Phantom Architecture : the fantastical structures the worlds great architects really wanted to build

**A skyscraper one mile high, a dome covering most of downtown Manhattan, a triumphal arch in the form of an elephant:** some of the most exciting buildings in the history of architecture are the ones that never got built. These are the projects in which architects took **materials to the limits**, **explored challenging new ideas**, **defied conventions**, and **pointed the way towards the future**. Some of them are **architectural masterpieces**, some simply **delightful flights of fancy**. It was not usually poor design that stymied them – politics, inadequate funding, or a client who chose a ‘safe’ option rather than a daring vision were all things that could stop a project leaving the drawing board. These unbuilt buildings include the grand projects that acted as **architectural calling cards**, **experimental design**s that stretch technology, **visions for the future** of the city, and **articles of architectural faith**. Structures like\*\*\*\*Buckminster Fuller’s dome over New York or Frank Lloyd Wright’s mile-high tower can seem impossibly daring. But they also point to buildings that came decades later, to the Eden Project and the Shard. Some of those unbuilt wonders are buildings of great beauty and individual form like **Etienne-Louis Boullée’s enormous spherical monument** to **Isaac Newton**; some, such as the city plans of **Le Corbusier**, seem to want to teach us how to live; some, like **El Lissitsky’s ‘horizontal skyscrapers’** and **Gaudí’s curvaceous New York hotel**, turn architectural convention upside-down; some, such as **Archigram’s Walking City** and **Plug-in City**, are bizarre and inspiring by turns. All are captured in this **magnificently illustrated** book. A STUNNINGLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK REVEALING THE GREATEST MYTHS, LIES AND BLUNDERS ON MAPS 'Highly recommended' - Andrew Marr 'A spectacular, enjoyable and eye-opening read' - Jonathan Ross The Phantom Atlas is an atlas of the world not as it ever existed, but as it was thought to be . These marvellous and mysterious phantoms - non-existent islands, invented mountain ranges, mythical civilisations and other fictitious geography - were all at various times presented as facts on maps and atlases. This book is a collection of striking antique maps that display the most erroneous cartography, with each illustration accompanied by the story behind it. Exploration, map-making and mythology are all brought together to create a colourful tapestry of monsters, heroes and volcanoes; swindlers, mirages and murderers . Sometimes the stories are almost impossible to believe, and remarkably, some of the errors were still on display in maps published in the 21st century. Throughout much of the 19th century more than 40 different mapmakers included the Mountains of Kong, a huge range of peaks stretching across the entire continent of Africa, in their maps - but it was only in 1889 when Louis Gustave Binger revealed the whole thing to be a fake. For centuries, explorers who headed to Patagonia returned with tales of the giants they had met who lived there, some nine feet tall. Then there was Gregor MacGregor, a Scottish explorer who returned to London to sell shares in a land he had discovered in South America. He had been appointed the Cazique of Poyais, and bestowed with many honours by the local king of this unspoiled paradise. Now he was offering others the chance to join him and make their fortune there, too - once they had paid him a bargain fee for their passage... The Phantom Atlas is a beautifully produced volume , packed with stunning maps and drawings of places and people that never existed . The remarkable stories behind them all are brilliantly told by Edward Brooke-Hitching in a book that will appeal to cartophiles everywhere. A skyscraper one mile high, a dome covering most of downtown Manhattan, a triumphal arch in the form of an elephant: some of the most exciting buildings in the history of architecture are the ones that never got built. These are the projects in which architects took materials to the limits , explored challenging new ideas , defied conventions , and pointed the way towards the future . Some of them are architectural masterpieces , some simply delightful flights of fancy . It was not usually poor design that stymied them – politics, inadequate funding, or a client who chose a ‘safe’ option rather than a daring vision were all things that could stop a project leaving the drawing board. These unbuilt buildings include the grand projects that acted as architectural calling cards , experimental design s that stretch technology, visions for the future of the city, and articles of architectural faith . Structures like****Buckminster Fuller’s dome over New York or Frank Lloyd Wright’s mile-high tower can seem impossibly daring. But they also point to buildings that came decades later, to the Eden Project and the Shard. Some of those unbuilt wonders are buildings of great beauty and individual form like Etienne-Louis Boullée’s enormous spherical monument to Isaac Newton ; some, such as the city plans of Le Corbusier , seem to want to teach us how to live; some, like El Lissitsky’s ‘horizontal skyscrapers’ and Gaudí’s curvaceous New York hotel , turn architectural convention upside-down; some, such as Archigram’s Walking City and Plug-in City , are bizarre and inspiring by turns. All are captured in this magnificently illustrated book. A skyscraper one mile high, a dome covering most of downtown Manhattan, a triumphal arch in the form of an elephant: some of the most exciting buildings in the history of architecture are the ones that never got built. These are the projects in which architects took materials to the limits , explored challenging new ideas , defied conventions , and pointed the way towards the future . Some of them are architectural masterpieces , some simply delightful flights of fancy . It was not usually poor design that stymied them – politics, inadequate funding, or a client who chose a 'safe' option rather than a daring vision were all things that could stop a project leaving the drawing board. These unbuilt buildings include the grand projects that acted as architectural calling cards , experimental design s that stretch technology, visions for the future of the city, and articles of architectural faith . Structures like Buckminster Fuller's dome over New York or Frank Lloyd Wright's mile-high tower can seem impossibly daring. But they also point to buildings that came decades later, to the Eden Project and the Shard. Some of those unbuilt wonders are buildings of great beauty and individual form like Etienne-Louis Boullée's enormous spherical monument to Isaac Newton ; some, such as the city plans of Le Corbusier , seem to want to teach us how to live; some, like El Lissitsky's 'horizontal skyscrapers' and Gaudí's curvaceous New York hotel , turn architectural convention upside-down; some, such as Archigram's Walking City and Plug-in City , are bizarre and inspiring by turns. All are captured in this magnificently illustrated book. A skyscraper one mile high, a dome covering most of downtown Manhattan, a triumphal arch in the form of an elephant: some of the most exciting buildings in the history of architecture are the ones that never got built. These are the projects in which architects took materials to the limits, explored challenging new ideas, defied conventions, and pointed the way towards the future. Some of them are architectural masterpieces, some simply delightful flights of fancy. It was not usually poor design that stymied them - politics, inadequate funding, or a client who chose a 'safe' option rather than a daring vision were all things that could stop a project leaving the drawing board. These unbuilt buildings include the grand projects that acted as architectural calling cards, experimental designs that stretch technology, visions for the future of the city, and articles of architectural faith. Structures likeBuckminster Fuller's dome over New York or Frank Lloyd Wright's mile-high tower can seem impossibly daring. But they also point to buildings that came decades later, to the Eden Project and the Shard. Some of those unbuilt wonders are buildings of great beauty and individual form like Etienne-Louis Boullee's enormous spherical monument to Isaac Newton; some, such as the city plans of Le Corbusier, seem to want to teach us how to live; some, like El Lissitsky's 'horizontal skyscrapers' and Gaudi's curvaceous New York hotel, turn architectural convention upside-down; some, such as Archigram's Walking City and Plug-in City, are bizarre and inspiring by turns. All are captured in this magnificently illustrated book A skyscraper one mile high, a dome covering most of downtown Manhattan, a triumphal arch in the form of an some of the most exciting buildings in the history of architecture are the ones that never got built. These are the projects in which architects took materials to the limits, explored challenging new ideas, defied conventions, and pointed the way towards the future. Some of them are architectural masterpieces, some simply delightful flights of fancy. It was not usually poor design that stymied them - politics, inadequate funding, or a client who chose a `safe' option rather than a daring vision were all things that could stop a project leaving the drawing board. These unbuilt buildings include the grand projects that acted as architectural calling cards, experimental designs that stretch technology, visions for the future of the city, and articles of architectural faith. Structures like Buckminster Fuller's dome over New York or Frank Lloyd Wright's mile-high tower can seem impossibly daring. But they also point to buildings that came decades later, to the Eden Project and the Shard. Some of those unbuilt wonders are buildings of great beauty and individual form like Etienne-Louis Boullee's enormous spherical monument to Isaac Newton; some, such as the city plans of Le Corbusier, seem to want to teach us how to live; some, like El Lissitsky's `horizontal skyscrapers' and Gaudi's curvaceous New York hotel, turn architectural convention upside-down; some, such as Archigram's Walking City and Plug-in City, are bizarre and inspiring by turns. All are captured in this magnificently illustrated book. "[This book] is a guide to the world not as it is, but as it was imagined to be. It's a world of ghost islands, invisible mountain ranges, mythical civilizations, ship-wrecking beasts, and other fictitious features introduced on maps and atlases through mistakes, misunderstanding, fantasies, and outright lies. This ... book collects and explores the colorful histories behind a striking range of real antique maps that are all in some way a little too good to be true"--Amazon.com.