Through Google Reader, to BoingBoing, to Modern Mechanix, I found the following Wikipedia article detailing the Palace of the Soviets, which I found fascinating. The 30s was a heady time for large scale architecture in Europe. Albert Speer rose through the Nazi ranks after being hired by Hitler to design his large scale projects (his book Inside the Third Reich is an amazing read).
The amazing thing is that construction did actually begin, and was only stopped due to the beginning of World War 2. Plans for its completion remained open until 1958, when it was converted into a swimming pool.