World Architecture Survey
Vanity Fair magazine asked the world’s leading architects, critics, and deans of architecture schools two questions: what are the five most important buildings, bridges, or monuments constructed since 1980, and what is the greatest work of architecture thus far in the 21st century? Here are the answers from our 52 respondents, who are listed alphabetically. (Note: some people named more or fewer buildings than requested.)
World Architecture Survey: the Complete Results
1. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (completed 1997) in Bilbao, Spain by Frank Gehry (28 votes)
2. Menil Collection (1987) in Houston, Texas by Renzo Piano (10 votes)
3. Thermal Baths of Vals (1996) in Vals, Switzerland by Peter Zumthor (9 votes)
4. Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (HSBC) Building (1985) in Hong Kong by Norman Foster (7 votes)
5. Tied (6 votes):
Seattle Central Library (2004) in Seattle by Rem Koolhaas
Mediatheque building (2001) in Sendai, Japan by Toyo Ito
Neue Staatsgalerie (1984) in Stuttgart, Germany by James Stirling
Church of the Light (1989) in Osaka, Japan by Tadao Ando
6. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982) in Washington, D.C. by Maya Lin (5 votes)
7. Tied (4 votes):
Millau Viaduct (2004) in France by Norman Foster
Jewish Museum, Berlin (1998) in Berlin by Daniel Libeskind
8. Tied (3 votes):
Lloyd’s Building (1984) in London by Richard Rogers
Beijing National Stadium (2008) in Beijing by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
CCTV Building (under construction as of 2010[update]) in Beijing by Rem Koolhaas
Casa da Musica (2005) in Porto, Portugal by Rem Koolhaas
Cartier Foundation (1994) in Paris by Jean Nouvel
BMW Welt (2007) in Munich by COOP Himmelblau
Addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum (2007) in Kansas City, Missouri by Steven Holl
Cooper Union building (2009) in New York by Thom Mayne
Parc de la Villette (1984) in Paris by Bernard Tschumi
Yokohama Port Terminal (2002) at Ōsanbashi Pier in Yokohama, Japan by Foreign Office Architects
9. Saint-Pierre church, Firminy (2006) in Firminy, France by Le Corbusier (2 votes)