Image via Complex Original
With the summer heat comes a sense of wanderlust: the desire to explore new and amazing places. When you’re deciding where to travel, it is worth looking into the most interesting manmade structures and buildings that tower above us and fit the needs of their surrounding communities. These structures all stand as symbols of human innovation. Each offers something for different architectural interests, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Fallingwater to Moscow’s historic St. Basil’s Cathedral to the sustainable Perot Museum in Dallas. Read on to discover where to experience some of the world’s best architecture.
Dalí Theatre and Museum
Location: Figueres, Spain
Price: 12€ (about $13)
Architects:Joaquim de Ros de Ramis and AlexandreBonaterra designed the main museum, while Emilio PérezPiñero designed the dome. Dalí himself supervised the entire project.
Salvador Dalí himself is buried in a crypt on-site in this museum, which houses the largest and most varied collection of his works in the world. Originally, the building was the location of Dalí’s hometown theater that burned down during the Spanish Civil War. In 1960, Dalí worked with the mayor of Figueres to rebuild the theater into a museum dedicated to his own works and legacy. A striking geodesic glass dome sits above the old theater’s stage, under which Dalí’s body rests. The building looks like something out of one of his surreal dreamscapes, with its whimsical pink- and gold-spotted exterior, and the giant eggs that perch precariously on the roof’s edge.
St. Basil’s Cathedral
Location: Moscow
Price: Free
Architects: Originally Barma and PostnikYakovlev, though many have worked on it throughout the years.
By far the oldest site on our list, St. Basil’s Cathedral, officially named “The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat” was completed in 1560 by order of the infamous Ivan the Terrible. Legends surround the history of the cathedral, including Ivan having the Yakovlevs blinded after its completion so that they could never design anything more beautiful. Despite the mystery surrounding its origin, St. Basil’s Cathedral is now Russia’s most popular tourist destination. The building has changed dramatically over the years—originally, it was all white with gold domes, though a series of additions and alterations have created the colorful landmark that we recognize today. Today it exists as a museum rather than a church, holding only one service per year in October.
Milwaukee Art Museum
Location: Milwaukee, Wis.
Price: $5 suggested donation
Architects: The museum comprises three main buildings, designed by three architects. The War Memorial Center, completed in 1957, was designed by Eero Saarinen. David Kahler designed a 1975 addition that increased the museum’s gallery space—he also designed The Cudahy Gardens, which were constructed in conjunction with the Quadracci Pavilion. The pavilion, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, became the museum’s most recognizable feature after its completion in 2001.
Opened in 1888, the Milwaukee Art Museum is a worthwhile stop just for its vast art collection that includes one of the largest exhibits of Georgia O’Keeffe’s works. Architecturally, though, it is also a modern marvel. In 1957, it moved from its original location into the new War Memorial Center, and from there continued to expand. Its most distinctive feature is the Quadracci Pavilion, which includes the Burke Brise Soleil, a gigantic protective screen that automatically folds over the museum at night or when wind speeds reach 23 mph or more. Other notable architectural features include the modernist War Memorial Center, the vaulted glass ceiling of Windhover Hall, and the Cudahy Gardens.
Fallingwater
Location: Mill Run, Pa.
Price: $25 with advance purchase; $27 on site
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Completed in 1939, Fallingwater is the private residence that America’s most beloved architect built for the Kaufmann family, who owned Kaufmann’s Department Store. Immediately upon its completion, Fallingwater became iconic for its suspension over a 30-foot waterfall—today, it is a National Historic Landmark and a tourist destination. Not only is Fallingwater worth visiting for its own unique merit, but it is the only Wright-designed house that is open to the public with all of its original furniture, artwork, and interior design left untouched.
Burj Khalifa
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Price: $125 to go to the observation deck
Architects:Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, and Adrian Smith
You may recognize the Burj Khalifa as the tallest freestanding building in the world (2,722 feet). It overtook the previous record holder, Toronto’s CN Tower. Completed in October of 2009, the Burj Khalifa is a fairly young building that reportedly was built as a result of its government’s intentions to foster a more tourism-based economy. Its tapered design and Y-shaped floor plan are inspired by the Hymenocallis flower and also by traditional Islamic architecture and design.
Beijing National Stadium
Location: Beijing
Price: Free
Architects: Herzog & de Meuron, Arup Sport, and the China Architecture Design and Research Group
Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant for the 2008 Summer Olympic Stadium in Beijing, commonly known as the Bird’s Nest. The team studied Chinese ceramics in development stages, which they looked to for inspiration in creating a porous yet open space. The seemingly random steel strips that crisscross over the structure were implemented in order to hide the supports for the retractable roof. Since the 2008 Olympics, the stadium is occasionally used for sporting events or concerts.
Den Blå Planet
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Price: 435 DKK (about $65)
Architects:3XN
The original Danish aquarium was opened in 1939 and quickly rose to popularity as the best in Northern Europe. In 2013, Den Blå Planet opened as an updated replacement. The building was designed to resemble a whirlpool. Especially when seen from above, an observer notices that the entire structure is built in a spiral with smooth curves that resemble the movement of water. Not only did water inspire the aquarium’s strikingly beautiful and unique design, but the design integrates water in practical ways. For example, seawater is used in its cooling systems.
Markthal Rotterdam
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Price: Free to walk around, but expect to spend on some delicious food and drink
Architects:MVRDV
The Netherlands’ first covered market and the included housing development opened in October of 2014 in the shape of a giant horseshoe. The 40-meter roof contains over 200 apartments that look down upon a public market, offering easy access to groceries as well as community events. The striking mural that covers the underside of the Markthal Rotterdam’s arch is painted on noise-insulating aluminum sheets, rendering it both beautiful and functional for residents. The gigantic arch is a truly innovative fusion of residential and commercial architecture, and worth a visit for any architecture fanatic or sightseer.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Victory Park Campus
Location: Dallas
Price: $17
Architects: Thom Mayne with his firm, Morphosis Architects, designed the building, which was completed in 2012. A Dallas-based landscape architecture firm, Talley Associates, designed the museum’s expansive landscape.
The Perot Museum consists of two campuses, both of which are worth visiting, though the Victory Park campus is larger and comprises more impressive architecture. Its design is meant to foster science education through immersion and interaction—this theme is evident in the building’s cube-like structure that appears to float over its landscaped base. This fusion of landscape architecture makes the museum itself a tool for learning about sustainability, engineering, and technology.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Location: Chicago
Price: Free
Architect: Frank Gehry
Chicago is known as America’s most architecturally-rich city, and a visit here offers you a multitude of impressive buildings and structures to admire. One of the most notable is Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which opened in 2004. The state-of-the-art bandshell in Millennium Park is located near the famous giant bean that you’ve undoubtedly seen in countless selfies of your friends. The pavilion was the first outdoor structure in the country to incorporate the LARES sound system using reflection and reverberation to generate perfect acoustics for the listener. Initially, the pavilion’s design was commissioned to Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, though the Pritzker family was unimpressed with their blueprint and instead sought Frank Gehry for the project.