Tatlin's Tower: The Unbuilt Monument to the Third International

Vladimir Tatlin's Monument to the Third International, commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, was an avant-garde design conceived after the Russian Revolution. The 1,300-foot (400-meter) iron and glass structure was intended to straddle the Neva River in St. Petersburg, surpassing the Eiffel Tower in scale and complexity. It featured a contracting double helix spiraling upward, supported by a huge diagonal girder, and contained four rotating sub-structures: a cube (legislature) rotating once per year, a pyramid (party executives) once per month, and an information center at the peak rotating once daily. Despite party officials' approval, Russia lacked resources to build it, with Leon Trotsky deeming it 'impractical and romantic.' The tower remains a symbol of revolutionary ambition and is explored in videos by the Architecture Enthusiast and Sideprojects.