Atlas of Never Built Architecture

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

Discover more than 300 extraordinary unbuilt architecture projects that never made it off the drawing board

Organized geographically across nearly 400 pages, this monumental homage to architectural ambition includes proposed projects of all types – from skyscrapers, museums, churches, and bridges to theme parks, casinos, opera houses, and even a floating theater boat that resembles a UFO. Seen together, the projects conjure a strange and wonderful new world while offering insight into how our built environment been conceived and developed over the last 100 years.

Readers will discover futuristic visions from architectural icons such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies, and Louis Kahn, alongside more contemporary proposals from Zaha Hadid, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Steven Holl, Norman Foster, and Daniel Libeskind. Each project is brought to life through deeply researched text and a wealth of imagery, including previously unpublished prints, paintings, drawings, etchings, preparatory sketches, and more.

At times impractical or fanciful but always imaginative and ambitious, the projects in Atlas of Never Built Architecture reveal the incredible diversity of ideas that have emerged from the world’s most influential architects.

Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin are Los Angeles-based architecture writers. World experts on the subject of 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.