Next Episode of Abandoned Engineering is
unknown.
As the saying goes – they probably seemed like good ideas at the time. The world is peppered with examples of incredible engineering projects and buildings designed to make life easier for those that used them, amaze those that came to see them, and make money for those that ordered, designed and built them. They were the stuff of dreams. Often enormous engineering problems had to be resolved, obstacles overcome and new innovations employed just to get them built in the first place. Alas, a great number of these remarkable structures have now been abandoned, cast aside like enormous expensive out-of-date toys, never to be used in the ways for which they were intended. Each and every one of these extraordinary places is home to a wealth of powerful and compelling stories. We'll see and hear about some of the most spectacular examples of abandoned engineering the world has eve...
An Oklahoman town so wealthy it inspired a Hollywood film and in Cambodia's capital, a place of learning that was turned into a chamber of horrors.
A crumbling hotel built with stolen oil money located in an Oklahoma town so rich it inspired a Hollywood film. A former school in Cambodia, that became a chamber of horrors used to oppress an innocent population. In Latvia, a Soviet-era radio telescope that intercepted the West's most top-secret communications. And a fantastical construction in Italy, that combined the romance of air travel with renaissance art, and pizza.
A derelict stadium in Lithuania that hosted an unlikely Cold War matchup and an industrial relic in England caught up in a battle between trade unions and the Iron Lady.An ambitious skyscraper with dreams of being a city within a city, that attracted rock ‘n' roll royalty, stands empty in Memphis. And, in eastern Malaysia, a royal vision to preserve the country's heritage has been left to rot in the tropical jungle.
A crumbling hospital complex in Germany that became the site of unspeakable atrocities at the hands of a twisted Nazi Doctor. A lonely rusting giant in Malaysia that reveals a story of colonial greed, conquest and war. In El Paso, Texas, a sprawling farmstead with a hellish reputation for exploiting thousands of men in search of a better life. And, in Northeastern Italy, an Idyllic mountain village, destroyed by mother nature's fury.
In El Paso Texas, two ornate buildings once at the heart of the Mexican Revolution, still bear the scars of a deadly battle. A top-secret facility outside Berlin, used by a ruthless dictator to escape justice. In County Carlow, Ireland, an aristocratic party palace transformed into a military base, used by members of the IRA's all-female paramilitary wing. And a picture-perfect town in Spain where the residents were forced to evacuate on the orders of an authoritarian regime.
A palatial ruin in Philadelphia built from the riches of an industrial golden age, linked by money and blood to the Titanic disaster. Hitler's headquarters in France, built to oversee the Nazi invasion of Britain but used to defend against the Allied reconquest of Europe. In Italy, an opulent island-stronghold converted to contain the country's mafia elite. And a country palace in Poland, the scene of a honey-trap devised to ensnare Napoleon.
Exploring a concentration camp in the Czech Republic used for a publicity stunt to fool the world and a stark facility that once housed Oscar Wilde.
Exploring a nuclear-armed facility in Arkansas that served as America's last line of defence in the Cold War and an industrial relic in Wales that felt a young Winston Churchill's wrath.
Exploring derelict villas in Sicily that reveal the island's complicated history with the Mafia and an aristocratic mansion in Ireland embroiled in a bizarre terrorist plot.
Looks like something went completely wrong!
But don't worry - it can happen to the best of us,
- and it just happened to you.
Please try again later or contact us.