6 Book Tower Detroit, Michigan
The Book Skyscraper, a 13-story office building, was constructed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1916. Ten years later, the structure was joined to a 38-story tower, which took the name Book Tower.
It was the tallest structure in the city for two years before being surpassed by the Penobscot Building in 1928. It was named after the well-known local Book brothers. The structure survived the Great Depression, was still in operation, and served the community for many years.
But when economic hardships hit Detroit in the 1970s, a lot of offices and businesses departed the city. Many structures were forced to shut as a result. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982, Book Tower was not spared from the city’s deterioration.
Book Tower has money problems. The building’s ownership changed several times as a result of lawsuits and defaulted mortgages, and the number of tenants decreased. Since the eviction of its final occupant in 2009, it has been vacant. Detroit declared intentions to turn the structure into a residential complex soon after it closed, but nothing has happened as of yet.
5 Abraham Lincoln Tower Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The 1960s saw the construction of two towers in Rio de Janeiro, including the Abraham Lincoln Tower (also known as Torre Abraham Lincoln). Only two of the project’s intended 76 apartment towers were ever constructed.
The architects were Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa, who also collaborated on the design of Brasilia, the Brazilian capital. Torre Abraham Lincoln’s construction started in 1969 but was put on hold in 1972 owing to worries regarding structural integrity. It never got finished.
Torre Charles de Gaulle, its identical twin tower, stands adjacent to it and is completely finished and inhabited. Nearly a perfect representation of what Torre Abraham Lincoln may have become is Torre Charles de Gaulle.
