clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

A Dolphin Hotel And Other Things You Will Never See In DC

The National Building Museum is getting ready to unveil a new exhibit called Unbuilt Washington, wherein they show us plans for buildings that never materialized. Some of the more outlandish ideas were for a dolphin hotel on the Mall and a 'national couch' that looked like it has an outdoor movie screen (with an image of President Clinton kicking back with some popcorn, we think). But most of the items are for more normal structures, your monuments and bridges for example. That pyramid-looking thing in the lower right hand corner, e.g., was an early suggestion for the Lincoln Memorial. The Museum's exhibit runs from November 19, 2011 – March 28, 2012 and we'll post a direct link as soon as the museum puts one up. UPDATE: Link has been added.

· National Building Museum [OfficialSite]
· Unbuilt Washington [Official Site]

Photos from Library of Congress, National Galleries of History and Art, Jacobsen Architecture, James Allegro & Doug Michels, Edward Durell Stone Collection, Maryland Historical Society, National Archives, and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.