Sometimes, the most influential buildings in a city are the ones that didn’t get built. We talked with architectural historian Martin Moeller about the grand ideas that, sometimes luckily, shaped D.C. by never getting off the drawing board.
Dolphin America:
This proposed complex would have been a hotel and conference center between the Capitol and White House, with a gigantic aquarium featuring dolphins. The designers hoped to study and learn from the dolphins and improve our society. Obviously,
The National Sofa:
The same design team from Dolphin America proposed that the National Sofa be placed in Lafayette Park. It would face a big screen that would play what is essentially C-SPAN to help connect the government with normies.
The Lincoln Memorial design we could have ended up with. It’s giving Mount Doom. (joe daniel price/Getty Images)
The Lincoln Pyramid:
One of the finalist designs for the Lincoln Memorial was by John Russell Pope who wanted the site to be a giant stepped pyramid. He also submitted a design that was a giant round mound with a funeral pyre at the top. (If you think that's bad, check out the proposals for the Washington Monument)
Proposed executive mansion on Meridian Hill, which now holds Malcolm X Park. (Library of Congress)
A New White House:
In the late 1800s, there was talk of expanding the White House with two additional wings and conservatories that would have turned it into something resembling Versailles. Another proposal at the time was to build a completely new executive mansion where Malcolm X Park now sits.
