Unbuilt America: Forgotten architecture in the United States from Thomas Jefferson to the space age : a book

by Alison Sky

'Unbuilt America' records over 200 years of audacious, curious, revolutionary, radical, and visionary ideas in architecture and the environmental arts. It features projects that were designed to be built but never were; others that were partially realized or ultimately changed beyond recognition; and projects that were purely theoretical and never intended to be built. The designs range from Thomas Jefferson's anonymous submission for the 'President's Palace' competition to 'A Fairly Tall Tower' (48,000 miles high), to a proposed restoration of King Solomon's Temple (destroyed, 70 A.D.) ... this time to be erected in Philadelphia.

The arrangement of the designs is alphabetical by architect, and there are contributions by such notables as Philip Johnson, Louis Kahn, Buckminster Fuller, H.H. Richardson, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paolo Soleri, Bruce Goff, Christo, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Venturi, and Claes Oldenburg.

'"Unbuilt America' provides an extraordinary glimpse both backward and forward in time, which will be fascinatingeven to the layman.

Genres: Architecture, Art

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1977