Some were conceived of as storytelling devices or futuristic concepts, while others were intended for actual construction before the plans were scrapped, but each of these buildings tells a unique story about a time, a place and an architect.

Compiled by Rubberbond, a UK construction company that has seen more than a few ambitious projects get cancelled, this inforgraphic contains works by abstract visionaries like Buckminster Fuller and contemporary practitioners including Jean Nouvel.

One skyscraper concept in particular, by Modernist minimalist like Mies van der Rohe, portended a huge shift in direction – futuristic at the time, it became the basis for an entire system of building construction in the century that followed. Gaudi, Wright and Foster are also on the list of similar influencers – often, the virtues of their built works generated interest in their unfinished projects, too.

Still other works, like the hyperbuilding concept by OMA, were never intended to be built but were instead created to test a hypothesis or explore an idea – in this case: the self-contained city.

“Unbuilt buildings represent the forgotten dreams of architects; projects that could have defined a community’s identity. At best the drawings and blueprints will now be displayed in museums, though that’s small consolation to the architects who stayed up late at night scribbling, while envisaging a skyline that would proudly display their signature style.”

We take it for granted that London and New York will grace the pages of books, but would you be surprised to learn that Madrid and Cairo were once as commonly referenced, or that Mumbai and Beijing are now two of the most popular cities capturing global imaginations?

Edgard Barbosa created this infographic (above) and other associated graphics (below) to explore the ebb and flow of famous cities in works of fiction and non-fiction alike.

From its creator: “Books of Cities measures the quantity of books, written in the English language, that refers to 10 major cities in the world between 1800 and 2000 … it gives an overall idea of the amount of literature produced in each era about the same city.”

The graphic covers London, New York City, Rome, Paris, Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, Beijing, Mumbai, and Cairo, and shows how some cities, like Mumbai and Beijing, have recently hit the scene in a major way. Others, meanwhile, like London and NYC, have consistently attracted attention for much of the last few hundred years.

Just like the flash cards of our youth, infographics make it much easier to digest, understand and remember information, whether we’re talking multiplication tables or architectural styles. From fun images that break down famous architects’ signature styles into recognizable icons to charts of the world’s tallest buildings, these 15 infographics condense interesting facts about architecture into highly engaging visual learning tools. Click the images to view full-size.

Architecture Icons

(image via: archdaily)

Notable architects of the 20th and 21st centuries including Santiago Calatrava, Frank Lloyd Wright, Tadao Ando, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid get the graphic treatment in this All Nighter Original poster. The infographic breaks down each architect’s most notable works into graphic icons, like Foster + Partners’ 30 St. Mary Axe tower (‘The Gherkin’).

The Architecture of Inception

(images via: fast co design)

There are three types of architecture in the Martin Scorcese film Inception: real-world architecture, the intricately designed architecture created for the dream worlds, and the structure of the film’s plot throughout those dream worlds. This infographic, by graphic designer Rick Slusher, deals with the third. The many layers of plot throughout each ‘level’ of the dream world is laid out here in a way that is easier to understand than the movie itself.

Inside the Mind of an Architect by Raynes Architecture

(image via: raynes architecture)

Ever wonder how an architect comes up with a plan for a building, step-by-step? Raynes Architecture lays it out in this infographic, from their first surveys to handing the completed project over to a builder.

The World’s Tallest Buildings by 2020

(image via: ctbuh.org)

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the tallest building in the world by far at 2,717 feet, the closest being the 2,165-foot Ping An Finance Center in Shenzen, China. But by 2020, another tower is set to blow it out of the water: the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, set to reach 3,280 feet into the air. See them all in this infographic by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH.)

Home Spending Projection by Canyon Design Build

(image via: canyon design build)

How is the home renovation market shaping up this year? Canyon Design Build created this infographic that tells us where homeowners plan to spend their money over the next two years, with the biggest chunk continuing to go toward kitchens.

Tilted Wonders of the World

(image via: the economist)

Compare the precarious angles of the world’s most notable leaning buildings in this infographic from the Economist. While the Leaning Tower of Pisa is the most famous of them all, Germany’s Bad Frankenhausen Tower and one of the Two Towers of Bologna are actually more in danger of toppling.

Fast, Cheap or Great: Pick Two

(image via: colin harman)

This infographic about graphic design, created by Colin Harman, is just as applicable to architecture. So you’d like your project to be fast, cheap (or free) and great? Pick any two.

Pie Plan by Abi Huynh

(image via: abi huynh)

Designer Abi Huynh created this pie graph, which breaks down interior spaces according to how much they’re actually utilized.

Building Alphabet

(image via: jpg mag)

This graphic brings together photographs taken from street level looking up at the tops of buildings, capturing the letters of the alphabet. Says creator Lisa Reinermann, “Standing in something like a little courtyard in Barcelona I looked up. I saw houses, the sky, clouds and a “Q”. The negative space in-between the houses formed a letter. I loved the idea of the sky as words, the negative being the positive. If I could find a “Q” other letters should be somewhere around the corner. The following weeks, I kept running around looking up to the sky. Bit by bit I found all the letters of the alphabet.”

Architecture Flash Cards

(image via: coffee with an architect)

Brush up on the various styles of architecture with humorous flash cards made by Coffee with an Architect, including Beaux Arts, Tudor, Jacobean, Vernacular and Minimalism. See them all here.

One World Trade Center

(image via: the guardian)

The facts about One World Trade Center, the new trade center building set to become America’s tallest structure, are all laid out in this infographic created by Online-Architecture-Degree.com. The building will be 1,776 feet tall, in honor of the year of America’s Independence.

Infographic Resume by Dustin Thorlakson

(image via: dustin thorlakson)

Architectural designer Dustin Thorlakson presents his resume in infographic form, making it easy to get a sense of his past experience at a glance.

The Impact of Steel in Architecture

(images via: archdaily)

The development of construction methods utilizing steel has made a huge impact on architecture. Just how much of an impact? This infographic by Megan Jett of ArchDaily examines the types of steel used, how it’s made, and a timeline of its history.

Iconic Olympic Buildings

(images via: archdaily)

ArchDaily offers an updated infographic of the most iconic buildings of the Olympic Games from 776 B.C. all the way through 2012.

Famous Architects Dressed as their Buildings

(image via: retronaut)

Retronaut dug up this awesome photo of famous architects literally dressed as their buildings in what could almost be described as a living infographic.

Catwoman, The Joker, Two-Face and Bane are just the beginning when it comes to Batman’s nemeses in the decades-long history of the character and his complex adventures in Gotham. Have you heard of ‘Swashbuckler’, ‘The Penny Plunderer’, ‘Colonel Sulphur’, or ‘Bamboo Monkey’? These obscure villains and more can all be found on a fun infographic, ‘The Myriad Monikers of Gotham’s Villains’, by Pop Chart Lab.

The taxonomy chart lists hundreds of names divided into categories like Mad Dogs, Arthropods, Colored Masks, The Death Industry and Men of the Cloth. To get a really good look at all of them, check out the zoom feature at Pop Chart Lab.

Each 18×24″ print is signed and numbered by the artists and produced using vegetable-based inks and archival recycled stock in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Wow, a map/picture/image/representation of the entire internet – amazing except for the fact that, like many things, it is presented entirely without useful context. This nifty graphic has been compared to a Tootsie Pop and strongly resembles a plasma light ball. Admittedly, the image is interesting and compelling – but what does it really tell us about the compelling and amorphous reality we call the World Wide Web?

By far the most interesting part of the post where we found this image were the comments. An early comment points out that the post authors didn’t give proper credit to the original creators of the image. Further comments suggested that the ‘web’ and the ‘internet’ are not the same thing. Other commenters noted that the image doesn’t have a defined scale, nor any other form of key to help decipher it. One of the last points illustrates the general confusion, perhaps accidentally: “dude – its totally the boob that I keep hearing that there are pitchers of on the internets.” Oh well, at least we’ve learned that the internet is more complicated than a pretty spherical diagram!