No two words were ever so compelling as 'What if?' They evoke nostalgia, hope and curiosity, all of which the Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles inspires with its latest exhibition, 'Never Built: Los Angeles.'
Curated by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, and designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects, the show (and its companion book ) brings to life an alternative vision of Los Angeles - one in which the Goodell Monorail could whisk Angelenos from downtown to a glass-domed Pereira and Luckman-designed Los Angeles airport; where Harlan Georgescu's Sky Lofts housing lots are suspended over a busy freeway; or where Kelker, De Leuw and Co's subway plans stretch from the Valley out to Long Beach before much of the city was built out.
Visitors are easily drawn into the show's fantastical concepts courtesy of copious models, a fly-through video by Shimahara Illustration, even a Lego model made of 67,000 pieces (the largest one outside of Legoland.) Enjoyable and edifying, 'Never Built' nevertheless aspires to be something more than a joy ride through castles in the air.
Each project came very close to realisation, said Lubell, but was often curtailed by lack of funding, overprotective neighbourhood groups, or labyrinthine political machinations - factors that still sadly play out all too often in contemporary city-building. Underlying the exhibit is a call to arms to expand a resident's purview and to help build a city he would actually want to live in.
Rather than blessing the projects with the imprimatur of excellence, the exhibition rather challenges viewers to separate the wheat from the chaff. 'We want give people ideas that really would have changed the city for better or for worse,' said Lubell. Would a ski slope near the beach really be a good idea? Would an offshore freeway built on landfill between Santa Monica and Malibu actually help alleviate traffic? It's up to visitors to decide.
A sketch of the LAX original plan, designed by Pereira and Luckman, 1952.
The show brings to life an alternative vision of Los Angeles, showing the landscape as it could have been. Emblazoned on the facade of the museum is an image of the Goodell Monorail that never came to fruition
Goodell Monorail, 1963
Visitors are easily drawn into the show's fantastical concepts courtesy of copious models and this fly-through video by Shimahara Illustration
The exhibition was curated by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, and designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects
Firestone Office Building, by B+U Architects, 2009.
Santa Monica Causeway proposal, 1965.
A model of the Huntington Hartford Sports Club, by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1947
A model of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) extension, by OMA, 2001
-
A new Tadao Ando monograph unveils the creative process guiding the architect's practiceNew monograph ‘Tadao Ando. Sketches, Drawings, and Architecture’ by Taschen charts decades of creative work by the Japanese modernist master
-
Inside the sculptural and sensual philosophy of jewellery house RenisisSardwell, founder of jewellery house Renisis, draws on sculpture, travel and theatre to create pieces that fuse sensual form with spiritual resonance
-
Feldspar's furniture is designed to make you smileFeldspar's furniture debut includes a dining table, side tables, a bench, a floor lamp and the possibility of a cheval mirror, all made in their workshop in Devon
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellingsWhile architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernismWe explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthWallpaper* has spotlighted an array of remarkable architecture in the past month – from a pink desert home to structures that appears to float above the ground. These are the houses and buildings that most captured our attention in August 2025
-
La Maison de la Baie de l’Ours melds modernism into the shores of a Québécois lakeACDF Architecture’s grand family retreat in Quebec offers a series of flowing living spaces and private bedrooms beneath a monumental wooden roof
-
How LA's Terremoto brings 'historic architecture into its next era through revitalising the landscapes around them'Terremoto, the Los Angeles and San Francisco collective landscape architecture studio, shakes up the industry through openness and design passion
-
How architects are redefining disaster relief through designDisaster relief architecture is a critical component of humanitarian aid across the globe; read our ultimate guide on how architects can make a difference through design
-
This cinematic home in Palm Springs sets a new standard for Desert Modern designJill Lewis Architecture and landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt joined forces to envision an exceptional sanctuary
