Atlas of Never Built Architecture

The Atlas of Never Built Architecture features hundreds of the most spectacular unbuilt projects of the 20th and 21st centuries in a comprehensive, geographically arranged survey. At times impractical or fanciful but always imaginative and ambitious, the projects included in this ground-breaking book reveal the incredible diversity of ideas that have emerged from the world's most influential architects.

A vast array of imagery, from initial sketches and paintings to etchings and digital renderings, offers insight into how architectural projects are conceived and developed, and the book features a wide-ranging selection of projects, such as parliamentary buildings, museums, arts centers, skyscrapers, artificial islands, and city plans. Futuristic visions from the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, and Le Corbusier, sit alongside more contemporary proposals from talents such as Norman Foster, Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, Steven Holl, and Zaha Hadid to show how our built environments could have looked very different indeed.

As featured in The Telegraph, Architectural Digest, and New York Post

‘A glimpse into the present that might have been, a look at some of the most impressive ideas in architecture and just plain lovely to look at.’ – Parade

‘A highly entertaining romp through what the world might have looked like, had fate chosen a different path.’ – The Guardian

‘Ambitious … An incredible source for discovering little-known architects who, by accident or design, are familiar only to insiders.’ – Bloomberg

‘Chronicles some of the world’s most incredible almost projects.’ – Architectural Digest

‘A brilliantly researched compendium of 20th and 21st-century building projects that never left the drawing board.’ – The Times UK

‘Mesmerizing … A completely compelling collection of architectural images that run the gamut.’ – San Francisco Chronicle

‘Wholly fascinating.’ – Fast Company

‘Tells the story of the best buildings the world never got to see in the flesh – some 300 flights of fancy which were halted in their tracks by cost or  controversy (or both) and were designed but never built.’ – Evening Standard

‘Interesting, grand, and architecturally and historically significant.’ – Dwell

‘Offer[s] glimpses into how some corners of the world could have looked.’ – Business Insider

‘Fascinating … Reveal[s] the pivot points that shaped the modern world, as changes in attitudes, cultures, and regimes consigned architects’ grand plans to history.’ – Wallpaper*

‘Packs a satisfying punch, with page upon page of often extraordinary schemes.’ – Architects' Journal

‘An invitation to both imagine what our world might have looked like, and consider the boundless possibilities of human imagination.’ – Harrods Magazine

‘Comprising paintings, sketches, and digital renderings of unbuilt projects by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and others, this survey highlights architecture at its most visionary.’ – Publishers Weekly

Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin are Los Angeles-based architecture writers. World experts on unbuilt architecture, they are the co-authors and co-curators of the hit exhibitions and companion books Never Built New York and Never Built Los Angeles. They have each contributed to numerous publications, including the New York Times and Architectural Record, and Sam has also written several books for Phaidon, including Life Meets Art and Drama.

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