Los Angeles isn't generally famous for its innovative urban design. But there have been many attempts to transform the city into a modern metropolis through visionary architecture and transportation projects. In their exhibition Never Built: Los Angeles, the Architecture and Design Museum is showing off the coolest of what LA could have become.
Frank Lloyd Wright Huntington Hartford Sports Club, 1947
Photo: Courtesy Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
B+U Downey Office Building, 2009
Photo: Courtesy B+U Architects
Goodell Monorail, 1963
This monorail system would have carried passengers between downtown and LAX.
Photo: Courtesy Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Research Library and Archive
John Lautner Griffith Park Nature Center 1972
Photo: Courtesy Getty Research Institute
KiribatiKelker & DeLeuw Subway Plan, 1925
Early plans for LA's subway system featured extensive coverage throughout the city—a far cry from the limited routes of today. In the end, it was money and politics that dictated what was eventually built.
Photo: Courtesy Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Research Library and Archive
Lloyd Wright Civic Center Plan, 1925
Photo: Courtesy Eric Lloyd Wright
OMA LACMA proposal, 2001
The LA County Museum of Art considered this ambitious proposal with a huge canopy roof. Ultimately, the board voted for a more conservative proposal.
Photo: Courtesy OMA
Pereira and Luckman, LAX original Plan, 1952
An original plan for LAX had a glass dome covering the entire airport. Apparently, there was also talk of building it on an island off of Santa Monica.
Photo: Courtesy LAWA Flight Path Learning Center
Santa Monica Offshore Freeway, 1965
LA's heavy traffic forced planners to consider radical measures like this off-shore highway in Santa Monica. It was scrapped—to the delight of beach-goers.
Photo: courtesy City of Santa Monica
William H. Evans, Tower Of Civilization, 1939
This 1300 ft tower built with magnesium was proposed for the 1939 World's Fair.
Photo: courtesy Huntington LIbrary
Never Built: Los Angeles will be on view from July 28 - September 29, 2013. [via Untapped Cities]