Building Blocks
Every so often, our staff gets together to knock heads and exchange ideas. Where is the best art in the world? What cities boast the greatest markets? Who can claim the most incredible natural wonders? We thought it would be fun to share our lists with you. So every now and then we’ll post them on this site. Here’s this week’s:
R. Crusoe’s 12 Top Architectural Wonders
12. Plain of Pagodas. Bagan, Myanmar (Burma). Between 1044 and 1287, Burma’s kings emptied their pockets (and those of their subjects) to build thousands of sacred shrines. Once upon a time, 10,000 monuments filled the Bagan Plain of Pagodas; today, 2,507 graceful Buddhist temples, stupas, and monasteries catch the morning and evening sun. Expect unimaginable beauty.
11. Petra, Jordan. We can’t say which is more incredible about ancient Petra—the fact that its classic architecture was carved by hand out of bedrock 2,000 years ago, or that it stood hidden from invaders for centuries. Either way, this is one of the most fascinating architectural feats anywhere. The Nabataeans created this spice- and ivory-trading post, and from here, they managed to control the region.
10. Aya Sofya. Istanbul, Turkey. Emperor Justinian built Christianity’s greatest church a thousand years or so before St. Peter’s in Rome. Its dome was a daring engineering feat in the sixth century, and architects still marvel at the building's innovations. Details fill the ornate interior, including 30 million gold tesserae (tiny mosaic tiles) that cover the walls.
9. Taj Mahal. Agra, India. India’s most recognizable icon. Shah Jahan built it four centuries ago when his beloved wife died in the process of bearing his 14th heir. In her honor, the shah put 20,000 craftsmen and artisans to work for 17 years. This is more than a tomb—it is a panegyric to graceful Mughal architecture.
8. Burj Khalifa. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a postmodernist’s dream come true. There’s a palm-frond-shaped man-made island that can be seen from space. A five-star-plus hotel that resembles a sailboat catching the wind. The world’s biggest retail space with an indoor ski slope. And, of course, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa (formerly the Burj Dubai). Fun facts about this concrete-and-glass needle that points toward deep space: It can be seen by the human eye from 95 miles away. At its completion, 22 million man hours will have gone into its construction. Its pilings reach 164 feet into the ground, and the concrete used in its construction equals that of a sidewalk 1,200 miles long.
7. Machu Picchu. Sacred Valley, Peru. Set above the Urubamba River between snow-capped Andes peaks, the Inca site of Machu Picchu has the most spectacular setting of any ruin in the world. Which makes us wonder how the ancients did the building in the first place. Get a close look at absolutely unmatched mortarless masonry, with multi-ton stones set in place so perfectly that a sheet of paper can’t fit between them.
6. Great Pyramids. Giza, Egypt. No matter the photos you’ve studied, the documentaries you’ve viewed—you simply cannot prepare yourself for the size and symmetry of these structures. Take the Pyramid of Khufu, for example. Despite the builders' limited surveying tools, the whole structure is perfectly oriented to the points of the compass. Until the 19th century, it was the tallest building in the world and, at the age of 4,500 years, it is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.
5. Cappadocia Cave Villages. Turkey. Ancient cities carved out of hills of stone. Once heart of the ancient Hittite Empire, Cappadocia has survived volcanic eruptions and eroding wind and rain. Today’s underground dwellings remind us of co-op mid-rises in a lunar landscape. And Cappadocians still live inside them.
4. Sagrada Família. Barcelona, Spain. Thank Antoni Gaudí for his remarkable vision. He used nature as his inspiration, fascinated as he was by the limb’s relationship to the tree trunk. This still-unfinished cathedral, a Barcelona landmark, is mind-blowing. Within, every inch has a story to tell. Will it ever be completed?
3. Forbidden City. Beijing, China. The largest and best-preserved of all the ancient buildings in China. Built by Emperor Yong Le in the 15th century, it was off-limits to commoners for 500 years. Prepare yourself for 999 exceptional architectural artifacts.
2. Angkor Temple Complex. Cambodia. Seat of the mighty Khmers for nearly six centuries, Angkor was once the largest city in the world (population: one million). A thousand or so exceptional temples stand at its core. Angkor Wat, the enormous main temple, represents Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods, and was built as the emperor’s mausoleum.
1. Guggenheim Museum. Bilbao, Spain. Perhaps the best-known of American architect Frank Gehry's titanium masterpieces. No building was more highly anticipated than this one. Indeed, it changed the very soul of what was once an industrial city in the Basque country. Philip Johnson, dean of American architecture, called the Guggenheim Bilbao "one of the most innovative buildings of the 20th century" and "the greatest building of our time." Sverre Fehn, winner of the 1997 Pritzker Architecture Prize, labelled the building "fantastic." Two forms in nature—the fish and the snake—played leading roles in Gehry's conceptualization. The results? Absolutely remarkable.