2.1.3 THE 21 GREATEST BUILDINGS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

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 structure is an incredibly iconic piece of 21st-century architecture sure to inspire arguments for years.

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.

Guangzhou Opera House

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.

Statoil Office Building

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.

Harpa Concert Hall

Continuing the theme of well-designed concert halls, (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, structure serves as a latticed-steel beacon of hope and cultural advancement.

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, 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 STRUCTURE perfectly complements its intended purpose while adding to Copenhagen's already impressive urban landscape.

Seattle Central Library

Designed as another form-dictates-function affair, the structure 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.

Beijing National Stadium

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 City of Arts and Sciences

Less of a single building and more of a compound, 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 structure 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.

Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre

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.

The Shard

Londoners have an unfortunate tendency to give buildings pet names — be it the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie. Formerly known as the London Bridge Tower, the structure 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 structure's dwarfs everything else in the city — reason alone to call it iconic.

California Academy of Sciences

Much like Valencia's City of Arts and 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.

National Center of the Performing Arts

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.

Gardens by the Bay

One of the largest garden projects in the world and located right in the heart of Singapore's Marina 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.

MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts

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.

Parrish Art Museum

The new campus for the structure 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.

Burj Khalifa

The very definition of form-follows-function design, 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.

Museum of Islamic Art

To tell the story of the sructure'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.

BMW Welt

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. certainly delivers. Boasting an incredible amount of swooping glass and stainless steel and featuring an 800kW solar array on its roof, conjures the same wonder and awe that the company hope to evoke with their four-wheeled designs.

Auckland 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.