A rough guess:

Savoye
Ronchamp
Johnson Wax
Kimbell
Seattle Central Library
Guggenheim Bilbao
Barcelona Pavilion

Somehow I managed to completely avoid postmodernism, unless you call Gehry postmodern.

a good start, non-neutral.

my substitutions:

- i think seattle's still a little too new to have become part of such a limited list. maybe a more seminal oma project like educatorium or kunsthalle?

- while savoye is critical, it's also of such limited scope - it's a house, after all - that 'wonder' seems an exaggeration. i'd leave corb's contribution to the list as ronchamp and pick another more wondrously scaled #7: dulles, maybe?

(at risk of contradicting my last, i'd leave the barcelona pavilion because it works more at the level of sculpture than residence or any other typically architectural typology.)

- i like johnson wax and wouldn't switch it out, but it wouldn't change the list for me much if it was the guggenheim or one of the taliesin's instead. if either still existed, the imperial hotel or the larkin building might have made the list, too.

fun exercise, gondol3!

I agree that Seattle Library is too young. But Bilbao should definitely be on the list and it's only a few eyars older - but Bilbao has had a HUGE impact on the public, not only practitioners, which I think re;ates to the idea of a building being a "wonder".

For me Savoye is a definite. But with my above comment about the public in mind, I also think for FLW we should switch to Falling Water - it's one of the only buildings non-architects can name, fer chrissake! And again: if the category is "wonders" I think we're looking for a different list than "significant" or "influential".

So, that would mean maybe Vegas as an entity is included? Maybe I'm going off in the wrong direction.

Ugh sorry for all the punctuation problems above...more coffee please.

since when is ronchamp post-modern? it may have influenced post-modernism, but isnt it Modern?

same for Savoye

a few random thoughts:

Fallingwater - yes, see Donna's logic above

Does Calatrava make this list for some of his "wonders", even if they involve engineering as much as "design"... and if so, do other "modern" pieces of engineering/design get mentioned - Hoover Dam, various bridges, Superdome, Camden Yards, St Louis Arch, etc etc

Where are the skyscrapers? We spend a huge percentage of our architectural media mindset on these buildings and none are intially listed?

Ooh, excellent point cajunarch, on the "architectural media mindset".

Skyscrapers: Empire State and Burj Dubai or whatever it's called?

That's true, shouldn't the Eiffel Tower be on there?

Fun game...
I agree with the Savoye critique, id pull that one. Ronchamp is a good pick because of its unique influence, id definitely take that over other Corb projects. It occupies a very specific niche for which it has no competition i can think of.

I am with Donna also on the FLW selection, since i have offices represented later on in my list, ill substitute Johnson for Falling Water.

I'm also a bit skeptical about Kimbell... I think we could do better for a Khan example... Salk Institute would be a no-brainer for me.

Seattle Library... meh... i would leave that off and honestly im not sure OMA has another building id consider. Id substitute that project for the Pompidou. As I type that, im conflicted, but i think something like the Pompidou should be on that list...

Ghery's Guggenheim is a no-brainer as well, completely agree.

And the Barcelona pavilion is probably a good pick because it is such a seminal work for one of the most widely influential architects... like ever... But just to be a contrarian , im going with Seagrams rather than Barcelona

My last selection would be a bit small to be on this list, but id have to go with Zumthor's Thermal Bath's just because its just so gosh darn gorgeous...

So my list is not so different, id go

Ronchamp
Falling Water
Salk
Pompidou
Guggenheim
Seagram Building
Vals -Thermal Baths

these ain't as fun architect-y wise, but maybe more in the spirit of the original 7 wonders:

eiffel tower or statue of liberty (colossus at rhoads)
hoover dam

The Big Dig?

Salk - agreed, even if most can't recognize it or know it, they know the courtyard photo, beyond that not many know who kahn was

FLW - falling water, no question

Guggenheim Bilbao

Chrysler Building - what are the rules again?

Douglas House, Meier - there should be something white in here, the influence has been pretty large

Savoye - again, just a massive influence even my neighbor could understand

Calatrava - maybe...

Barcelona Pavilion - maybe...Seagram certainly seems more appropriate, but most wouldn't know it from the building down the street or that they work in





That's it for me. While I like the Seattle library, I don't care much for Koolhaas or OMA. If we were just going off of recognition, you'd have to put WTC in there, but I don't want to add buildings I don't like to my list :-)

just please no Savoye, it's Corb's 5 points of MODERN architecture, not postmodern contemporary. With the "death of modernism" it might be important to make that distinction.

Some buildings like Seagram are so associated with the modern movement that i wouldnt include them. here's an attempt..

Fallingwater
Ronchamp-"the 1st postmodern bldg"
Portland building by Graves
Salk
Pompidou
Guggenheim Bilbao
Vanna Venturi house-gotta have Venturi or this topic wouldn't exist

modern, postmodern contemporary, ok need to revise

Despite your misread, though, you're right fadetoblackoe that we need something more overtly PoMo here - Venturi House it is. But does that make the list too house centric? Maybe Disney Hotel (ugh!)?

some of these look a bit more like a modern top ten (top seven?) list than they do wonders of the world.

given its cultural significance and epic destruction, it's hard not to include the wtc.

burj dubai lacks a significant cultural/social context, but in terms of shear ambition it's gotta be up there.

if you're going to have a kahn building, i'd say the national assembly building in dhaka. absolutely timeless.

mies is great. i love him. my personal favorite architect, but i don't think he designed anything you would call a wonder.

wright has to have a building in there. fallingwater is a pretty good choice.

ronchamp ain't bad either.

I agree with the sentiment that the Salk Institute might be the most appropriate Kahn work.

this is a great excercise...

would the louvre be considered on this list? i know that pei has fallen out of favor, but it seems like he should be included

i'd like miralles to be on this list too..but his buildings are too young and maybe not iconic enough except for the scottish parliament.

my criteria or thoughts about this list are buildings that you would travel to see.. and make go out of your way for..or that many people would (since individual tastes vary)

Ronchamp
Falling Water or Guggenheim
Salk
Guggenheim Bilbao
Louvre
empire state building or chrysler
farnsworth house

sydney opera house so as not to be so western-centric? and would/will ando make this list?

massive project like the library at alexandria or the getty center?

glass house by johnson?

its kind of interesting to think of the idea of monument-maker architects... in addition to this list.. i don't think rem would be included since most of his buildings don't seem as though they're intended to last...although cctv may be an exception

think one of these 'new seven wonders' type list was generated a couple of years through national geographic or something. at any rate....

i'll try a different take and match up the programs with some options for a contemporary counterpart (and i use 'contemporary loosely - anything from the renaissance on is fair game for me):

- Great Pyramid of Giza - memorial - boulee's cenotaph (unfortunately never built); close second to the taj mahal.

- Hanging Gardens of Babylon - pleasure/resort - versailles. although i've got a soft spot for the thermal baths at vals...

- Statue of Zeus at Olympia - sculpture - turrell's skyspace at the rodin crater? spiral jetty? looking for something that so completely dominates the space around it.

- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus - religious - actually kind of tough. ronchamp is as good as anything else.

- Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus - yet another memorial - i'll throw a bone to something more recent and go with the vietnam memorial.

- Colossus of Rhodes - sculpture but also infrastructure - eiffel tower. no question.

- Lighthouse of Alexandria - infrastructure - hoover dam. that thing was nearly unthinkable when it was built.

You guys are being silly. Try presenting your lists to non architects with a straight face, and observe the blank stares you'll receive in return.

The spirit of original seven wonders is "How the hell'd they do that?"

American Society of Civil Engineers has a list of modern wonders:

-Channel Tunnel the United Kingdom and France
-CN Tower Toronto, Canada
-Empire State Building
-Golden Gate Bridge
-Itaipu Dam between Brazil and Paraguay
-Delta Works/ Zuiderzee Works, Netherlands
-Panama Canal

Much closer to a good list, although the story of modern innovation is far from done.

Are we really that much out of touch with reality to call any work by OMA or Gehry a "Wonder of the World"? Archinect, I am disappoint.

Nice insight rusty

'Derek Zoolander Center For Children Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too' should be on the list.

Well if we're just talking engineering wonders, the Falkirk Wheel has to be on it, as does the Large Hadron Collider.

But I think we're talking architectural wonders, some of which will overlap with more straightforward engineering. So Eiffel Tower does seem like an important one to me. Pompidou also would seem important. Sydney Opera House too - it's probably up near FallingWater for "famous building recognition"

And I agree with won on Kahn (fun to say): Although Salk is my favorite Kahn building, Dhaka has a more significant place, I think.

Also I love your comparison list, outed, and wonder why none of us thought of Vietnam Memorial until you did?!

London Eye


Millau Viaduct


Grande Arche


Guggenheim (N.Y.)


30 Rock


Tokyo Tower


Motherland Calls

Donna, it's possible to come up with all kinds of topics for architectural lists of projects that make sense. "Wonders of the World" is not one of them.

It almost sounds as silly as '7 Wonders of modern-postmodern-contemporary interior decorating'. Or kitchen design.

Unless you believe Oscars should be given out to TV commercials as well.

1. Chapel At Firminy, CORBUSEIR [built after his death]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JvaK_YnZzE&feature=related

2. Church in Vuoksenniska, [If I could, i would list many more projects by Aalto]

3. Berlin Philharmonic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Philharmonie_1a.jpg

4. Sydney opera house

5. Kimbell

6. Mercedes Benz Museum

7. The High Line. [New and some parts are still under construction, but it in my eyes, it will stand strong for a very long time.]

canonical + large scale = yokohama

Hmm, Guggenheim - interesting it didn't show up until now.

The High Line is a very interesting edition to the list, and I would definitely agree with it.

I don't think the Guggenheim belongs on this list. For FLW Falling Water would be a much better fit.

As for Kahn, some of you have raised very good points. The Salk would likely be the most recognizable, Dhaka would be the most significant as far as setting, and the Kimbell was simply his masterpiece. In the end I think I would have to go with the Kimbell, but that may be because it's the only one I have seen in person.

For Corbu, I would go with Ronchamp, no question.

This should be more like "7 wonders of the world" from an architect/architecture students point of view, cause I'm sure that most people with no background/interest in architecture would have any idea what we are talking about.

Am I the only one taking the crazy pills here?

Yes, putting some minimal landscaping on a decommissioned elevated train track is one of the seven wonders of architectural world. [/sarcasm]

I feel duped. Turns out all of the seasoned architects on this forum are all really second year architecture students. I want my subscription moneys back.

My biased list (notably american-centric):

Hoover Dam - representing the "almost impossible" nature of the ancient wonders

Sydney Opera House - become the icon for entire continent, you make my list

Empire State Building- Old School skyscraper still cooler than the new giants

Golden Gate Bridge - possible the most iconic bridge in world (was hard to ignore Calatrava here)

Fallingwater/Guggenhiem NY - FLW is making this list no matter what and these are tied in my book

Guggenhiem Bilboa - gotta include soemthing from the last 20 years!

St Louis Arch - didnt appreciate it until I saw it in person recently


Just missing the cut - Vietnam Memorial, Salk, Superdome, Pentagon, Calatrava, Pompidou, Barcelona, Gaudi's Familia Church

donna..i mentioned both guggenheims..or meant to..but i coulda sworn someone else did before me too..guess not.

i don't think the high line is nearly significant enough... if we were to do another natural wonders of the world i think something like central park would be more likely even though it's manmade..

@Uxbridge

very cool pictures

and also by rustystuds's

outed and rustystuds make some good points.

and cajunarch yes the Arch is amazing. Did you make it to the top? What about that view?

The St. Louis arch IS amazing! And very much straddling the engineering achievement/architectural achievement line!

As for the High Line, yeah, I'm with rusty - it's very cool, but I'm not sure it's much more than that. Let's give it 25 years and see how it's doing/what its long term impact on the neighborhood has been, then decide.

as economic development catalyst and quality public space its hard to think of a recent project better than the high line. wonder of the world? no.

Uxbridge, despite our differences I agree with alot of your picks. I'm surprised at the lack of superstructures in this list so my 7:

Milau Viaduct - Most Awesome Bridge Ever

Burj Khalifa - A bit flashy I admit, but it really is the prettiest tall tower built since the Empire State Building IMO

Three Gorges Dam - It's huge, challenging, and has permanently altered the Chinese landscape and economy, although it is uglier than sin

CCTV -makes the list because of monumentality and engineering complexity alone although it is totally wasteful and uglier than sin

Lardge Hadron Collider at CERN - Again pure awesomeness

Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban - National Assembly Building of Bangladesh - I never "got" Kahn until I "got" this building. This building beats its contempories by Frank, Corb, et al. by being the definition of monumental, challenging to construct (the walls were poured BY HAND), and the sheer impact it has had on the nation of Bangladesh (I've never seen an American shed a tear over the Capitol Building)

Guggenheim Bilbao - Monumental, (really) challenging to construct, changed a city, and changed the way the public thinks about museums

Yeah, I think the Millau Viaduct is a bigger engineering feat than the Hoover Dam.

It's a 8,000 ft long bridge 900 ft high! Each of the towers is over 1100' high!

Also, I agree a little bit with CCTV (it's an arch basically) and Burj Khalifa.

But I almost feel that these buildings would make up the list for 21st century wonders. Sometimes, I also want to put projects like that in a "post-contemporary" category.

I think some of the more recent architectural work doesn't really fit into the umbrella categories of modernism, postmodernism, deconstructionism, international or neotraditionalist categories. But I don't want to start a style war with throwing out a new term.

I included Motherland Calls because you can't have a 'wonders of the world' list without a colossus. Other than some religious, there wasn't really very much in the 20th-century regarding colossal statuary.

What makes this one particularly spectacular is how off balance the statue is with the combination of thew sword.

I guess you could include Mt. Rushmore but I don't think that is as impressive as it isn't a free standing statue. More of a sculpture, no?

This 1931 Jesus disagrees. Especially since he made it on the list of NEW seven wonders of the world.

But technically Jesus is kind of a religious symbol, so I see your point.

I've always liked that Rio Jesus, but since Big Butter Jesus burned down we can take it off the list of colossal statuary nominations.

Before:


After:

That's awesome Donna. I just knew there would be an alien spider hiding behind Jesuses buttery flesh.

dunno if it belongs on the list of world wonders but has anyone mentioned the Arch in St Louis? Ive seen it many many many times now but it never ceases to impress me when on my way into the lou...

I've only driven through St. Louis once. All the glory of the arch was quickly diminished after seeing what a shithole the lou is. At least with Detroit, you expect it, but St. Louis took me by surprise. It's like most of the city was abandoned overnight after a zombie apocalypse. The only sign of life being the clogged up highways carrying morbidly obese suburbanites back and forth between the downtown offices and the distant burbs.

If we were doing a list of 7 blunders of the world, I'd nominate St. Louis. Sad. Especially given the rich history...

This beast stands at 49m and was completed last year in Dakar, Senegal:



Apparently (and I'm not joking) it was designed by the North Koreans and I love how (not) African the subjects look.

However, the tallest statue in the world (according to wikipedia) is this buddha, which stands at 128m, was completed in 2002 and is in the PRC: