The end of the 20th century was marked by the architectural boom. Large erections similar to ancient constructions classified as the wonders of the world began to spring up one by one all over the world. Many of them became places of tourist pilgrimage even without being finished. Ten of these projects have already gained worldwide fame.
Great Egyptian Museum in Giza.
The Great Egyptian Museum in Giza is almost the same architectural wonder as the Giza Pyramids. In fact, it is the basis of the architectural development of modern civilization. It is a massive row of chambers that wrap around the landscape, with triangular pyramid-like roofs. The space of the largest archaeological museum in the world exceeds thousands of square meters.
The Tate Modern art gallery in London.
The Tate Modern art gallery in London is the largest-scale gallery in the world. And now the construction of the second 11-story glass building with 23 thousand square meters of space has begun. The construction is expected to be completed in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. The use of new spaces will solve the problem of overcrowding in the gallery, which was visited by 4.9 million people in 2006.
The cost of the project, designed by Swiss architects, is 215 million pounds sterling. Expenses for the gallery expansion are expected to be comparable to the main construction bill.
Burj Dubai.
The skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates claims to be the tallest building in the world.
There will be the fastest elevators and the “highest” communications. When the construction is completed, the final height of Burj Dubai will be more than 700 meters, it will have more than 160 floors. Now the builders work at a height of 484.1 meters. Interestingly: the weight of the concrete used in the construction of buildings is approximately equivalent to the summarized weight of 100 thousand elephants.
Simon Wiesenthal Museum in Jerusalem.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center suggested the idea of creating the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem in 2002. The famous American architect Frank Gehry developed the model for the museum complex. It is situated on the land between “Gan Ha’atzmaut” park and Nahlat Shiva in West Jerusalem. 120 million dollars were invested in this construction. The museum which is officially called “Museum of Tolerance of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem” occupies a territory of 14 thousand square meters. It has been built with Hierosolymitan stone with titanium alloy inserts which is Gehry’s favorite building material.
The third terminal of the Capital International Airport in Beijing.
The country that builds the largest dam, the longest bridge, and the largest shopping mall should have the largest building plot while building the largest airport terminal at the largest airport. The future third terminal will occupy 17 levels, will extend for almost 4 kilometers, will require 35,000 builders and will have the capacity to handle 53 million passengers in a year.
Olympic Stadium in Beijing.
Huge complex will be built by 2008. Its dimensions are impressive: 330 meters long, 220 meters wide, 62 meters high, it will have capacity for 100 thousand people. Although it is not yet clear whether there will be as many toilets there as, for example, in the famous Wembley Stadium.
Monument to Ground Zero in New York.
Ground Zero is the memorial on the site of the former World Trade Center towers destroyed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The huge construction with the slabs on which all the witnesses and sympathizers sign, now yields in size only to the Holocaust memorial. The Freedom Tower will have a height of 1776 feet – 541 meters.
MAXXI – National Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome.
Zaha Hadid, the only lady-architect in the world to have won the Pritzker Prize, has designed MAXXI – the Roman Center for Contemporary Art, it is a sophisticated concrete construction that simultaneously impresses with extravagance and monumentality. It is impossible to measure the length of the building as it is extremely oddly shaped; it is even compared to spaghetti.
CCTV – the Chinese Television building in Beijing.
CCTV – the China Central Television building – will be completed in the year 2008. This building – the skyscraper – is impressive due to its unusual shape. The Chinese television headquarters will have a total area of 500,000 square meters and will become one of the 300 skyscrapers to be built in the center of Beijing. The estimated cost of the project is 600,000,000 euros. Its infrastructure includes restaurants, hotels and theaters.
Bishopsgate Tower in London.
It is another skyscraper of unusual configuration. Today it is the largest building in the history of London. Its height will be 288 meters – it was originally proposed to be 307, but the civil aviation authority prohibited such a height. The tower will become one of the tallest buildings in all of Europe. The project was recently renamed The Pinnacle. The date of the first construction phase is planned for the beginning of the year 2008. The building will also be ecological: it will be covered with solar cell panels.