The Top Ten Buildings

From a poultry farming school to the international space station, the last ten years saw architecture both ethical and ambitious.

New Year's Eve 2009 saw the end of one of the most politically charged and aesthetically challenging decades in human history. What easier way to make sense of the endless ricochet of event and analysis than with a list?

Our contributors have chosen their top ten creative works of the decade, from artworks to albums, which we will publish on a daily basis.

Kahere Poultry Farming School Koliagbe by Heikkinen-Komonen Architects (Guinea, 2000)
This school, arranged around a traditional courtyard, was established to help improve the Guinean diet. The project received a prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2001. It is included here both for its architectural excellence and, more importantly, because it is crucial in today’s world to recognize buildings that significantly address basic human needs and matters of survival.

Blur Building by Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, and Charles Renfro (Yverdon-les-bains, Switzerland, 2002)
As the centerpiece of the Swiss Expo 2002, this ethereal “building” was realized as an artificial cloud made by mist from 31,400 water jets supported via a tensegrity structure. The pavilion was designed by the three principals from the firm diller scofidio + renfro.

Library of Alexandria by the Snohetta Hamza Consortium (Alexandria, Egypt, 2002)
This elegant composition features a grand, circular glass roof tilted toward the Mediterranean. The building re-presents the important cultural role of the ancient Great Library of Alexandria and serves as a magnificent symbol of humanist endeavor in the Middle East.

Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry (Los Angeles, U.S., 2003)
The Disney Concert Hall is a masterful sculpting of silvery, stainless steel planes. The Douglas-fir wrapped interior and the acclaimed acoustics of the concert hall combine to make this one of the most praised music performance spaces in the world.

Palace of Peace and Reconciliation by Foster + Partners (Astana, Kazakhstan, 2006)
Representing the world’s religious faiths and housing a 1,500-seat opera house, this monumental structure is in the form of a pyramid, 62 meters high with a 62 x 62-meter base. It contains more interior space than London’s St. Paul Cathedral.

Beijing National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron (Beijing, China, 2008)
When completed for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 91,000-seat “bird’s nest” as it is affectionately known, was the world’s largest steel structure. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron with CADG and artistic consultant Ai Weiwei, the stadium became the symbol of the 2008 Summer Olympics and was seen on television by more people than any other building in history.

China Central Television Headquarters (CCTV) by Rem Koolhaus (Beijing, China, 2008)
This “continuous loop tower” is a powerful icon for CCTV, which serves one billion television viewers. The intentionally sensational building was designed by Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in collaboration with the East China Architecture & Design Institute.

National Museum of the XXI Century Arts (MAXXI) by Zaha Hadid (Rome, Italy, 2009)
Otherworldly like Rome itself, this sweeping building is a brilliant and highly theatrical essay in concrete, flowing space, and natural light. It epitomizes the early 20th-century modernists’ preoccupations with movement, speed, and levitation.

Burj Dubai by Skidmore Owings and Merrill (Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2009)
At 818 meters (2,684 feet),the Burj Dubai is the tallest man-made structure every built. Designed by SOM, the tower’s stepped, spiraling form is highly reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1956 unrealized proposal for a “Mile High” skyscraper in Chicago.

International Space Station (ISS) (Low Earth Orbit, 1999 – ongoing)
A major feat in space architecture, the ISS allows 14 nations to live and work together and serves as a long-term research laboratory in space. The station has been continuously staffed since 2000, providing uninterrupted human presence in space for the past nine years. It is scheduled for completion in 2011.