Having gone through a number of studios in the last five years has made me aware that iteration is an important part of the design process. Sometimes, one has to draw things out completely before s/he understands there are other alternatives to one idea. I recently stumbled across images of alternative proposals of some built iconic buildings — mostly as a result of open competitions. Having had the winning proposal built, it’s interesting to imagine the images on postcards or somewhere online that we’d have encountered if these alternatives had been chosen instead. These examples here range from infrastructure to monuments, both of which form collective parts of our experience of urban space.
I also wonder what prevented these alternatives to become the reality, e.g. Budget, taste, representation?
Tower Bridge, London — alternative
Tower Bridge, London
Golden Gate Bridge, SF — alternative
Golden Gate Bridge, SF
Lincoln Memorial, Washington — alternative
Lincoln Memorial
Arc de Triomphe, Paris — alternative
Arc de Triomphe, Paris
