Civic structures shape cities – the best examples of institutional architecture stand out from the crowd and declare themselves as objects rather than infill. From sensational schools, colleges and universities to magnificent museums, theaters and opera halls, here are some buildings well worth viewing (and visiting should you ever find yourself in the relevant city!).
The Netherlands, where bikes outnumber citizens, is well known for its cycle-centric transportation infrastructure. In Utrecht, over 100,000 cyclists ride through the city every day, connecting ...
Depending on how you feel about Frank Gehry’s work, this building in progress could either be fascinating, monstrous or a combination of both. But it’s hard to argue with the fact that seeing ...
With the completion of their latest project, a spectacular sports hall made of prefabricated bamboo trusses, Thai firm Chiangmai Life Construction (CLC) shows off the stunning architectural ...
From a Star Wars-inspired house in South Korea to a blob-shaped 'friendly alien' museum in Austria, these structures make no attempts to hide the sci-fi sources of their inspiration. All 16 of ...
If we’re going to keep animals in artificial environments to make money off gawking at them, you’d hope we’d at least design these structures sensitively, hiring top architects to give them ...
Pinched, warped, rippled, steeply angled and mirrored until they disappear into the sky, these buildings are not quite what they seem at first glance. Sometimes, it takes a nice long look at ...
Extraordinarily flexible yet strong, the fast-growing grass known as bamboo serves as a versatile medium for architectural projects with sculptural flair, especially when it's bent or woven. ...
Mixing modern architecture and traditional arena theater design, the Shaolin Flying Monks Temple features a massive wind tunnel that lets combatants in rural Henan, China, fly and fight in front ...
The classic silhouette of a church may be iconic and instantly recognizable, but modern-day religious architecture proves itself to be adaptive after all, evolving into a broad variety of ...
Designed to reduce real estate needs for runways in ever-more-crowded cities, this "endless runway" system encircles a central terminal building and lets multiple planes take off and land at the ...
