Crystal Palace--London, England

Aerial view above 1934 and below burning in 1936

The Crystal Palace was originally built for the Great Exhibition of 1851- an event held to show off technology from around the world due to the recent Industrial Revolution. At its peak, it stood 135 ft. tall, it stretched 1,848 long, at times there were 2,000 people working to build it, and it cost the equivalent of over 13 million dollars to build. The two towers seen in the picture were to store water that fueled water features and fountains. The building was made of cast-iron and glass, and it was designed by Joseph Paxton.

The Crystal Palace was later disassembled and moved, at the today equivalent of about 100 million dollars, and never quite relived the glory days of the 6.2 million visitor Exhibition. On the 30th of November 1936 the building burned to the ground.

What is so amazing is not that they were able to built this beautiful structure, but that they then dismantled it and moved it, and built it again.

Crystal Palace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia