Unbuilt Architecture and City Plans

[Rhinocrates]

An informative primer on architectural engineering, looking at how tension in an inverted model can be used to model compression in a completed structure and how it generates new, elegant forms. Admittedly this isn't about unbuilt architecture but it follows on from my posts on Wren's St Paul's. He doesn't mention that St Paul's actually has circumferential iron chains at the base of the masonry dome acting in tension to resist the outward forces produced by the weight above, along with all the cleverly concealed buttressing.

We really see the technique bloom with Gaudi, though I was annoyed that some on the illustrations of the Sagrada Familia models are hideous AI creations.

Name drop: New Zealand architect Mark Burry is mentioned. He's actually been at RMIT in Melbourne for decades now but back in the day he taught me here in NZ. He would spend several months each year in Barcelona directing construction. His lectures on how they modelled the complex hyperboloid forms and used those models for computer aided manufacturing of cut stone were fascinating.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRv_syz2DAc

 

[Graham1973]

A video covering another unbuilt Melbourne transport project.

View: https://youtu.be/uDdJdDF3KSg?si=42B2-DseJCmmmUTk

 

[Graham1973]

View: https://youtu.be/nu-spaMi_mw?si=oeMtj5cKDX8_hTAn

 

[Rhinocrates]

It's not appropriate to comment on this news article (don't mention the war), but it reminded me of this collage by the Austrian architect, Hans Hollein, which was a kind of spoof of Le Corbusier's argument that the ocean liner was the exemplar for mass housing.

Russian aircraft carrier crew sent to frontline in Ukraine

Russia has formed a mechanised battalion from the crew of its only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

 

[Graham1973]

An incomplete freight transport project in the Australian state of New South Wales.

View: https://youtu.be/kj8wwcM70xk?si=59GTygPBipp_HwGO

 

[Sundog]

Lebbeus Woods was a pure paper architect. In this video, Dami Lee offers a good explanation of the role of paper architecture and its presence in popular culture with a discussion of the manga BLAME! and Woods' work.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ynSG5GLoQ0


Her channel is here, and the videos are enjoyable and accessible:

DamiLee

Architecture and design with Dami

www.youtube.com

Interestingly, the older ones are about making a living as a young architect and the more recent ones look at fictional and theoretical architecture.

I've always enjoyed Lebbeus Woods' work and I remember when I saw the movie Twelve Monkeys and thinking he worked on it, only to find out they simply ripped off his image (below) without his permission. He won the lawsuit.

 

[Sundog]

I wonder how much of Project NEOM will end up in this category? They've already radically reduced the length of the Line from 100 miles down to ten miles, IIRC.

 

[Michel Van]

I wonder how much of Project NEOM will end up in this category? They've already radically reduced the length of the Line from 100 miles down to ten miles, IIRC.

we discuss that hubris here:

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/neom.37091/#post-575464

 

[Rhinocrates]

Legendary but never built: 10 unrealized masterpieces of architecture

From Gaudí’s skyscraper for New York to Libeskind’s Potsdamer Platz, we've selected 10 projects that, even without ever seeing the light, have made history.

www.domusweb.it

Sketch of a hotel proposed by Gaudi to be built in New York.

 

[martinbayer]

Legendary but never built: 10 unrealized masterpieces of architecture

From Gaudí’s skyscraper for New York to Libeskind’s Potsdamer Platz, we've selected 10 projects that, even without ever seeing the light, have made history.

www.domusweb.it

Sketch of a hotel proposed by Gaudi to be built in New York.

View attachment 742885

Very vaguely looks like a 3STO VTO RLV to me...

 

[Rhinocrates]

Very vaguely looks like a 3STO VTO RLV to me...

Now if Gaudi had met Tsiolkovsky...

 

[Arjen]

Very vaguely looks like a 3STO VTO RLV to me...

This leaves me looking at the Sagrada Familia in a new light.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Pulp Fiction

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-3

 

[Justo Miranda]

Alex Raymond

 

[Justo Miranda]

The cartoonists who made science fiction illustrations during the golden age created fantastic cities with the buildings surrounded by spiral ramps with an inclination impossible to use on foot or in some kind of car.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

But tonight, going through my Flash Gordon collection, I found the origin of the myth: a rocket-powered train... Can you imagine the centrifugal force?

 

[Graham1973]

A 1970s proposal to change the rail map of London.

RingRail – the 1973 railway plan that paved the way for the London Overground

In 1973, a plan for a new RingRail around London was proposed, and although it was never built as planned, it sort of did get built much later, as the London Overground.

www.ianvisits.co.uk

 

[Graham1973]

A 1700's proposal to canalize the Thames

Unbuilt London: Straightening the River Thames

The River Thames is a rather curvy beast, especially around the Isle of Dogs, but had a plan in 1796 been carried out, it would be considerably straighter.

www.ianvisits.co.uk

 

[Graham1973]

London Transport's abortive plans to construct express tube lines.

View: https://youtu.be/RVUqtOgPb0w?si=88aFxiWGHbXdc5Ll

 

[Michel Van]

Little bit off-topic but it explain allot about Architecture

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYxnW6jF2d4

 

[publiusr]

Learning from nature

Dragonfly wing pattern reinforces vaults and domes better than ancient Roman and tech-generated methods

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from the University of Granada, Spain, have determined the most efficient ways to reinforce vaults and domes in architecture. The team compared how well various traditional and unconventional patterns of stiffening ribs enable a structure to withstand...

techxplore.com

Odd

The Enduring Mystery of the Loretto Chapel Staircase

This staircase and its construction have dumbfounded visitors for decades.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[Graham1973]

A proposal to duplicate part of the Victoria Line of the London Underground...

View: https://youtu.be/g1bLIJfGUQc?si=t7EvG1Y4zYe4i3Cm

 

[Graham1973]

Legendary but never built: 10 unrealized masterpieces of architecture

From Gaudí’s skyscraper for New York to Libeskind’s Potsdamer Platz, we've selected 10 projects that, even without ever seeing the light, have made history.

www.domusweb.it

Sketch of a hotel proposed by Gaudi to be built in New York.

The hotel was created using CGI for the 'Fringe' TV series alternate universe.

View: https://youtu.be/9FbSB0mprdc?si=Bua_tPH27fP6NvTs

 

[Siberia]

A late 1940s/early 1950s proposal to completely reshape Chicago.

[SNIP]​

Thank the gods we avoided that, and only a small part was inflicted on Detroit.

Some of the broad claims about Chicago in the early part of the video made me raise an eyebrow though, to the extent of questioning the accuracy of the whole.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s mile high skyscraper.

[SNIP]​

Not a fan of its design towards the peak where it's narrowing but then you get the two wings, or that most illustrations have it sited over the fountain in the middle of Grant Park.