What's Going on In this Basement?

[Seyi A.]

I came across this the other day, looks like the contractor/previous owner has just abandoned his/her renovation of this property. I'm not too familiar with construction, so can anyone help me figure out what they were trying to do with this pipe?  What would it take to finish whatever it was they were trying to do?  Thanks in advance!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xz9...