Jan 24, 2017
Ideas Drawn
Charles Burton
Someone imagined to convert the dismantled prefab structure of the Great Exhibition of 1851, into The Victorian skyscraper.
It was proposed by Charles Burton, the skyscraper would have stood at around 1,000 ft. high and thanks to its elevated location in Sydenham, south London, the summit would be 100 ft. higher than the Shard, currently London’s tallest building. Vertical railways would have carried people to the summit for the views, while curiously, a giant clock would have been the centrepiece half way up.
However, the investors favoured keeping their feet on the ground, and instead built the Crystal Palace.
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Illustration: Science & Society Picture . Library/Getty Images