Move over Emerald City. It looks like the yellow brick road now leads to Moscow and ends at Crystal Island. It will be the world’s largest building, so big it will house a massive, sprawling city. Don’t get me wrong, just like any good American I know that bigger is better – but this building seems just a bit extreme, even for the Wizard.

It will dominate the Moscow skyline at 1,500 feet and hold a population of 30,000 residents. That’s split between the 900 apartments and 3,000 hotel rooms, a theatre, museum, school and cinema.

Panoramic views of the city are to be enjoyed on viewing platforms 980 feet above the earth. The glass at the peak will open in summer to an atrium. In the winter the surrounding area’s parks will be open for cross-country skiing and ice-skating.

A cool $4 billion will be needed to complete construction. For that price you can expect over 27 million square feet. Wait, lets put that in perspective. The Venetian in Macau, China claimed the record this year as the largest building by floor area. At the moment the record holder has over 10.5 million square feet of floorspace. Crystal Island plans to crush those numbers well over twofold.

The project has begun under the watchful gaze of its architect, Sir Norman Foster. You might recognize some of his firms’ other projects, the Hearst Tower in NY and The Gherkin in London. Differences with this project include sustainable design features such as solar panels and wine turbines.

If all goes according to plan, this behemoth will be built within the next five years. With the click of your heels and a small fortune maybe you’ll be enjoying views of the Kremlin from one of its floors.

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