Queens Museum's Never Built New York Exhibition Explores Unrealized Architectural Visions

The Queens Museum in New York is launching an exhibition titled Never Built New York, curated by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, with installation design by architect Christian Wassmann. Opening September 17, the show presents two centuries of unrealized architectural projects for New York City, including models, drawings, renderings, and photomontages of bridges, skyscrapers, parks, and infrastructure that never materialized. The exhibition is inspired by the book Never Built New York, published by Distributed Art Publishers/D.A.P., also authored by Lubell and Goldin. A Kickstarter campaign initially raised $35,000 and was later adjusted to a $50,000 goal to expand the project's scope. The organizers emphasize that the exhibition is not nostalgic but forward-looking, aiming to spark discussion on urgent contemporary issues such as ecological sustainability, population displacement, and economic inequity. The show covers proposals like Richard Buckminster Fuller's Glass Dome for Manhattan and Rufus Henry Gilbert's pneumatic railway, halted by the 1873 financial crisis and personal health issues. The museum seeks to help the community understand how New York City acquired its current form and to encourage dialogue about future urban visions.