All buildings begin as ideas — but not all of them make it off the page.
Unfortunately, some architects' dreamy ideas are shelved due to a lack of funds, complex political maneuvering, or the death of a major financial supporter.
It was this lost library — a collection of buildings that offer glimpses into how some corners of the world could have looked — that inspired Los Angeles-based writers Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin to write the recently released book "Atlas of Never Built Architecture."
"As we unearthed each treasure, shaking off the dust clouds of memory and the inscrutability of faded ink, we were reminded that our reality is far less fixed than we think," Lubell and Goldin wrote in the introduction. "Every decision could have resulted in something different."
Lubell and Goldin assembled the sketches for and stories behind more than 300 lost skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, government buildings, cemeteries, and even a "floating theater boat that resembles a UFO," according to a press release. The proposed structures span over 100 years and 80 countries.
Below are five building designs once proposed for sites across the world, alongside a breakdown of what currently stands where they were set to rise.
Are we better off? You decide.