Skyscrapers, which have become the symbol of modern cities with their enormous heights, are multi-story structures that contain complex functions. Rising into the sky with advanced architectural and engineering skills, skyscrapers shape the skyline of the cities in which they are built. Skyscrapers can be said to be structures that show the development of a city, but this is not true for all skyscrapers. Some skyscrapers, for various reasons, have been abandoned and turned into modern ruins.
Abandoned skyscrapers, reflecting the past grandeur of modern cities and the rapidly changing face of today, have become high-rise ruins in urban landscapes. Unfinished or abandoned due to reasons such as financial crises, engineering errors, and war, these towers have become eerie ruins. These towers, which are located all over the world and abandoned for various reasons, reflect the rapid changes of modern life as a reflection of economic change and demographic transformations. Some of the abandoned skyscrapers, which are symbols of a city’s financial or social struggle, are left to rust, while others are demolished and a few are revived.
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Here are the ten tallest abandoned skyscrapers around the world:
1. Golden Finance 117
Location: Tianjin, China
Height: 1957 ft (597 meters)
Architect: P&T Group
Golden Finance 117, the world’s tallest abandoned skyscraper, is an incomplete super-tall skyscraper project. This tower, which is 597 meters tall and 128 stories high, does not have an antenna or railing and is the world’s tallest building with a flat roof. Featuring an elegant design resembling a cane, Golden Finance 117 was intended as the main tower of the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Business Center, designed to house luxury residences, entertainment areas, educational facilities, and retail stores. The total floor area of the building is 847,000 m², including a 342,000 m² basement area, and the tower above ground has a floor area of 497,000 m².
Construction of Golden Finance 117 began on September 10, 2008, and by the end of 2013, it had surpassed 200 meters. Structurally, the building reached its peak on September 8, 2015, but construction was halted due to financial difficulties triggered by the collapse of China’s stock market. The construction of this tower, which had 128 floors when it was stopped, was planned to restart in 2018, but the skyscraper, which has not been completed yet, has been abandoned as of 2025. Golden Finance 117, which has no cladding on its exterior, affects China‘s skyline with its exposed steel structure and huge windows.
2. Ryugyong Hotel
Location: Pyongyang, North Korea
Height: 1082 ft (330 meters)
Architect: Baekdu Mountain Architects&Engineers
Rising above the capital of North Korea, the Ryudyong Hotel is the second-tallest abandoned skyscraper in the world. Also known as the “Hotel of Doom,” this hotel has a pyramid-like shape and stands 105 stories tall. Designed as an ambitious project that would appeal to tourists and investors, the Ryudyong Hotel would have been the tallest hotel in the world if it had been completed on schedule. However, the skyscraper, which began construction in 1987, was never finished.
The construction of the tower, which reached its final height in 1992, stopped before the windows were installed, and the facade was covered due to the economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The skyscraper, which became an empty concrete shell, saw a resumption of construction in 2008, and the hotel was fully covered in concrete. In 2009, some of its facades were covered with glass, and the upper section was renovated. Although the hotel was said to open in 2012, the project remains incomplete. As of 2018, the exterior was covered with LED screens broadcasting propaganda, but the interior remained unfinished and empty.
3. Oceanwide Plaza
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Height: 677 ft (206 meters)
Architect: CallisonRTKL
Oceanwide Plaza, which was planned to be designed as a mixed-use complex that would include luxury residences, hotels, offices, and shopping areas, has turned into an abandoned structure over time. The construction of this structure, which was planned to consist of three towers, started in 2015; 60% of it was completed, and its construction stopped in 2019. Designed with the expectation of providing high prestige to the city, Oceanwide Plaza could not be completed due to financial difficulties and crises experienced by the companies supporting the project and has gained the title of the 3rd tallest abandoned skyscraper.
Although the facade was completed, the interior was never finished, and this abandoned skyscraper was transformed into a skeleton covered in graffiti by artists. Graffiti artists regularly enter the building to create layered artworks, especially on the unfinished terraces on the building’s facade. With BASE jumping from the top of the building, Oceanwide Plaza is monitored 24 hours a day to ensure its security. Since $800 million is needed to complete the project, Oceanwide Plaza continues to be an abandoned skyscraper.
4. 1 Seaport
Location: New York, USA
Height: 670 ft (205 meters)
Located in one of New York‘s most expensive areas, 1 Seaport is one of the longest abandoned skyscrapers in the world. The 60-story tower, designed as an all-glass residential building, was promised with luxury residences, an infinity pool, stunning views, and 10-foot ceilings. However, when it reached 670 feet, an engineering error was discovered, with the edges of the north-facing plates misaligned by as much as 8 inches.
Due to the challenging nature of the land it was built on and inadequate measures taken in response, 1 Seaport began sinking and tilting to the left. In 2017, a carpenter working on the building fell to his death, and as a result of lawsuits filed and contractors and developers blaming each other, construction of the skyscraper stopped in 2020. Currently, 1 Seaport stands unfinished and abandoned, still a part of the New York skyline, with the risk of collapse looming over it.
5. Centro Financiero Confinanzas
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Height: 623 ft ( 190 meters)
Designed as the country’s largest financial center project to symbolize Venezuela’s economic power, Centro Financiero Confinanzas is one of the world’s tallest abandoned skyscrapers, also known as Torre de David. Construction of the 45-story building, one of the tallest buildings in Latin America, began in 1990. When it stopped 3 years later in 1994 due to the death of banker David Brillembourg and the financial crisis that began in the country, 60% of the skyscraper was completed.
After remaining idle for a while, Centro Financiero Confinansaz became the tallest shantytown in Venezuela, occupied by more than 200 shanty families during the housing shortage in 2007 and with a population of 700 families in 2011. After the building was deemed unsafe, the government cleaned up the structure and evacuated its residents in 2014. The skyscraper, which suffered some damage to its upper floors as a result of the earthquake in 2018, continues to be located in Caracas in an abandoned state.
6. Sathorn Unique Tower
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Height: 607 ff ( 185 meters)
Architect: Rangsan Torsuwan
Sathorn Unique Tower, known colloquially as the Ghost Tower, is the sixth-tallest abandoned skyscraper in the world. This skyscraper, which has a total of 49 floors, including the ground floor and the garage floor, was planned to be a first-class luxury apartment complex. Designed as a postmodern concrete skyscraper, defined by a series of stacked curved balconies and columns, the construction of Sathorn Unique Tower began in 1990. In 1997, when the building was 80% complete, construction was halted due to the financial crisis in Asia. The building was completely abandoned after the architect Rangsan Torsuwan was accused of an assassination plot.
The skyscraper, which was intended to consist of 600 apartment units, began to decay due to neglect after it was abandoned. Sathorn Unique Tower, which turned into a ruin with exposed wires and rusty metal and was dangerous to visit, has become unsafe due to the use of homeless and addicted people. Nevertheless, many visitors enter this tower for exploration and can climb to the top with a narrow stairwell.
7. 909 Chestnut Street
Location: St. Louis, USA
Height: 588 ft ( 179 meters)
One of the tallest abandoned skyscrapers in the world, 909 Chestnut Street, was completed in 1985 and has become a landmark in St. Louis. At the time of its completion, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city, with a fortress-like base and a facade that seemed to stretch endlessly. This 44-story skyscraper, covering 1.46 million square feet, remained vacant after its biggest tenant, AT&T, left in 2017. Once a landmark for businesses, the tower now rises empty into the St. Louis skyline.
After many years of vacancy, 909 Chestnut Street was declared an abandoned property by the St. Louis Planning Commission in 2023. In 2024, it was purchased by Goldman Group for $3.6 million. Although developers have promised to revitalize the skyscraper with luxury apartments, a movie theater, and a pickleball court, 909 Chestnut Street remains an abandoned corporate relic.
8. Plaza Tower
Location: New Orleans, USA
Height: 531 ft (162 meters)
Plaza Tower, one of the tallest buildings in New Orleans, is a structure that combines architectural styles from the 20th century, including Constructivism, Futurism, Expressionism, and Modernism. Construction of the 45-story tower, which would mostly house office units, began in the 1960s but was halted in 1966 due to financial difficulties. The tower was sold at auction in 1968 and completed in 1969. Its white marble exterior and steel columns clad in bronze-colored aluminum create a striking contrast in color and material, making it a prominent feature in the New Orleans skyline.
After shaping the cityscape and remaining in use for decades, the building was vacated in 2002 because its users claimed that toxic mold was making them sick. Following the impact of Hurricane Katrina, Plaza Tower was severely damaged due to both mold and asbestos. Although it has occasionally come to the fore with renovation projects, Plaza Tower, which has remained empty since the day it was vacated, has continued to harm the city’s residents. A panel hit a cyclist in 2021, a fire broke out in 2022, and a man died after falling from the tower in 2023. Despite rescue efforts, the Plaza Tower has become a public safety hazard and is set to be demolished.
9. Beirut Trade Center
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Height: 459 ft ( 140 meters)
Beirut Trade Center, also known as Burj All Murr, is one of the tallest abandoned skyscrapers, with 40 floors and a height of 140 meters. Designed to house mostly office space but also a cinema and restaurant accessible by helicopter, construction of the Trade Center began in 1974. The skyscraper, which was 70% completed in 1975, was not completed due to the Lebanese Civil War. Beirut Trade Center, which became a center used by snipers throughout the war, played a central role in the ‘Battle of the Hotels.’
Described by architect Camillo Boano and urban planner Dalia Chabarek as ‘a scarred piece of war that is difficult to demolish or renovate’, a temporary installation was installed in the skyscraper in 2018 by artist Jad El Khoury. The artist added colorful curtains to the windows of the structure and transformed the Beirut Trade Center into an Air Tower.
10. Torre Insignia
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Height: 417 ft (127 meters )
Architect: Mario Pani Darqui
Torre Insignia, also known as Torre Banobras, is an iconic design by architect Mario Pani Darqui and has been abandoned for years. Completed in 1962, this 25-story triangular prism skyscraper served as the headquarters of the state bank Banobras. It was abandoned following the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, which measured 8.0 on the Richter scale, due to safety concerns. Despite surviving six major earthquakes between 1985 and 2017 without sustaining any damage, Torre Banobras was still left abandoned.
Constructed using reinforced concrete, glass, and aluminum, this skyscraper stands out with a total floor area of 236,806 square meters and a surface area of 83,056 square meters and contains the world’s tallest bell tower. Even after the building’s abandonment, the bell, a gift from the Belgian government, was played on special occasions by bell artist Yolanda Fernandez de Cordoba until her passing. Considered one of the most durable buildings in the city, having withstood major earthquakes, Torre Insignia was purchased by Cushman and Wakefield in 2008 and redesigned in 2011. Although it is still abandoned today, the skyscraper, which is an important part of Mexican architecture, promises hope with its durability and aesthetic value.
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