21st Century

BURKA ARCHITECTS, MAD STUDIO 2010 MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO 914,930 SQ FT

Absolute World consists of two skyscrapers in a five-building residential condominium complex in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto. Eschewing the boxy confines of the traditional residential skyscraper, Absolute World incorporates a 206-degree twist into its 50- and 56-story towers. Though the project was initially planned as just one tower, when the architect submitted the radical, organic design, the entire building sold out in a matter of days and a second lot was purchased and planned. Also called the Marilyn Monroe towers, the flowing buildings stand out among the comparatively bland Mississauga skyline and offer a unique floorplan and design for each floor.

Auckland Art Gallery

FJMT, ARCHIMEDIA 2011 AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

When it came time to refurbish and expand Auckland’s art gallery, architects FJMT and Archimedia wanted to seamlessly blend the new and old buildings while creating a design that references the surrounding area; within that framework they established a new architectural identity for the 116-year-old gallery. The result is a beautiful pairing of a wooden canopy and glass curtain walls that integrates the building with its wooded, Albert Park surroundings and the modern art housed within.

Beijing National Stadium

HERZONG & DE MEURON 2008 BEIJING, CHINA 91,000 PEOPLE

Home to the 2008 Olympic Games, the “Bird’s Nest” and its signature latticed steel construction was born from an international competition to create a landmark that would help China reintroduce itself to the world. Herzog & De Meuron’s winning entry was inspired by Chinese ceramics and included provisions for a retractable roof. Though the roof was later removed from the design, the latticed steel used to hide its supports remained as the stadium’s signature aspect. The building drew an impressive amount of praise during the 2008 Olympics but has since had trouble being integrated into daily use. Regardless of current problems, the Bird’s Nest irreversibly raised the aesthetic standards of sports stadiums to come.

The Blue Planet

3XN 2013 COPENHAGEN, DENMARK 97,000 SQ FT, 1,800,000 GALLONS OF WATER

Appropriately called The Blue Planet, Denmark’s newest aquarium is home to 7 million liters of water and a design that suits the fluid nature of the ocean precisely. Designed to look like a whirlpool from above, The Blue Planet’s exterior seamlessly transitions from placid water features to sweeping, sculptural tiled stainless steel, effectively embodying the ocean’s power and beauty. Inside, the aquarium’s immersive exhibits all radiate from a central hub; the building itself can be expanded by 30 percent if the need arises. The design of The Blue Planet perfectly complements its intended purpose while adding to Copenhagen’s already impressive urban landscape.

BMW Welt

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU 2007 MUNICH, GERMANY 785,765 SQ FT

When BMW decided to build a new location where customers could immerse themselves in the Bavarian brand’s history and pick up their new cars (assuming they ticked the box for “European delivery”), they settled on a design choice that would mimic the technologically advanced design of their vehicles. BMW Welt certainly delivers. Boasting an incredible amount of swooping glass and stainless steel and featuring an 800kW solar array on its roof, BMW Welt conjures the same wonder and awe that the company hope to evoke with their four-wheeled designs.

Burj Khalifa

SKIDMORE, OWINGS AND MERRILL 2009, OPENED 2010 DUBAI, UAE 3,331,100 SQ FT

The very definition of form-follows-function design, the Burj Khalifa seems to be built entirely of improbable statistics. Standing at 829.8m (2,722 feet), it’s the tallest structure ever built, the tallest skyscraper ever built (a massive 320m taller than second-place Taipei 101), and home to both the world’s highest nightclub and the highest New Year’s fireworks display. Its tiered, tubular design is reminiscent of traditional Islamic architectural designs and owes a good bit of thanks to Frank Lloyd Wright’s theoretical mile-high building, The Illinois. The tower’s sheer extravagance makes one wonder what its future holds - it was built at the zenith of Dubai’s cultural and financial relevance - but chances are its awe-inspiring stature will grace the desert skyline for some time to come.

The City of Arts and Sciences

SANTIAGO CALATRAVA AND FELIX CANDELA 2005 VALENCIA, SPAIN 3,767,369 SQ FT

Less of a single building and more of a compound, the City of Arts and Sciences is a wonder of architectural design that inspires the same creativity and imagination-fueled wonder as the classics of art and science themselves. In a project brief that perfectly suited the style of Valencia native Santiago Calatrava, the City of Arts and Sciences is a set of seven buildings (plus plans for three skyscrapers that have been all but scrapped) situated in the former riverbed of the Turia. Each building is largely composed of picturesque white concrete and large swathes of glass and stainless steel that wouldn’t look out of place in a Jules Verne Novel. As a place to inspire a love of art and science, Calatrava’s masterpiece is unbeatable.

California Academy of Sciences

RENZO PIANO 2008 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 410,000 SQ FT

Much like Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, the California Academy of Sciences is a building that can’t help but inspire grand thoughts of discovery and adventure. The building looks reasonably simple from the ground, but from a higher vantage point, details like the undulating green roof and glass curtain walls begin to stand out. On the inside all bets of simplicity and boring contemporary design are off as visitors encounter gigantic rain forests enclosed in glass spheres and massive aquarium walls. The architecture adds more than a sense of occasion, though; rainwater recycling, 60,000 photovoltaic cells, and a 2.5-acre green roof helped it achieve the nigh-impossible LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Platinum certification.

Disney Concert Hall

FRANK GEHRY 2003 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 2,265 PEOPLE

The Disney Concert Hall is a polarizing building. Some say the postmodern Frank Gehry-designed hall is reminiscent of a crumpled piece of paper; others declare it a masterpiece for the ages. Whatever the disagreements, its place as a focal point of contemporary architecture is well established. The miniaturized Guggenheim Bilbao was plagued by massive delays and funding issues: while Gehry had submitted the designs in 1991 (a year before he submitted designs for its Spanish counterpart) it wasn’t completed until October of 2003 (six years after Bilbao). Despite delays, issues with glare-inducing panels, and polarizing design, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is an incredibly iconic piece of 21st-century architecture sure to inspire arguments for years.

Gardens by the Bay

GRANT ASSOCIATES, WILKINSON EYRE 2012 SINGAPORE 10,872,000 SQ FT

One of the largest garden projects in the world and located right in the heart of Singapore’s Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay provides tourists and locals with a vast array of flora in a stunning environment. Architectural highlights of the gardens include two massive cooled conservatories that use innumerable glass panels to create an organic-looking shape far removed from the boxy conservatories of old. Also notable are its 18 “Supertrees”, which vary between 25m and 50m in height and create a surreal, fantastical environment throughout the park.

Guangzhou Opera House

ZAHA HADID 2010 GUANGZHOU, THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 1,804 PEOPLE

After a star-studded design competition that saw Rem Koolhaas (CCTV Headquarters, Seattle Library) and Coop Himmelblau (BMW Welt) submit designs, Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid’s entry was selected as the basis for southern China’s biggest performing arts center. Constructed mostly of concrete (a pervasive theme in this list) accented with granite, steel and glass and shaped into two smoothed geometric designs (dubbed the “double pebble”), the opera house has an organic, futuristic design that strikes the balance between distinctly man-made and organic.

Harpa Concert Hall

HENNING LARSEN 2011 REYKJAVIK, ICELAND 300,000 SQ FT

Continuing the theme of well-designed concert halls, Harpa (the building formerly known as the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Convention Center) is a geometric goliath of steel framing clad in multi-colored, green-tinted glass panels. Opened in the midst of the biggest depression in Iceland’s history, Harpa serves as a latticed-steel beacon of hope and cultural advancement.

MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts

ZAHA HADID 2009 ROME, ITALY 290,626 SQ FT

The Museum of Arts in the 21st (XXI) century is another of Hadid’s trademarked flowing concrete and steel leviathans; this one has an open space and a modular design that’s well suited to housing ever-changing arrangements of art. Great focus has been placed on natural light and smooth transitions between various sections and exhibits. Though you might think the futuristic building might stand out excessively against the neoclassical Roman surroundings, it all seems to work, likely because the Eternal City is smoothly transitioning into the future with additions like the MAXXI and Renzo Piano’s Auditorium.

Metropol Parasol

ARCHITECT: JURGEN MAYER-HERMANN YEAR: 2011 LOCATION: SEVILLE, SPAIN SIZE: 112,700 SQ FT

The Metropol Parasol is a sprawling birch form - it’s claimed to be the largest wooden structure in the world - raised 85 feet above the Seville city center. Housing an archaeology museum and a restaurant and providing shelter for the central market below it, the Parasol has integrated itself well into Seville’s daily culture. Though its construction was plagued with delays, engineering problems and exorbitant costs, its positive effect on the city is obvious and the effect when it’s lit up is fantastic.

National Center of the Performing Arts

PAUL ANDREU 2007 BEIJING, CHINA 2,361,600 SQ FT

Often called “The Giant Egg” and reminiscent of the mouse packaged with old Apple iMacs, the National Center for the Performing Arts is a 5,452-seat-filled titanium-and-glass leviathan surrounded by an artificial lake. Paul Andreu’s design is a study in simplicity, light and transparency that stands in stark contrast to the ornate grandeur of the nearby forbidden city, signaling the arrival of a new, modern China.

Museum of Islamic Art

I. M. PEI 2008 DOHA, QATAR 484,376 SQ FT

To tell the story of the Museum of Islamic Art’s creation is to tell the story of an uncompromising architect. When the project began, the first task was coaxing 90-year-old architectural icon I.M. Pei out of retirement. Pei - famous for adding beautiful expansions to museums like the National Gallery of Art and the Louvre - then spent six months touring the Islamic world for inspiration. Finally, when Pei was inspired and convinced to work, he suggested the building might look better if it was 60m offshore on a man-made island. And so it was. The resulting building is as distinctly Pei as it is Islamic, made of monumental chunks of stone stacked atop each other; the building seems to have been around for thousands of years, and lends to the thought that it will be around for many more.

Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre

SNØHETTA OSLO AS 2011 HJERKINN, NORWAY 970 SQ FT

Located in Dovrefjell National Park, this small observation center is meant to shelter hikers and adventurers as they traverse the beautiful Icelandic landscape. The pavilion is constructed of a raw steel frame intended to rust and blend into the landscape even further as it ages. Inside is both a beautifully organic, sweeping wall of oiled pine that has been milled and joined together using wooden pegs, and a large glass wall facing south to preserve views of the natural landscape. The hut sits in beautiful isolation amongst its natural surroundings but remains tied to the landscape thanks to its simple, local materials.

Parrish Art Museum

HERZOG & DE MEURON 2012 WATER MILL, NEW YORK 34,000 SQ FT

The new campus for the Parrish Art Museum was originally intended to be 30 modest buildings resembling artists’ studios, but - as is a theme in this list - the financial crisis of 2007 hit and forced a change in plans. The new, radically simplified plan involved a 34,000-square-foot barn with a single floor and an uncluttered layout. The result is a gallery that feels distinctly American. Whether that’s because of its unassuming design, farmhouse roots or beautiful long-island surroundings is up for debate, but it’s a magical place to view some of the American masters.

Seattle Central Library

REM KOOLHAAS / OMA / LMN ARCHITECTS 2004 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 362,987 SQ FT

Designed as another form-dictates-function affair, the Seattle Central Library was intended from day one to be a sanctuary for books. The massive glass surfaces serve to brighten up the interior and vanquish any notions of a “stuffy” library. Interior features like an uninterrupted “book spiral” - a perfectly unbroken manifestation of the Dewey Decimal System spiraling up four floors - and multiple enormous reading rooms add further appeal to a living museum of knowledge.

The Shard

RENZO PIANO 2012 LONDON, ENGLAND 1,200,000 SQ FT

Londoners have an unfortunate tendency to give buildings pet names - be it the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie, or most recently the Shard. Formerly known as the London Bridge Tower, the shard is an 87-story glass tower that looks like an extravagant transparent pyramid. Though it may be less nuanced architecturally than many other buildings, it is rather big, and that certainly counts for something. In an image of the London skyline, the Shard dwarfs everything else in the city - reason alone to call it iconic.

Statoil Office Building

A-LAB 2012 FORNEBU, NORWAY 1,259,377 SQ FT

Built to headquarter 2,500 employees in an office park outside of Oslo, Statoil’s new global headquarters is a master class in designing a large building in harmony with its surroundings. At once, the massive building’s white walls and pale yellow lights seem to be a natural extension of the landscape while the massive, geometric shapes stand out amid rolling hills. Each overlapping section is arranged to offer exceptional views of the Oslo fjord and work within the idea that every employee deserves a prime working space. The center of the office building offers a massive central atrium with a convex glass roof, creating a central area that builds upon the office’s democratic and communal aspirations.

​Sendai Mediatheque​

​Miyage, Japan (2001) Toyo Ito & Associates

“What better way to usher in a new century than by issuing an elegantly crafted public building that willfully re-situates and quietly coalesces the quintessential architectural trajectories of the previous century - that of structure, core, and skin - a narrative neatly set afloat in 1915 by Le Corbusier’s Dom-ino rallying cry”. Donald Chong, partner, Williamson Chong

Phaeno Science Center Wolfsburg, 

Germany (2005) Zaha Hadid Architects​

“I make this choice also in memory of Zaha Hadid. When I was a student at the AA [Architectural Association School of Architecture] in London in the 1980s, Zaha always advised me to follow what engineers were doing - rather than what other architects were doing - and I did exactly that for the year I spent in her unit. Her Phaeno Science Centre is a perfect example of this approach. In particular, the hollow programmed columns that she incorporated there were so original, and I haven’t seen that being done by anyone else since”. Ben van Berkel, founder, UNStudio

​21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

Kanazawa, Japan (2004) SANAA

“Embodying the holy grail of each gallery custom-designed for its work, more or less infinite expandability, and a perfection of form and detail, it is at once extremely simple and delightfully complex.” James Biber, principal, Biber Architects

Church at Firminy

Firminy, France (2006) Le Corbusier with José Oubrerie

“Somewhere between Yokohama Terminal (FOA, 2002), Casa da Musica (OMA, 2004), View House (Johnston Marklee, 2009), Kukje Gallery (SO-IL, 2012), and Taichung Metropolitan Opera House (Ito, 2015), I decided to choose the Church at Firminy as the most important work of architecture since 2000.”Jimenez Lai, founder, Bureau Spectacular

Tama Art University Library

Tokyo (2007) Toyo Ito & Associates

“A great reinterpretation of an archetypical structure, readapted to site, program, and material conditions, drawing out a sense of invention out of a timeless strategy.” Nader Tehrani, principal, NADAAA

Bruder Klaus Field Church

​Mechernich, Germany (2007) Peter Zumthor​

“The chapel embodies the highest aspirations of architecture - elemental, visceral, and profoundly poetic. Formed by fire ascending to the light, the conception, construction, and spatial experience are of one thought and act, creating a completely transformational architecture.”Brad Cloepfil, principal, Allied Works Architecture

High Line

New York (Final Phase 2014) James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with Piet Oudolf

“The High Line has been transformational: Through its innovative hybridization of infrastructure, urbanism, and nature experienced as a 21st-century passeggiata, it has raised our expectation that exceptional public space is essential to civic life.” Stephen Cassell, Kim Yao, and Adam Yarinsky, principals, Architecture Research Office (ARO). “The High Line is as important to New York as Central Park has been for years. They both make an enormous contribution to the vitality and life in the city.” Richard Meier, managing partner, Richard Meier & Partners Architects. “A project that changes the conversation about what a city park can be, and it changed a city.”Tom Kundig, principal, Olson Kundig Architects

Aqua Tower

Chicago, Illinois (2010) Studio Gang

“A great new architectural meme that expands the constructive logic of skyscraper design.” Susana Torre, architect

Butaro District Hospital

Butaro, Rwanda (2011) MASS Design Group

​“Beginning with this project, MASS Design Group has pioneered a compelling new model for bringing vital and community-enriching architecture to underserved populations around the world!” Zack McKown, principal, Tsao & McKown

Heydar Aliyev Center

Baku, Azerbaijan (2012) Zaha Hadid Architects

“It exists and embodies the daring of one of today’s most provocative architects, who recently passed away.” Thom Faulders, founder, Faulders Studio

Emerson College

Los Angeles (2014) Morphosis

“This project takes the typology of a school apart and puts it back together in the most inventive way. Its deceivingly simple exterior shell shrouds a strange inner world, like a city nested within a city.” Tom Wiscombe, founder, Tom Wiscombe Architects

The Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building

Sydney, Australia (2014) Frank Gehry

​“Extroverts pour concrete. They cover the earth. But concrete always cracks, and out of the cracks come the introverts.” Eric Owen Moss, principal, Eric Owen Moss Architects

VIA West57

New York (2016) Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

“It has reshaped the Manhattan skyline, which historically has been limited by zoning, resulting in structures that are not impactful. The way the building rises out of the ground and penetrates the surrounding context is unique and inspiring.” Andrew Kotchen, founding principal, Workshop/APD

Brooklyn Bridge Park

New York (ongoing) Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

“Brooklyn Bridge Park is one of the most ambitious and significant park projects to be created in New York since Central Park. Michael Van Valkenburgh has transformed this spectacularly sited but long-defunct series of shipping piers into a program of diverse spaces that promote both leisure and active recreation. Set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most iconic views, both residents and visitors alike, year-round, from early morning to late into the evening, can now access and enjoy this critical section of New York City’s waterfront.” Ben Prosky, executive director, Center for Architecture/American Institute of Architects New York (AIANY)