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My favorite buildings seems to all be displayed here

No sacrasm at all. Really – in the most part all of my favorite buildings can be found on that front page.

The Eiffel Tower

Not a building, per se, but it’s beauty is unquestioned.

Without a doubt, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

I am amused to see the Seattle Public Library up there. It’s a cool building, with a lot of great natural light, it’s energy efficient, and has some great spaces in it.

Its only problem is that it feels like they tried to make a great building, and then decided to put books in it as an afterthought. The nonfiction book ramp is pretty cool, but the fiction section seems to be an afterthought.

I wish I could have seen the Sutro Baths.

Villa Tugendhat in Brno here and here

St. Barbora Cathedral in Kutna hora

The prettiest building I’ve seen in the USA is the Frost Bank Tower in Austin: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=frostbanktower-austin-tx-usa . When I was in Austin, especially at night, I just stared in awe.

Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Of course you really need to stroll through the grounds.

Madison Square Garden

The Basilica in Higuey, Dominican Republic.

The Treasury at Petra.

Chicago, your and my home town, has its great and awful:

The good: Hancock Building – muscular, Miesian form-follows-function 333 Wacker (Keystone): Beautiful green glass and marble looks good from a distance and close up (my father the architect says it’s one of the few big buildings that works on the human scale) Whatever the current name is of the 1st National Bank Building—the exponential curve from the base up makes it look taller than it is. Having a huge mosaic art exhibit in the plaza is a plus. The apartment buildings at the north end of Lake Shore drive. Classic look. The Bad: The Harold Washington Library: Truly awful proportions, ugly color, over-decorated roof. The inside is fantastic, though Thompson Center: Looked like an interesting po-mo construction as it was going up with pillars squaring the circular building… until that baby blue and salmon pink glass went in. Probably looked great at 1/4” to 1’. It’s had terrible HVAC and window leak problems over the years too. I could list a bunch of other Helmut Jahn buildings too, but my spider-sense detects lawyers. The Sears Tower: Looks like the box the Hancock came in. No grace, just volume. Adding HDTV and cell antennae to the top now makes it look like the Sulaco from Aliens (the spaceship that resembled an opened Swiss Army Knife)

Fay Jones’ Thorncrown Chapel is one of my favorites not listed here. I’m not really a fan of massive structures, so I’d say it and Wright’s Falling Water are my two favorites overall.

Without a doubt, the Pantheon in Rome.

Pete’s comment is in line with what I was about to say : a building is a physical experience of space rather than a graphical picture. Some buildings can appear to be extraordinary in a photo and turn out to be not so nice when you visit them, and vice versa. See this Renzo Piano building in Noumea : I loved the picture before I had the chance to get there, and got a bit disapointed by the scale of the whole thing (I thought it was way bigger than what it is). But I had other good surprises, and it is now one of my favourite ones.

I live the Met Life North building. Great proportions, beautiful arches, and a great interior.

I’m with Jason. When I was in high school it was Chartres, but for now it’s definitely Sagrada Familia.

My favorite building is … My home.

Remember, how something looks at just a glance is only a component of great design. Form follows function, after all.

I really didn’t think I was going to like the new Frederic C. Hamilton extension to the Dernver Art Museum. But now that it’s finished I love it.

My all time favorite building is the Guggenheim Museum.

For homes, I like the new Ray Kappe designed LEED home for Living Homes. Slideshow available here

If a house counts, the Big Dig House is high on my list of architectural favs:

http://www.singlespeeddesign.com/works/residential/bigdighouse-2/

http://www.spamula.net/blog/i17/babel2.jpg

I’ll second Pietro… walking into the Pantheon is an experience like no other.

I live near Santa Maria Novella in Florence and I think it’s a fantastic and beautiful place. Have you ever been there?

OK, I have to smack this one down.

Why are you defining a “great building” by its exterior?

In most cases, the user of the building is the only one that can truly define its “greatness”.

If you want to say “Great Building Exterior Design”, no arguments.

If you’re building something to impress others, knock yourself out, but don’t kid yourself about it.

sweet home chicago

I would say the Hagia Sophia and the George Washington Masonic Memorial Building.

http://www.airynothing.com/photos/around_dc/around_dc-Images/2.jpg

Gazprom City concept

The Wainwright Building in St. Louis, MO. Built in 1890 by Louis Sullivan and is among the first skyscrapers in the world.

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/wainwright/wainwright.html

The Pantheon is indeed a magnificent building, I agree. Much of the architecture in Rome impresses in one way or another: The sweep Colosseum, the scale of the St. Peter’s Square, etc., etc.

There are also a lot of examples of “grand” architecture in Berlin, albeit a lot of it was unfortunately created under Hitler’s reign. Nevertheless, some of those buildings still manage to impress as they were indeed intended to do, and were of course inspired by Roman architecture.

But for modern architecture, I like the odd paradox of simplicity and complexity of the SwissRe building (a.k.a. the Gherkin) in London.

And here’s one for DHH : The Black Diamond in Copenhagen home of the royal library. It’s hard to see in any picture how this building actually “leans”, but it’s quite a sight. The interior is organic and mostly white, in stark contrast to the exterior, which, despite being sheer and black, doesn’t seem oppressive in the way that other buildings of its kind and scale do.

just about anything by tadao ando

but especially church of light

I agree with Falling Water. I also love the Willits House:
more info

The Flatiron Building in Toronto.

Alternate Photo

Hometown bias.

Bangladesh Parliament Building I can’t find good photos, but if you watch the movie My Architect, you’ll get some beautiful video footage of it (and the Salk Institute, which is also beautiful)

Slightly sarcastically, this project intrigues me. Mismanaged to death, I have to wonder what it could have been like.

Ryugyong Hotel

Aerial view

I enjoy the work of Gaudí. Especially the remarkable Casa Batlló.

The Guthrie Theater

I don’t know if it qualifies as a “building”, but I just love the covered bridge in Pavia.

the saarinen terminal at jfk hands down. it’s everything you want to feel when you’re traveling—into the future!

the exterior looks like the building is gonna take off: http://www.theconnection.org/photogallery/docomomo/images/1.jpg

and the interior is straight out of the 2001 spacestation: http://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/nyc/TWATerminalInterior.jpg

I’m partial to the K21 Kunstsammlung in Düsseldorf.

Selfridges in Birmingham, UK. See better photos on Flickr.

Just moved near Washington, DC, and I love the US Capitol and the Pentagon.

The <a href=” http://you-are-here.com/europe/chile.html”>Chile Haus in Hamburg/ Germany.

I’m partial to the Chile Haus in Hamburg.

You have got to see the Chile haus in Hamburg.

What? 3 in a row!

That settles it, we win.

I cannot believe no one has said the Sydney Opera House! Inside its pretty disappointing, from when you are on that forecourt, and you see the gleaming balletic curves of the Opera House reflecting the sparkling Sydney Harbour… you know what modern beauty is.

Eek, one typo can change the entire gist of my post! I’ll try again… Inside the Sydney Opera House its not so grand, BUT , when you are on that forecourt, and you see the gleaming balletic curves of the Opera House reflecting the sparkling Sydney Harbour… you know what modern beauty is. Phew… much better.

The Taipei 101. The only skyskraper that doesn’t suck™.

I think some of the best US-based architecture can be found in Houston—

Former Enron tower Reliant Stadium Chevron Texaco Heritage Plaza

Anyone living in Chicago is a lucky dog if you like art and architecture (and parks). Best city in the country for that.

Hometown favorite: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=milwaukee+art+museum&btnG=Search+Images

...but its great to have Chicago’s style & substance only 90 miles to the south!

Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty (Prudential) Building in Buffalo. Restored in all its terra cotta glory with a beautiful interior. One of the world’s first and best skyscrapers.

Guaranty Building

What about one of Le Corbusier’s masterpieces : The Ronchamp Chapel located near the swiss border.

http://www.chapellederonchamp.com/index.php

Can I have three?!

1. Lloyds of London
2. Oriental Pearl TV Tower
3. The Vatican

Habitat 67in Montreal!

... and the thermal baths in Vals (CH) from Peter Zumthor...

I’d like to nominate the various architectural works of Santiago Calatrava. I couldn’t pick a single building, bridge or construction of his that I love most, as I think they all exhibit extraordinary beauty, combined with real utility – a mark of quality engineering.

A bit biased but El Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico. http://flickr.com/photos/52634135@N00/369211358/

The Long Room, Trinity College, Dublin

The Barcelona Cathedral

Biased in that I’m from Newcastle but I love our huge landmarks:

Sage Gateshead: http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=sage+gateshead&btnG=Search+Images

Gateshead Millenium Bridge: http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&hl=en&q=millenium+bridge&btnG=Search

Tyne Bridge: http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&hl=en&q=tyne+bridge&btnG=Search

Angel of the North: http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&hl=en&q=angel+of+the+north&btnG=Search

The first three are within 400 yards of one another and are spectacular at night.

:)

Real links for the above:

Sage Gateshead

Gateshead Millenium Bridge

Tyne Bridge

Angel of the North

Someone take my internet pass away :(

Sage Gateshead

Museo Guggenhein Bilbao in Northern Spain. Excellent location and architecture, interior is magnificent as well

The Winter Palace of the Hermitage complex in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Mine is the derelict Brutalist masterpiece, St. Peter’s Seminary at Cardross, by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia – before and after shots, a set on Flickr, and my snaps.

Woodland Chapel, Stockholm by E.G. Asplund

How about Aquadom at the Berlin Radisson?

The new ICA in Boston is pretty amazing. Also Tadao Ando’s Oval (Flickr) and the interiors of the Palau de la Musica Catalunya (Flickr).

The building that’s built on stilts over another building: the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto

BMW Central Building by Zaha Hadid in Leipzig, Germany

BMW Central Building by Zaha Hadid in Leipzig, Germany

BMW Central Building by Zaha Hadid in Leipzig, Germany

The office where I work is kinda neat in a ‘small scale’ kinda way.

More from wikipedia, plus another image.

Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier.

I don’t know what it’s called – but that retro building in NYC that has a stone base and the rest of it is this silver metal that is very geometric. It was shown in a new Ford advert for their Edge SUV .

The “Ciudad de las Artes y de la Ciencia” by Santiago Calatrava in Valencia – Spain

Based on Pablo Picasso’s Guitar sculpture, the University’s new Art Building West is as much a work of art as the faculty and student creations it contains.

Central China TV Building – does it count if it’s not yet complete?

The Evoluon, and it was my favourite museum, too …

Barcelona Pavillion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( Wikipedia Gallery)

i also (semi-sarcastically) second the Ryugyong Hotel. but at some time they must have realised that this incredible steep angle must feel creepy. compare Giza, for example….

@erik: from the outside the k21 looks quite bland, imho, but the inside is quite nice.

What about the “grande arche” building in Paris? Its pure size is concealed by its somehow “open” :-) design. There are many different angles to create a very unusual look of a building.

http://www.fromparis.com/modules/imagebank_display_thb_pict.php?number=000084_01

the building that my dad built: http://oonny.org/index.php?showimage=80

:)

Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, TN