10 of the most famous buildings in the world
Burj Khalifa, Dubai
Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010.This building has 24,348 windows, totaling 120,000 m2 (1,290,000 sq ft) of glass.
Empire State Building, New York City
The Empire State Building is a 103-story skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m), and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 feet (443 m) high. In 2010, the Empire State Building underwent a $550 million renovation, with $120 million spent to transform the building into a more energy efficient and eco-friendly structure.
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on October 18, 1997, by the past King Juan Carlos I of Spain. One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something."
Eiffel Tower, Paris
The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, who designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.98 million people ascended it in 2011. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.
Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur
The Petronas Twin Towers are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers in the world replacing World Trade Center in New York. The buildings are a landmark of Kuala Lumpur, along with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower.
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
The Sagrada Família is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Spain, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (18521926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral which must be the seat of a bishop. Construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882 and Gaudí became involved in 1883, it now has an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.
Space Needle, Seattle
The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, a landmark of the Pacific Northwest, and a symbol of Seattle. It was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors, when nearly 20,000 people a day used its elevators. Once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, it is 605 ft (184 m) high, 138 ft (42 m) wide, and weighs 9,550 tons.
Tower of Pisa, Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Sidney Opera House, Sidney
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Though its name suggests a single venue, the project comprises multiple performance venues which together are among the busiest performing arts centres in the world hosting over 1,500 performances each year attended by some 1.2 million people.
The White House, Washinton DC
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban and built between 1792 and 1800. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of "America's Favorite Architecture".
