Chicago Has Plans for Frank Lloyd Wright Skyscraper You Could Easily See From Michigan

There are days when you can supposedly see the Chicago skyline from the southern shores of Lake Michigan in the state of Michigan, but they're rare, and far between given the distance.

But, there are plans that have been in place for quite some time, to build a skyscraper that would be the tallest building in the world by a long shot, AND you could easily see from across Lake Michigan.

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The building, known as the Mile-High Illinois, or just "The Illinois" is a building concept designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that hasn't gotten much traction in recent years, but was chronicled as far back as 1957, when Wright described the building in the book, "A Testament."

The design would make the building the largest in the world, more than 5,770 feet with the antenna spire, 365 stories tall, and a gross area of 18.46 million square feet. It would also include parking for more than 15,000 cars, and up to 100 helicopters.

For reference, Chicago's current tallest building, Willis Tower, is only 1,451 feet tall with 110 stories, and only 4.47 million square feet. And, not a single helicopter landing pad.

The Illinois, if built, would also be the tallest building in the world by a long shot. Currently, that's the Burj Khalifa in the UAE, standing at 2,717 feet. The Illinois would dwarf it by more than double the height.

When Wright conceived the building in 1957, the tallest building in the world, then was the Empire State Building in New York City. Also, buildings were all mostly made of steel, which is very flexible, and should be to allow the tall buildings to sway some in high winds.

However, a building this size would eventually start to sway too far using steel, and would collapse. But Wright conceived a tripod design that could theoretically withstand the stresses that the building would face.

Ultimately, the building is on an indefinite hold, and it's really unclear if the city ever planned on realistically building it. But who knows. Currently, the UAE is building its next tallest tower, the Jeddah Tower, which will be even taller than the Burj Khalifa, and it uses a tirpod design similar to what Wright described.

So it's possible that one day, we could see this mile-high monstrosity jutting out of the land, from clear across Lake Michigan.