Interview with Will Jones

Being an architectural journalist for over a decade, I've seen many unbuilt projects and talked to architects about how these often important designs would not see the light of day. Then the thought came to me ...

I am in contact regularly with many of the architects in the book; architectural competitions also throw up great designs that don't win; while architectural magazines and websites also proved invaluable for finding some of the more obscure designs.

Initially, each unbuilt project might seem like a tragedy to its designer. However, the unrealised designs often inform the future works of these talented architects.

The book is meant as a celebration of some of the best that architecture can be. It shows just what architects can do and will hopefully inspire designers, students and potential clients to build the best that they possibly can.

Edward Cullinan's Heart of the Forest is a masterplan that would have been utterly inspirational, while also entirely achievable. It also includes my home town and so would be the one I'm most emotionally connected to. However, the project that I admire most is one of the smallest; Bing Thom's Crow Creek Bridge is exquisite in its simplicity. Similarly, the World Trade Center design by Rafael Vinoly and friends is a beautifully executed vision.

Websites are becoming more and more important as architectural journalism becomes a global. For their simplicity and great visuals World Architecture News and Dezeen are good; Great Buildings online is a good source of names and dates, as is e-architect; finally I have to include the sites of individual architects themselves.