Frame is special in many ways.

It is home to a museum, observation deck,  and an exhibit that predicts where the United Arab Emirates will be 50 years from now. It was built to emphasize the luxury of Dubai. One side of the frame’s observation deck looks  out on the older parts of the city, while the other gives tourists a view of skyscrapers and the  futuristic developments over the past 50 years, including the Burj Khalifa.

It’s a popular  destination in Dubai - in 2019 alone, over 17 million people visited the Frame. Construction on the Frame began in 2013. The central glass observation deck  was assembled on the ground and then raised and settled between the towers.

On the outside, laminate glass panels create a golden ring design, which mimics the World  Expo 2022 logo - an intentional advertisement, since Dubai is hosting this event. The Museum inside the Frame looks back at the history of the United Arab Emirates. Visitors  are transported through time and finally come to a virtual reality exhibit called ‘The Future  of Dubai’.

Here, they observe a futuristic city based on wind power, complete with flying cars,  drone deliveries, numerous new megaprojects, and other technological advancements. The idea for the Dubai Frame was born in 2009 when ThyssenKrupp held a contest to design  a retrospective elevator for Dubai. The goal was to design a unique elevator tower that  would allow tourists to ride up and observe an aerial view of the city.

Of the more than 4600  architects who took part in the competition, Fernando Donis came out on top and won  with his design of the Dubai Frame. Donis’s structure is based on  the Golden Ratio, or 1:1. 618.

This ratio is an architectural and artistic  standard for structural support and beauty. It’s reflected in buildings such as the Great Pyramid  at Giza and the Parthenon. The Frame is a golden rectangle - an example of perfect design.

ThyssenKrupp’s competition had a number of other interesting entries, including Luo Siwei’s  “Magic Mirror”, a twisted circular structure that would frame the Burj Khalifa in a perfect  circle when looking from the right angle, as well as Honbo Lu’s “The Flying Colors of Dubai”,  an elevator surrounded by colorful flakes. ’s design was used for the Frame, but he  claims that he was not compensated correctly. While he received the prize money from winning  the competition, he says that Dubai never paid him the full amount for the realization of his  project.

Unfortunately for him, his lawsuit isn’t going anywhere, because Dubai functionally  grants itself immunity to the dispute. Donis believes that his intellectual property  rights were violated, and the Frame is the “biggest stolen building of all time”. Number 3: Katara Towers in Lusail City Lusail City is a planned city in Qatar,  meant to bring the best urban experiences to elite residents.

When finished, Lusail  City will include entertainment districts, shopping, marinas, resorts, and residential  areas. The city will accommodate 250,000 residents at first, increasing to up to  450,00 residents with future developments. As of 2021, Lusail will be mostly complete, but  parts are still in the works.

With Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, they are putting a lot of  effort into showcasing their mega-projects and technological advances. However, it is also known  that numerous human rights are violated and many workers are massively exploited in order to  create these mega-projects. Unfortunately, this is still overlooked by numerous  soccer fans and teams around the world.

One of these megaprojects currently being built  is the Lusail Iconic Stadium, which is supposed to be finished by the end of 2021. The Iconic  Stadium will host only 10 soccer games before being reconfigured to a much smaller stadium. But one of the oddest projects in Lusail is the Katara Towers.

These towers will feature a hotel,  luxury apartments, and more. The design of these towers makes them strange, but there is a purpose.  First of all, The Katara Tower’s curving structure brings to mind a crescent moon, a symbol of  hospitality in Qatar.

The shape is also an iconographic representation of the dual swords on  Qatar’s national seal. The towers will be a beacon of hospitality and national pride once finished. The project was first proposed in 2014 and should be completed by the  beginning of the World Cup in 2022.

The total cost of constructing these unique towers  is about QR 2. 2 billion, or $604 million USD. Number 2: Beijing Daxing International Airport Located on the border of Beijing and Langfang in the Hebei Province, Beijing Daxing is  the capital’s second international airport.

Nicknamed ‘the Starfish’ for its unusual  six-spoked design, this airport houses the world’s largest single-building airport terminal  with a size of roughly 97 soccer fields. At its peak, the new International Airport would  be able to handle up to 200 million passengers a year. If it reached this capacity, it could  become the world’s busiest airport.

To help with this volume, the check-in process is handled  by facial recognition. Passengers may not have to wait in long lines or speak with receptionists to  board their flights since the airport also plans to deploy robot-enabled customer service to help  passengers as they move through the terminal. In 2012, Beijing's original airport (Beijing  Capital International Airport) was reaching its full passenger capacity.

The original design  was pushed to its limits, but the demand kept growing and growing. Passenger rates were  rising at about 5% per year consistently, and the old Beijing Capital  airport needed some relief. In December of 2014, construction began at  Beijing Daxing International Airport.

The initial proposition included 9 runways and 600,000  new jobs for the residents of Beijing. It took 5 years for construction to complete. In that  time, 11 villages were removed to make room.

While the design of the airport looks very unique  and interesting, it also has a purpose. The architect Zaha Hadid designed the airport for  aesthetics and convenience. The central area’s courtyard is an essential place for passengers and  their families to meet.

But the spoked design also allows travelers to reach their planes faster.  It takes only about 8 minutes to walk from the security checkpoint to any gate. In addition,  the design makes it faster for passengers to get into the airport - and out of it.

The spokes make parking and retrieving planes faster as well, so it hopes to minimize  the time spent in the airport. Instead of the 9 projected runways, the airport currently  only has 5 - 4 of which are civilian runways and one for military usage. Still, it can handle  about 300 takeoffs and landings per hour due to the highly optimized design of the airport.

Getting to the airport by train isn’t a problem, either. The Daxing Airport Express is a high-speed  rail system that travels under Beijing Daxing. The underground rail system is supported by over 1,000  anti-shock cushions to reduce the vibration of the train, keeping passengers above unaware.

If that wasn’t enough, the airport also boasts an artificial lake that is sourced from  rainwater. Six pools collect rainwater, storing it in an interior channel.  After filtering and purification, the water is reused for the airport’s aesthetic  water features, including the lake.

The airport served 16 million passengers in  2020, and that number is growing. It cost the government about 80 billion Yuan, or $11. 4  billion USD.

But what about the old airport? Beijing Capital International airport is still in  operation. Many high-capacity airlines are making the switch to Beijing Daxing, including  most of China’s SkyTeam airport alliance.

Sharing the passenger load has given the  old airport some much-needed relief. Number 1: Tianducheng in China Imitation is usually the sincerest form of flattery, but this may not be the case for several  of China’s less original construction projects. There are many ‘copycat’ towns and structures  throughout China, including replicas of Venice, London, the White House, and more.

People who live in these unique towns see it as a combination of the best things the  world has to offer, and they can experience it all without leaving China. Tianducheng, or Sky  City, is another of these copycat cities. Tianducheng is modeled after Paris, right  down to the 108-meter tall replica of the Eiffel Tower.

China also copied some details of  Paris like the lamp posts on the street and the layout of the greenery surrounding the central  tower. When it opened in 2007, it was meant to house 10,000 residents. However, as of 2013,  only about 2,000 people lived there.

Due to its isolated location just outside of Hangzhou, it was  basically a ghost town. Nonetheless, residency has slowly increased in recent years, and more and  more people are moving to the copycat city. New developments have been added to  accommodate the higher demand for residency.

A metro station is expected to open in  Tianducheng in 2021, which should increase occupancy and help ease the isolation issue. In the future, China is shying away from these imitation projects. New bans introduced in  2020 limit these foreign building designs.

They want to move away from imitating  famous places and instead emphasize their own unique Chinese Architecture. Which of these megaprojects was the weirdest, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments  down below!

If you want to see more about similar projects, you can watch our video about  the “World's Weirdest Looking Skyscrapers”. Thank you for watching, and we  will see you in the next video!