A building not only says a lot about who uses it or lives inside it, but also the people behind its design and construction. If a building doesn’t have a particularly good design, for instance, you are likely to have a poor view of the people who made it. However, there are some buildings on the planet that just blow your mind and you need to see them to really believe them. In the following article, at DotCom Magazine we have picked out our top 5 in the world.
Guangzhou Opera House
What is now one of the three biggest theaters in the country, started life as a competition. The winner was Zaha Hadid, an Architect from Iraq, who was inspired for its pebble-style design when she observed two rocks being washed away alongside the Pearl River. It is a completely freestanding auditorium set inside an exposed glass-clad steel and granite frame that took more than five years to construct. The architectural critic, among others, Jonathon Glancey of the British newspaper the Guardian said that it was both incredibly theatrical and also very subtle.
Absolute World, Mississauga, Ontario
Absolute World is one of the most amazing structures that actually houses people on the planet. Just look at it. It is a twin tower skyscraper complex that sits alongside the other three structures in the Absolute City Centre in the Ontario area of Mississauga. It was built by Cityzen Development Group and Fernbrook Homes and they reach to 50 and 56 stories.
Turning Torso, Malmo, Sweden
Designed by Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish painter, sculptor and structural engineer, the Turning Torso is classified as a neo-futurist skyscraper constructed as a residential building. It now stands as the tallest building in all of Scandinavia and stretches up to 190m. The design is so-called because it is inspired by a sculpture by the creator, known as the Twisting Torso. That piece of art is a piece of white marble fashioned into the shape of a twisting human being. The skyscraper is the first ever ‘twisting’ tower. One of the main goals in building the structure was to provide homes, but also to give Malmo something of a recognizable skyline, given that it lost the Kockums Crane. This is one stunning piece of structural engineering.
Metropol Parasol
Designed by Jurgen Mayer, the renowned German architect, Metropol Parasol is a structure made from wood and found in La Encarnacion square in Seville’s old quarter. It is 1150m by 70m and stands at around 26m. It is considered to be one of, if not the, biggest structure made from wood on the planet. It is affectionately nicknamed Las Setas de La Encarnacion, which translates as Incarnation’s mushrooms, because of its shape.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
A museum of contemporary and modern art, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is located, as the name suggests in Bilbao and was designed by Frank Gehry, a well-known Canadian-American Architect. It is one of Spain’s biggest museums and is part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and displays visiting exhibits featuring international and domestic artists and some permanent pieces too. It was regarded as a ‘single moment’ in architectural culture and is held in esteem around the world as one of the best pieces of contemporary architecture. This is because it is a rare piece that everyone, from members of the general public to academics and critics all agree upon.
