Audaciously ground breaking structures were built by genuine and world class architects and engineers. Today’s great feats of architectural ingenuity are pushing the field in bold new directions towards the strengthening and empowering human advancements.
1. The Dancing House, Prague
Dancing House (Tančící dům) is set in a fine location by the Vltava River in Prague. Its design is unique, and especially striking in the city centre because it is a modern building surrounded by historic architecture.
Dancing House was constructed between 1992-1996. It has daring, curvy outlines, which led its architects Vlado Milunic and the American Frank Owen Gehry to initially name it the “Fred and Ginger Building”, after the legendary dance duo.
2. Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
The design allows for future expansion, offset from but symmetrical to the exhibition facilities, on the other side of the Kahler building. At shore level, the expansion houses the atrium, gallery space for temporary exhibitions, an education center with a 300 seat lecture hall, and a gift shop. The 100 seat restaurant, placed at the focal point of the pavilion, commands panoramic views onto the lake.
Calatrava’s designs are often inspired by nature, featuring a combination of organic forms and technological innovation. The Milwaukee Art Museum expansion incorporates multiple elements inspired by the Museum’s lakefront location. Among the many maritime elements in Calatrava’s design are: movable steel louvers inspired by the wings of a bird; a cabled pedestrian bridge with a soaring mast inspired by the form on a sailboat and a curving single-story galleria reminiscent of a wave.
3. Lotus Temple
The temples of the Bahá’í Faith are well known for their architectural splendor, and the Temple constructed in Delhi is a continuation of this rich tradition. Before undertaking the design of the temple, the architect, Mr. Fariborz Sahba, had travelled extensively in India to study the architecture of this land and was impressed by the design of the beautiful temples, as well as by the art and religious symbols wherein the lotus invariably played an important role. He was influenced by this experience, and in an attempt to bring out the concept of purity, simplicity and freshness of the Bahá’í Faith, he conceived the Temple in Delhi in the form of a lotus. The temple gives the impression of a half-open lotus flower, afloat, surrounded by its leaves. Each component of the temple is repeated nine times. Flint & Neill Partnership of London were the consultants and the ECC Construction Group of Larsen & Toubro Limited were the contractors responsible for constructing the Temple.
4. Cologne Cathedral
The Cathedral is still the second highest building in Cologne after the telecommunications tower. Its footprint is no less impressive, with the full length of the Cathedral measuring 145 m and the cross nave 86 m. In comparison, a football pitch is “only” around 100 by 70 m. The total area of the Cathedral measures almost 8000 square metres and has room for more than 20,000 people.
It is nothing short of a miracle that, although badly damaged, Cologne Cathedral survived the Second World War in spite of extensive bombing. Nowadays the main factors affecting the Cathedral are weather and environmental influences. Over 80 stonemasons, glaziers, roofers and other specialists are constantly at work on the maintenance and restoration of the Cathedral building.
5. Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
The Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount was the first monumental piece of architecture in Islam. It is odd that it was not a mosque or mausoleum but a structure to shelter a rock. It stands at the site of the First Temple built by Solomon and covers a rock which, according to tradition was the site of the Binding of Isaac by Abraham and Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey to the heavens in early Seventh century.
The building was constructed between 687 and 692 AD by Umayyad Khalifa Abdl Malik. The Arabs were desert nomads and did not have a well-developed architectural tradition certainly not the kind they found in Syria left behind by the Byzantine rulers. Arabs borrowed freely as long as it did not impinge on their core religious beliefs. They employed Byzantine-Christian accountants, tax collectors, and technocrats to rule a vast empire. Syrian architects and craftsmen well versed in Byzantine building methods helped in the construction of the Dome of the Rock.
6. La Pedrera, Barcelona
The Casa Milà, also referred to as La Pedrera or The Quarry, is located in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by the architect, Antoni Gaudí. A wealthy businessman, Pedro Milà i Camps, was impressed by an expressionist building that Gaudí had designed, the Casa Batlló. He commissioned him to design the apartment building in the Eixample area of the city. Construction of the building started in 1906, and was completed in 1912. At that time, the design was marked by controversy because of its bold styling.
7. One World Trade Center, New York
Standing as a shining beacon for the new Downtown, and a bold addition to the skyline, One World Trade Center is safe, sustainable, and artistically dynamic. Soaring to a symbolic 1,776 feet — it is the Western Hemisphere’s tallest building, and already an iconic New York landmark.
The One World Trade Center’s design is no coincidence, standing at a symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541m) in a direct nod to the year of the US Declaration of Independence.
Designed by David M Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 104-story glass tower raises from a cube base before transforming from the 20th floor into eight sleek isoceles triangles. Stood adjacent to the city’s beautiful 9/11 memorial, the One World Trade Center is a shining beacon for the city.
8. St Paul’s Cathedral, London
When you come St Paul’s, we hope to give you a visit you will remember. With your sightseeing ticket, you can walk in the footsteps of royalty and political leaders on the Cathedral floor; climb the dome to try the unique acoustics of the Whispering Gallery; go even higher to enjoy some of the most spectacular views over London from the Stone and Golden Galleries; or head down to the crypt where our nation’s heroes are buried.
The present Cathedral, the masterpiece of Britain’s most famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, is at least the fourth to have stood on the site. It was built between 1675 and 1710, after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and services began in 1697.
This was the first Cathedral to be built after the English Reformation in the sixteenth-century, when Henry VIII removed the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Pope and the Crown took control of the life of the church.
There is also an exhibition focusing on the Cathedral, before, during and after The Great Fire of London. Discover a collection of scorched pre-Fire artefacts and learn of the re-building challenges Sir Christopher Wren faced with his radical design.
9. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur
Resembling twin silver rockets plucked from an episode of Flash Gordon, the Petronas Towers are the perfect allegory for the meteoric rise of the city from tin-miners’ hovel to 21st-century metropolis. Half of the 1500 tickets for 45-minute tours – which take in the Skybridge connection on the 41st floor and the observation deck on the 86th floor at 370m – are sold in advance online. Otherwise turn up early to be sure of scoring a ticket to go up.
The distinctive postmodern style was created by architects Cesar Pelli and Achmad Murdijat, engineer Deejay Cerico and designer Dominic Saibo under the consultancy of JC Guinto.
10. The White House, Washington
The official home for the U.S. president was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the 1790s. Rebuilt after a British attack in 1814, the “President’s House” evolved with the personal touches of its residents, and accommodated such technological changes as the installation of electricity. The building underwent major structural changes in the early 1900s under Teddy Roosevelt, who also officially established the “White House” moniker, and again under Harry Truman after WWII. Counting the Oval Office and the Rose Garden among its famous features, it remains the only private residence of a head of state open free of charge to the public.
In 1792 Hoban submitted a plan for the presidential mansion and subsequently got the commission to build the White House. Constructed began in 1793 through to completion in 1801. The mansion, which has been home to every US leader since the country’s second president John Adams, is made from white-painted Aquia sandstone.
References:
http://www.creativebloq.com/architecture/famous-buildings-around-world-10121105
http://www.history.com/topics/white-house
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/malaysia/kuala-lumpur/attractions/petronas-towers/a/poi-sig/1151889/356949
https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/history
https://planyourcity.net/2013/01/31/the-dome-of-the-rock-jerusalem-the-first-piece-of-monumental-architecture-in-islam/https://www.stpauls.co.uk/visits/visits
Casa Milà
https://planyourcity.net/2013/01/31/the-dome-of-the-rock-jerusalem-the-first-piece-of-monumental-architecture-in-islam/
https://www.cologne.de/what-to-do/the-cologne-cathedral.html
http://www.bahaihouseofworship.in/architectural-blossoming
https://arcspace.com/feature/the-milwaukee-art-museum/
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