Tower of Civilization, 1939 by William H. Evans
‘Never Built: Los Angeles’ is a new show at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum that examines over a century of ambitious projects that never materialized in the city of Los Angeles.
Never Built: Los Angeles explores the “what if” Los Angeles. A thorough compendium of projects that only saw the drawing board, the exhibition asks: Why is Los Angeles a hotbed of great architects, yet so lacking in urban innovation?
Figueroa Tower, 1987 by Murphy Jahn
Co-curated by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin and designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects, the show looks at visionary works that had the greatest potential to reshape the city, from buildings to master plans, parks to follies and transportation proposals any of which could have transformed both the physical reality and the collective perception of the metropolis. The stories surrounding these projects shed light on a reluctant city whose institutions and infrastructure have often undermined inventive, challenging urban schemes.
Many of these schemes—promoting a denser, more vibrant city—still have relevance today, and many could inspire future projects. The projects beg the question: Why were they never built?
The show contains dozens of illustrations exploring the visceral (and sometimes misleading) power of architectural ideas conveyed through renderings, blueprints, models, and the lost art of hand drawing. Through these images and accompanying narratives, the city is interpreted in a new light, with discarded projects understood as art.
Pacific Ocean Park Redevelopment, 1969 by DMJM
Never Built probes these schemes, setting the stage for a renewed interest in visionary projects in Los Angeles. The exhibit runs July 28-October 13. For more information visit http://aplusd.org/exhibitions-current.
Images courtesy of A+D Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles