House of the People, Bucharest

Or “Palace of the Parliament”. It measures 270 m by 240 m, 86 m high, and 92 m under ground. It has 1,100 rooms and is 12 stories tall, with four additional underground levels currently available and in use, with another four in different stages of completion. Estimates of the materials used include one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania, most from Ruşchiţa; 3,500 metric tonnes of crystal – 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze for monumental doors and windows, chandeliers and capitals; 900,000 cubic meters of wood (over 95% domestic) for parquet and wainscotting, including walnut, oak, sweet cherry, elm, sycamore maple; 200,000 square meters of woolen carpets of various dimensions (machines had to be moved inside the building to weave some of the larger carpets); velvet and brocade curtains adorned with embroideries and passementeries in silver and gold.[2]

It is the second largest administrative building in the world by surface area of its floors, just behind the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.3 It is 10% larger by volume than the Great Pyramid of Giza.[5]