World's Most Beautiful Buildings

These are the world’s most beautiful buildings? Are you kidding?
A hundred years ago, naming the world’s most beautiful buildings was easy: the Parthenon. Sure. The Taj Mahal. Absolutely. Hagia Sophia. No argument. But now, in part because the whole notion was chewed up and spit out by those troublemaking Modernists, we’re just learning to think about architecture in terms of beauty again. It’s open season.
We readily admit our choices for the world’s most beautiful buildings are questionable. They include Gaudí’s controversial Sagrada Família cathedral (arguably a top sight) in Barcelona—a building that teeters on the boundary between love and hate. We see that edge as the exact place where beauty happens. Beautiful is not the same as pretty; it’s a strong word, suggesting big emotions.

Sagrada Família, Barcelona

Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE

Institute for Sound and Vision, Hilversum, The Netherlands

The Golden Temple, Amritsar, India

National Congress Hall, Brasilia, Brazil

The Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain

The Chrysler Building, New York City

Mont St. Michel, Normandy, France

ICMC at Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus, Germany

Nelson-Atkins Museum’s Bloch Building, Kansas City, MO

Gresham Palace, Budapest, Hungary

Christian Dior Store, Omotesando, Tokyo

Hearst Tower, New York City

Therme Vals, Vals, Switzerland

Tiger’s Nest Monastery, Bhutan

New Norwegian Opera and Ballet, Oslo, Norway

Great Mosque, Djenne, Mali

Catherine Palace, Outside St. Petersburg, Russia

The Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany

Akron Boys and Girls Club II, Akron, AL

Wat Rong Khun, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Hand-Made School, Rudrapur, Bangladesh

source