It took 1 year, over 1000 photographs and extensive archival research to construct The City of Ruins, a digital stereoscopic reconstruction of Warsaw, Poland in its most devastated state. With over 60,000 3D-modeled structures (detailing what remained), this incredible undertaking brings home the scale of destruction with stunning visual details and remarkable historical accuracy.

As illustrated in the trailer above and images below, over 85% of the buildings in the city were ultimately destroyed between urban combat and systematic leveling. Its creators note that this is the first rigorous large-scale attempt to rebuild a war-ravaged city in digital form.

The Polish Resistance staged the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, which, lacking promised Soviet support, fell hard to German forces over brutal two month period. Thus Warsaw, previously a of nearly 1,000,000 people, was reduced to a habitat for less than 1,00o.

The extent of its demolition is hard to picture, hence the creation of this model and flyover video for the Warsaw Rising museum. Without anti-aircraft capabilities or the ability to receive sufficient aid and support from the West, defenders in the city fought but ultimately fell or retreated through the sewer system.

Hundreds of thousands of fighters and civilians alike perished in the conflict. The destruction of structures and infrastructure was documented piecemeal, the scraps of which were assembled formed the basis for this disturbingly realistic model and film. More on the remaking of the ruins below.

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Reconstructed Destruction Flyover Of Bombed Wwii Warsaw

Seen from the eyes of a German officer, these dramatic photos depict the St. Quentin Cathedral in northern France, which was almost completely destroyed during World War I. They’re part of a collection of over a thousand photos, stereographs and negatives saved by Lt. Walter Koessler’s family and shared by his grandson on Tumblr and in a forthcoming Kickstarter-funded book.

“Walter’s training as an architect drew him to photograph and sketch many buildings throughout the war,” writes Dean Putney, who has taken on the task of preserving and printing the photos. “Churches were a particular favorite, and with their roofs blown off by battle these were probably rare opportunities to capture their insides on the insensitive film of the time.”

The church was constructed over a period of nearly two hundred years, starting in the 12th century, and survived damage from both fire and invaders’ artillery several times prior to World War I. In 1916, a bomb dropped nearby blew out many of its stained glass windows, and in 1917, a fire destroyed everything within its walls, causing the vaulting of the central nave to collapse, and destroying parts of the flying buttresses.

In 1918, the Germans almost succeeded in blowing the whole thing to dust. Having chased out the occupiers, French soldiers entered the cathedral to find that ninety-three holes had been drilled in the walls and pillars and filled with explosives. A German engineer captain was left behind to finish off the task, and stopped just in time. The church has since been restored.

Koessler’s photos offer a unique glimpse not only into the German side of the war (as Putney points out, most surviving photos were taken by the Allies) but the personal viewpoint of a photographer who had been trained as an architect. See the whole series at the Walter Koessler Project.

China is full of strange stories of so-called ‘nail houses’ – homes of people who refuse to move to make way for a large development project. Still, this one was particularly unique: its owners held out while a whole major motorway was constructed on all sides.

Situated in Wenling, its owner Luo Baogen refused the compensation deal offered to him and the owners of over 400 nearby properties.  After a full year of waiting with his wife as they were hemmed in by highway, they finally accepted an improved offer from the government and moved.

In another similar situation, owner and occupant Wu Ping refused an offer (one out of nearly 250 in that case) to move, and found herself surrounded by a sunken pit as shopping mall developers began excavating prior to constructing a new shopping center. Structures in this situation are dubbed ‘nail houses’  because, like a nail wedged deep into a board, they can be stubborn and difficult to remove.

We hear so much about the vanished wonders of the ancient architectural world, it’s easy to forget about those of our more recent history, from the 19th century to the present. These train stations, palaces, monuments and skyscrapers may not be as grand and dramatic as the Colossus of Rhodes and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but each of them represents the loss of an icon. Whether by fire, war, demolition or terrorist attacks, these 7 destroyed architectural wonders may be gone, but they remain important symbols of our cultural heritage.

Old Penn Station, New York City

Just one of many historic New York City buildings that have vanished, the original Pennsylvania Station was a pink granite structure inspired by Roman and Greek architecture, occupying two city blocks from Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue and from 31st to 33rd Streets. It covered an area of 8 acres, and featured a cavernous concourse. Inspired by the Roman Baths of Carcalla, the main waiting room was the largest indoor space in New York City at 150 feet in height, and one of the largest public spaces in the world. It served as a spectacular entrance to the city, with dozens of passenger trains arriving and departing each day for cities like Chicago and St. Louis.

Its grandiosity couldn’t save it from the onward march of progress, however. By the late 1950s, intercity rail travel declined dramatically. Plans for a new Penn Station, which is now the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States, were announced in 1962; demolition on the old building began in 1963, making way for Madison Square Garden. The cost of maintaining the building had become prohibitive. Three eagles statues from the station were salvaged and remain in the city, including two in front of the Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden complex.

The Crystal Palace, London

Built in Hyde Park, London to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass building measuring 990,000 square feet. It hosted more than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world, displaying examples of the latest technology. The building was rebuilt even larger when the exhibition was over, in a residential area beside Sydenham Hill, to become a ‘winter park and garden under glass.’ It boasted two towers and a number of fountains with over 11,000 jets, and soon became the world’s first theme park with a rollercoaster, cricket matches and other entertainment. The gardens even had a prehistoric swamp with models of dinosaurs, just thirty years after the existence of these creatures was discovered.

But times were hard, and the owners had difficulty making enough money to keep the Palace running. It fell into financial ruin and underwent a series of misfortunes including wind damage and fires. It was declared bankrupt in 1911. In 1936, another fire broke out, this one catastrophic, and the building could not be saved. The grounds have been used for various purposes since then, and in 2011, it was announced that the Crystal Palace Football Club would build a new stadium and athletic track there.

Königsberg Castle, East Prussia

With its beginnings in the 13th century and a great expansion in the 1700s, Köningsberg Castle was an important landmark in the East Prussan capital of Königsberg (Kaliningrad) for centuries. What began as a fortress was later designated a castle, home to the Grandmasters of the Teutonic Order and then various Prussian rulers. It featured a gothic tower stretching 328 feet into the air, with 284 steps to the top. It contained an extensive library as well as a palace church. By the 20th century, many rooms were turned into a museum full of art and provincial archives.

The region was plunged into disorder and violence during World War II, and the city was bombed in a series of air raids by the Soviet Air Force, mainly in retaliation for the German bombing of Moscow. More than 90% of the city, including the castle, was destroyed by 1945, and the German population was forced out of the city by the occupying Soviets. Under their rule, the city became Kaliningrad. While the ruins of the castle’s stone walls still stood for decades, they were ultimately blown up in 1968. The site of the castle is now the city’s main square.

Pearl Monument, Bahrain

Erected in 1982 in honor of Bahrain’s first time hosting the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Pearl Monument featured six ‘sails’, representing the member nations of the council, supporting a pearl, which symbolized those nations’ shared heritage and Bahrain’s history of pearl cultivation. It was built in the center of Pearl Roundabout, located near the city of Manama’s financial district.

In 2011, the monument became central to the Bahraini uprising. Several thousand demonstrators set up tents  and obstructed traffic in the roundabout to protest the first fatality of the uprising, and police soon cracked down, killing at least four more civilians. Tanks were deployed to disperse the demonstrators, and while the Prince of Bahrain urged the government to allow peaceful protest, the camp was bulldozed and set on fire. The government tore down the Pearl Monument, stating that it had been “desecrated” by the protests and had to be “cleansed.”

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7 Destroyed Architectural Wonders Of The Modern World