47-Story Skyscraper Forgets Elevator

It was supposed to be a symbol of economic might. Instead, a new skyscraper in Benidorm, Spain, is more likely to be the "laughingstock of the modern world," suggests International Design Times. That's because the 47-story structure, due to open in December, lacks a working elevator. Or more precisely, it has one for the first 20 floors, reports the Daily Mail, but after that, residents will have to hoof it because of a rather massive design oversight: The elevator shaft is too narrow to accommodate the machinery for a bigger one.

The InTempo project has been an absolute mess from the start, beset with bad loans, missed deadlines, deadly construction accidents, and bankrupt builders, reports El Pais, which gets into the details. The elevator problem in particular stems from a simple fact, explains Gizmodo: The building was originally supposed to be only 20 stories, but when developers increased it to 47 stories mid-stream, the design snafu got lost in all the confusion. InTempo is now 94% complete and has sold 35% of its apartments. It remains unclear how developers plan to fix the elevator problem, or whether it's even possible to do so. Click for another strange construction project, this one in New Jersey. (More elevator stories.)