Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid DBE RA (Arabic: زها حديد Zahā Ḥadīd; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Born in Baghdad, Iraq,^[1] Hadid studied mathematics as an undergraduate and then enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1972. In search of an alternative system to traditional architectural drawing, and influenced by Suprematism and the Russian avant-garde, Hadid adopted painting as a design tool and abstraction as an investigative principle to "reinvestigate the aborted and untested experiments of Modernism [...] to unveil new fields of building."^[2]

The Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům), or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží (Rašín Embankment) in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot. The building was designed in 1992. The construction, carried out by BESIX, was completed four years later in 1996.^[1]

Gehry originally called the house Fred and Ginger (after the dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – the house resembles a pair of dancers)^[2] but this nickname is now rarely used. Gehry himself later discarded his own idea, as he was "afraid to import American Hollywood kitsch to Prague".^[3]

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Catalan: [bəˈzilikə ðə lə səˈɣɾaðə fəˈmiljə]; Spanish: Basílica de la Sagrada Familia; 'Basilica of the Holy Family'),^[6] is a church in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and is currently the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), his work on Sagrada Família is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[7] On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and proclaimed it a minor basilica.^[8][9][10]

On 19 March 1882, construction of the Sagrada Família began under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883, when Villar resigned,^[7] Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the church's crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.^[11]

Casa Milà, popularly known as La Pedrera (meaning “stone quarry” in Catalan), is Antoni Gaudí’s last civil work, which he started in 1906 and finished in 1912. Although Antoni Gaudí was particularly well known for his modernist phase, this work is considered “modern”. Included in the World Heritage List in 1984, along with Park Güell and Palau Güell, it was one of the first places of the industrial era to be added to the list of the most exceptional sites in the world. Its nickname, “La Pedrera”, refers to its external appearance, where stone has been used as a key material for the design of the façade and the balconies.

The Cathedral of Brasília (Portuguese: Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília, "Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasília") is the Roman Catholic cathedral serving Brasília, Brazil, and serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Brasília. It was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and calculated by Brazilian structural engineer Joaquim Cardozo, and was completed and dedicated on May 31, 1970. The cathedral is a hyperboloid structure constructed from 16 concrete columns, weighing 90 tons each.^[2][3]

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: torre pendente di Pisa), or simply, the Tower of Pisa (torre di Pisa [ˈtorre di ˈpiːza; ˈpiːsa]^[1]), is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The tower is one of three structures in the Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo), which includes the cathedral and Pisa Baptistry.

The height of the tower is 55.86 metres (183 feet 3 inches) from the ground on the low side and 56.67 m (185 ft 11 in) on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 tonnes (16,000 short tons).^[2] The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase.

The tower began to lean during construction in the 12th century, due to soft ground which could not properly support the structure's weight. It worsened through the completion of construction in the 14th century. By 1990, the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees.^[3][4][5] The structure was stabilized by remedial work between 1993 and 2001, which reduced the tilt to 3.97 degrees.^[6]

The Shard,^[a] also referred to as the Shard of Glass,^[9][10] Shard London Bridge,^[11] and formerly London Bridge Tower,^[12][13][14] is a 72-storey skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of The Shard Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 feet) high, The Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, and the seventh-tallest building in Europe.^[8][15][16] It is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower of the Emley Moor transmitting station.^[17] It replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block built on the site in 1975.

The Shard's construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012^[18] and inaugurated on 5 July 2012. Practical completion was achieved in November 2012. The tower's privately operated observation deck, The View from The Shard, was opened to the public on 1 February 2013.^[1][19][20] The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244 metres (801 ft).^[4][21] The Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property (5%) and the State of Qatar (95%).^[6] The Shard is managed by Real Estate

Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum, Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece. A perfect example of Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia is located in Istanbul, Turkey.

The building was built for the first time by the emperor Constantine the Great (306-337). However, due to many factors, including being burned down in riots and earthquakes, the ancient cathedral has been rebuilt many times since. Despite this, Hagia Sophia is widely recognized as one of the great buildings of the world. And if that wasn’t cool enough, the building also features in the opening scenes of the latest Bond film, Skyfall.

Pyramids of Giza, Arabic Ahrāmāt Al-Jīzah, Giza also spelled Gizeh, three 4th-dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE) pyramids erected on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River near Al-Jīzah (Giza) in northern Egypt. In ancient times they were included among the Seven Wonders of the World. The ancient ruins of the Memphis area, including the Pyramids of Giza, Ṣaqqārah, Dahshūr, Abū Ruwaysh, and Abū Ṣīr, were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus, English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site^[3] in 1996.^[4] It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day.^[5] At 157 m (515 ft), the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe after Ulm Minster, and the third tallest church of any kind in the world.^[6] It is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height-to-width ratio, 3.6:1, of any medieval church.^{[7][failed verification]}

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560,^[8] unfinished. Attempts to complete the construction began around 1814 but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original Medieval plan in 1880.^[9]

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit for its role as a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".^[3] Only the telecommunications tower is higher than the cathedral.^[10]

Standing as a shining beacon for the new Downtown, and a bold addition to the skyline, One World Trade Center is safe, sustainable, and artistically dynamic. Soaring to a symbolic 1,776 feet — it is the Western Hemisphere’s tallest building, and already an iconic New York landmark.

The Burj Al Arab was designed by the multidisciplinary consultancy Atkins, led by architect Tom Wright. The design and construction were managed by Canadian engineer Rick Gregory, also of WS Atkins. Construction of the island began in 1994 and involved up to 2,000 construction workers during peak construction. It was built to resemble the billowing spinnaker sail of a J-class yacht.^[14] Two "wings" spread in a V to form a vast "mast", while the space between them is enclosed in a massive atrium. The setting of a high rise building on saturated soil and the novelty of the project required groundbreaking dynamic analysis and design to take into consideration soil-structure interaction, effect of water, high winds, and helipad among other loads, to help finalize the design and take the project into construction .^[15]

The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts, now renamed Concor and Al Habtoor Engineering. The interior designs were led and created by Khuan Chew and John Coralan of KCA international and delivered by UAE based Depa Group.^[16]

The building opened on 1 December 1999.^[7]

The hotel's helipad was designed by Irish architect Rebecca Gernon.^[17] The helipad is above the building's 59th floor, and has been used as a car race track, a boxing ring, a tennis match, and the jumping off point for the highest kite surfing jump in history.^[18]