[pdxstreetcar]

America's Favorite Buildings - AIA Polling of the Public

See poll methodology and Wall Street Journal Article at bottom of page.


RANK BUILDING STATE ARCHITECT YEAR COMPLETED FUNCTION
1 Empire State Building NY - New York Shreve, Lamb & Harmon 1931 Skyscraper
2 The White House DC - Washington Hoban, James et al. 1792 Govt.
3 Washington National Cathedral DC - Washington George F. Bodley and Henry Vaughan 1990 Religious
4 Thomas Jefferson Memorial DC - Washington Pope, John Russell 1943 Memorial/Monument
5 Golden Gate Bridge CA - San Francisco Joseph B. Strauss (Engineer) Irving F. Morrow and Gertrude C. Morrow (Architects) 1937 Bridge
6 US Capitol DC - Washington William Thorton, Benjamin Henry Labtrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, Montgomery C. Meigs 1865 Govt.
7 Lincoln Memorial DC - Washington Bacon, Henry 1922 Memorial/Monument
8 Biltmore Estates/Vanderbilt Residence NC - Ashville Hunt, Richard Morris 1895 Residence
9 Chrysler Building NY - New York Van Alen, William 1930 Skyscraper
10 Vietnam Veterans Memorial DC - Washington Maya Lin in association with Cooper-Lecky Partnership 1982 Memorial/Monument
11 St. Patrick's Cathedral NY - New York Renwick, James 1878 Religious
12 Washington Monument DC - Washington Mills, Robert 1884 Memorial/Monument
13 Grand Central Station NY - New York Reed and Stern and Warren and Wetmore 1913 Transit
14 Gateway Arch MO - St. Louis Saarinen, Eero 1965 Memorial/Monument
15 Supreme Court of the United States DC - Washington Gilbert, Cass 1935 Govt.
16 St. Regis NY - New York Trowbridge & Livingston 1904 Hotel
17 Metropolitan Museum of Art NY - New York Vaux, Calvert et al. 1880 Museum
18 Hotel Del Coronado CA - San Diego Reid, James 1888 Hotel
19 World Trade Center NY - New York Yamasaki, Minoru 1973 Skyscraper
20 Brooklyn Bridge NY - New York Roebling, John Augustus 1883 Bridge
21 Philadelphia City Hall PA - Philadelphia McArthur, Jr., John 1881 Govt.
22 Bellagio Hotel and Casino NV - Las Vegas Jerde Partnership with Deruyter Butler and Atlandia Design 1998 Hotel
23 Cathedral of St. John the Divine NY - New York Heins & La Farge and Ralph Adams Cram Religious (unfinished)
24 Philadelphia Museum of Art PA - Philadelphia Trumbauer, Horace 1928 Museum
25 Trinity Church MA - Boston Richardson, Henry Hobson 1877 Religious
26 Ahwanee Hotel CA - Yosemite Valley Underwood, Gilbert Stanley 1928 Hotel
27 Monticello VA - Charlottesville Jefferson, Thomas 1808 Residence
28 Library of Congress DC - Washington John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz 1897 Govt./Library
29 Falling Water/Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Residence PA -Bear Run Wright, Frank Lloyd 1935 Residence
30 Taliesin East WI - Spring Green Wright, Frank Lloyd 1911 Residence
31 Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL IL -Chicago Davis, Zachary Taylor 1914 Sports
32 Wanamaker's Department Store PA - Philadelphia Burnham, Daniel 1909 Retail
33 Rose Center for Earth and Space - American Museum of Natural History, Museum of Natural History NY - New York Polshek Partnership 2000 Museum
34 National Gallery of Art (West Wing) DC - Washington Pope, John Russell 1941 Museum
35 Allegheny Country Courthouse PA - Pittsburgh Richardson, Henry Hobson 1886 Govt.
36 Old Faithful Inn WY - Yellowstone National Park Reamer, Robert 1927 Hotel
37 Union Station DC - Washington Burnham, Daniel 1903 Transit
38 Tribune Tower IL - Chicago Howells & Hood 1925 Skyscraper
39 Delano Hotel FL - Miami Beach Swartburg, Robert 1947 Hotel
40 Union Station MO -St. Louis Link, Theodore C. 1894 Transit
41 Hearst Residence CA - San Simeon Morgan, Julia 1947 Residence
42 Sears Tower IL - Chicago Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Bruce Graham) 1974 Skyscraper
43 Crane Library MA - Qunicy Richardson, Henry Hobson 1882 Library
44 Cincinnati Union Terminal OH - Cincinnati Alfred Fellheimer and Stewart Wagner, consulting architect Paul Philippe Cret 1933 Transit
45 Woolworth Building NY - New York Gilbert, Cass 1913 Skyscraper
46 Waldorf Astoria NY - New York Schultze & Weaver 1931 Hotel
47 New York Public Library NY - New York Carrere & Hastings 1911 Library
48 Carnegie Hall NY - New York Tuthill, William B. 1891 Auditorium
49 San Francisco City Hall CA - San Francisco Brown, Jr., Arthur 1915 Govt.
50 Virginia State Capitol VA - Richmond Jefferson, Thomas 1788 Govt.
51 Cadet Chapel - Air Force Academy CO - Colorado Springs Skidmore Owings & Merill (Walter Netsch) 1962 Govt./Religious
52 Field Museum of Natural History IL -Chicago Atwood, Charles B. 1893 Museum
53 Apple - 5th Avenue NY - New York Bohlin Cywinski Jackson 2006 Retail
54 Furness Library - University of Pennsylvania PA - Philadelphia Furness, Frank 1888 Library
55 Mauna Kea Beach Hotel HI - Kohala Coast (the Big Island) Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 1867 Hotel
56 Rockefeller Center NY - New York Hood, Raymond, et. al. 1940 Skyscraper
57 Denver International Airport CO - Denver Fentress Bradburn Architects 1995 Transit
58 Ames Library MA - North Easton Richardson, Henry Hobson 1879 Library
59 Milwaukee Art Museum WI - Milwaukee Calatrava, Santiago 2001 Museum
60 Thorncrown Chapel AR - Eureka Springs Jones, E. Fay 1980 Religious
61 TransAmerica Building CA - San Francisco Pereira, William 1972 Skyscraper
62 333 Wacker Drive IL - Chicago Kohn Pedersen Fox 1983 Skyscraper
63 Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum DC - Washington Hellmuth, Obata + Kasabaum (Gyo Obata) 1976 Museum
64 Faneuil Hall Marketplace MA - Boston Thompson, Benjamin (Renovation) 1978 Retail
65 Crystal Cathedral CA -Garden Grove Johnson, Philip 1980 Religious
66 Gamble House CA - Pasadena Greene and Greene 1908 Residence
67 Nebraska State Capital NE - Lincoln Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue 1932 Govt.
68 New York Times Building NY - New York Piano, Renzo 2007 Skyscraper
69 Salt Lake City Public Library UT - Salt Lake City Moshe Safdie and VCBO Architecture Associates 2003 Library
70 Dolphin and Swan - Walt Disney World FL - Orlando (Lake Buena Vista) Graves, Michael 1990 Hotel
71 Hearst Tower NY - New York Foster, Norman 2006 Skyscraper
72 Flatiron Building/Fuller Building NY - New York Burnham, Daniel 1903 Skyscraper
73 Lake Point Tower IL - Chicago George Schipporeit and John Heinrick 1968 Skyscraper
74 Guggenheim Museum NY - New York Wright, Frank Lloyd 1959 Museum
75 Union Station CA - Los Angeles Parkinson, John and Donald B. 1939 Transit
76 Willard Hotel DC - Washington Hardenbergh, Henry Janeway 1901 Hotel
77 Sever Hall MA - Cambridge Richardson, Henry Hobson 1880 Auditorium
78 Broadmoor Hotel CO - Colorado Springs Warren & Wetmore 1918 Hotel
79 Ronald Reagan Building DC - Washington Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (James Ingo Freed) 1998 Govt.
80 Phillips Exeter Academy Library NH - Exeter Kahn, Louis I. 1972 Library
81 The Plaza Hotel NY - New York Hardenbergh, Henry Janeway 1907 Hotel
82 Sofitel IL -Chicago Viguier, Jean-Paul 2002 Skyscraper/Hotel
83 Glessner House IL -Chicago Richardson, Henry Hobson 1887 Residence
84 Yankee Stadium NY - New York Osborn Engineering Company 1923 Sports
85 Chicago Public Library IL - Chicago Hammond, Beeby & Babka 1991 Library
86 Lincoln Center NY - New York Harrison, Wallace K. et al 1968 Auditorium
87 The Dakota Apartments NY - New York Hardenbergh, Henry Janeway 1884 Residence
88 Art Institute Of Chicago IL - Chicago Shelply, Rutan, and Coolidge 1893 Museum
89 Fairmont Hotel CA - San Francisco Reid & Reid and Julia Morgan 1906 Hotel
90 Boston Public Library MA - Boston McKim, Mead, and White 1895 Library
91 Hollywood Bowl CA - Hollywood Lloyd Wright, Allied Architects, Frank Gehry 1924 Auditorium
92 Texas State Capitol TX - Austin Myers, Elijah E. 1888 Govt.
93 Fontainebleau FL - Miami Beach Lapidus, Morris 1954 Hotel
94 University of Michigan Law Library MI - Ann Arbor York & Sawyer 1931 Library
95 Getty Museum CA - Los Angeles Meier, Richard 1997 Museum
96 High Museum GA - Atlanta Meier, Richard 1983 Museum
97 Federal Building and United States Courthouse NY - Islip Meier, Richard 2000 Govt.
98 Humana Building KY - Louisville Graves, Michael 1986 Skyscraper
99 Disney Concert Hall CA - Los Angeles Gehry, Frank 2003 Auditorium
100 Radio City Music Hall NY - New York Stone, Edward Durell and Donald Deskey 1932 Auditorium
101 Paul Brown Stadium OH - Cincinnati NBBJ 2000 Sports
102 United Airlines Terminal - O'Hare IL -Chicago Jahn, Helmut 1988 Transit
103 Hyatt Regency GA - Atlanta Portman, John 1967 Hotel
104 AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants Stadium) CA - San Francisco Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum 2000 Sports
105 Time Warner Center NY - New York Skidmore Owings & Merill (David Childs) 2003 Skyscraper
106 Washington, DC Metro DC - Washington Weese, Harry 1976 Transit
107 IDS Center/IDS Tower MN - Minneapolis Philip Johnson and John Burgee 1972 Skyscraper
108 Seattle Public Library WA - Seattle Office of Metroplitan Architecture (Rem Koolhaas) 2004 Library
109 Museum of Modern Art CA - San Francisco Botta, Mario 1995 Museum
110 Union Station IL - Chicago Graham, Anderson, Probst & White 1925 Transit
111 United Nations Headquarters NY - New York Wallace K. Harrison, Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer et al. 1953 Govt./Skyscraper
112 National Building Museum/Pension Building DC - Washington Meigs, Montgomery C. 1887 Museum
113 Fenway Park MA - Boston Osborn Engineering Company 1912 Sports
114 Dana-Thomas House IL - Springfield, IL Wright, Frank Lloyd 1904 Residence
115 TWA Terminal - JFK Airport NY - New York Saarinen, Eero 1962 Transit
116 The Athenaeum IN - New Harmony Meier, Richard 1979 Auditorium
117 Walker Art Center MN - Minneapolis Herzog & de Meuron 2005 Museum
118 American Airlines Center TX - Dallas David M. Schwarz/Architectural Services and HKS 2001 Sports
119 Biltmore Arizona AZ - Phoenix McArthur, Albert Chase 1929 Hotel
120 Los Angeles Central Library CA - Los Angeles Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue 1922 Library
121 San Francisco International Airport CA - San Francisco Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 2000 Transit
122 Camden Yards MD - Baltimore Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum 1992 Sports
123 Taliesin West AZ - Scottsdale Wright, Frank Lloyd 1937 Residence
124 Holocaust Museum DC - Washington Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (James Ingo Freed) 1993 Museum
125 Citicorp Center NY - New York Stubbins, Hugh 1978 Skyscraper
126 V. C. Morris Gift Shop / Xanadu Gallery CA - San Francisco Wright, Frank Lloyd 1948 Retail
127 Union Station MO - Kansas City Hunt, Jarvis 1914 Transit
128 Rookery Building IL - Chicago Burnham & Root, Frank Lloyd Wright (Lobby) 1888 Skyscraper
129 Weisman Art Museum - U. of Minnesota Twin Cities MN - Minneapolis Gehry, Frank 1993 Museum
130 Douglas House MI - Harbor Springs Meier, Richard 1973 Residence
131 Barnsdall House/ Hollyhock House CA - Los Angeles Wright, Frank Lloyd 1920 Residence
132 Pennzoil Place TX - Houston Philip Johnson and John Burgee 1975 Skyscraper
133 Royalton Hotel NY - New York Starck, Philippe (Renovation) 1988 Hotel
134 Astrodome TX - Houston Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan and Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson 1965 Sports
135 Safeco Field WA - Seattle NBBJ 1999 Sports
136 Corning Museum of Glass NY - Corning Harrison & Abramowitz, Smith-Miller + Hawkinson, and Gunnar Birkerts 1951 Museum
137 30th Street Station PA - Philadelphia Graham, Anderson, Probst and White 1934 Transit
138 Robie House IL - Chicago Wright, Frank Lloyd 1909 Residence
139 Williams Tower (Transco Tower) TX - Houston Philip Johnson and John Burgee 1983 Skyscraper
140 Stahl House/Case Study House #22 CA - Los Angeles Koenig, Pierre 1960 Residence
141 Apple (SoHo) NY - New York Ronnette Riley Architect 2002 Retail
142 John Hancock Hotel and Conference Center MA - Boston I.M. Pei & Partners 1976 Skyscraper
143 Pennsylvania Station/Penn Station NY - New York McKim, Mead and White 1910 Transit
144 Hyatt Regency CA - San Francisco Portman, John 1973 Hotel
145 Carson Pirie Scott IL - Chicago Sullivan, Louis 1899 Skyscraper
146 Museum of Modern Art NY - New York Philip Johnson, Cesar Pelli (1984), Yoshio Taniguchi (2004) 1964 Museum
147 Auditorium Building IL - Chicago Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan 1889 Skyscraper
148 Brown Palace CO - Denver Edbrooke, Frank E. 1892 Hotel
149 Ingalls Ice Arena - Yale University CT - New Haven Saarinen, Eero 1958 Sports
150 Battle Hall - University of Texas TX - Austin Gilbert, Cass 1911 Library


AIA List (pdf) (http://www.aia150.org/SiteObjects/files/AIA150_building_list.pdf)
Wall Street Journal List (http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-poparch07-sort2.html)


Methodology (http://content.aia.org/aia150/SiteObjects/files/overall_methodology.doc)

On behalf of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Harris Interactive conducted research to identify the America’s favorite works of architecture. The research included interviews among AIA members followed by a survey among the general public.

Member interviews were conducted online among a random sample of AIA members. The objective of these interviews was for architects to nominate structures they considered most exemplary and which they considered their favorites within 15 pre-determined categories. Member interviews were conducted between October 18 - November 22, 2006. The final results included nominations from 2,448 AIA members (some of whom did not complete the full interview). Members were given the option to nominate up to 20 structures in 15 pre-determined categories of architecture, including an “other” category designed to capture any structures that architects did not feel belonged to any of the 14 specific categories .

From the member nominations a list of the top 247 buildings and structures was developed for inclusion in the survey of the general public. These 247 represent all works receiving 6 or more individual mentions from the AIA members. The survey among the general public included interviews with 1,804 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older and took place between December 27, 2006 and January 3, 2007. Respondents evaluated up to 78 structures, selected in random order from the larger list of 247. Respondents were shown an image of each nomination they evaluated. As with the members, adults had the option to write in other works they liked that were not among the subset they evaluated.

The list of the America’s Favorite Architecture was calculated using the mean score from the likeability scale used to evaluate each project during the general public survey. In the case of ties in the mean score, structures were ranked by the number of times they were mentioned as a respondent’s personal favorite, and then by the number on nominations the structure received in phase one.

During the compilation of the overall 247 works, the Apple computer store on 5th Avenue in New York City, N.Y., was inadvertently left off the list of structures to be evaluated by the general public. The Apple 5th Avenue store was subsequently evaluated by a separate survey of the general public using the same question and similar overall structure to the original survey. Based on the results of the 2,214 U.S. adults 18 and older who were interviewed for this survey, the Apple 5th Avenue store ranks 53rd on the overall list. These interviews were conducted between January 16-18, 2007.

For both surveys of the general public figures for gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was adjusted for respondents’ propensity to be online.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 1804 U.S. adults one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.31 percentage points. With a pure probability sample of 2214 U.S. adults one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.08 percentage points. However, these do not take other sources of error into account. These online surveys are not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.


Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in France and through a global network of independent market research firms. The service bureau, HISB, provides its market research industry clients with mixed-mode data collection, panel development services as well as syndicated and tracking research consultation. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.

Also...

In the Eye of the Beholder (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117081054378900269-lMyQjAxMDE3NzAwNzgwMTcwWj.html)
Wall Street Journal
Alex Frangos - Feb. 7, 2007
It's a question that has divided architects for centuries: What makes a great building? A survey of Americans' favorite 150 buildings and structures reveals the tension between architecture as personal expression and public art.

Link to Article (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117081054378900269-lMyQjAxMDE3NzAwNzgwMTcwWj.html)

[McBane]

Empire State Building tops public architecture poll

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters Life!) - King Kong climbed it, thousands have proposed at the top of it, and its lights change color to match special events.

On Wednesday, New York's Empire State Building, a 102-storey Art Deco skyscraper in the heart of New York City, added another award to a long list of accolades, topping a public poll of favorite architecture in the United States.

The top 150 works across the United States were chosen from a preselected list of 248 structures in a poll conducted by market researcher Harris Interactive and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Although Washington's public buildings and memorials dominated the top 10, New York city led the list for the number of structures in the top 150.

"The choice of the Empire State Building shows that when you ask people to select their favorites, they chose buildings and designs that symbolized innovation and the spirit of their community -- but also, more importantly -- they chose structures that hold a place in their hearts and minds," AIA President R.K. Stewart said in a statement.

The Empire State Building, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States, was completed in 1931 and stands 1,454 feet tall -- the second-tallest building in the United States after Chicago's Sears Tower.

Nearly one half of the buildings, bridges, monuments, and memorials included in the poll of 1,804 people were in three cities -- New York, Washington, and Chicago.

In second place was the White House.

New York's World Trade Center Towers, destroyed when hijacked airliners slammed into them on September 11, 2001, lived on in the poll, ranked 19th.

The pollsters noted that the new Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York, a glass, box-like structure, was inadvertently omitted from the public survey and evaluated separately, which would have ranked it 53rd on the overall list.

The poll was conducted in conjunction with the AIA's commemoration of its 150th anniversary in 2007.

Following is the list of the top 10 structures with their architects and designers:

1. Empire State Building - Shreve, Lamb & Harmon

2. The White House - James Hoban

3. Washington National Cathedral - George Bodley and Henry Vaughan

4. Jefferson Memorial - John Russell Pope

5. Golden Gate Bridge - Irving F. Morrow and Gertrude C. Morrow

6. U.S. Capitol - William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, Montgomery C. Meigs

7. Lincoln Memorial - Henry Bacon

8. Biltmore Estate/Vanderbilt Mansion - Richard Morris Hunt

9. Chrysler Building - William Van Alen

10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Maya Lin with Cooper-Lecky Partnership

[MayDay]

What's a post like this without a photo? :)

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/nyc07/nyc07_75.jpg

[Jularc]

That is cool. I am also glad that the Chrysler Building is in the top 10.

[Evergrey]

art deco is america's favorite architectural style!

[JManc]

http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/58162998.jpg

[Jularc]

In the Eye of the Beholder
Public, Designers at Odds On What's a Beautiful Building


By ALEX FRANGOS
February 7, 2007; Page B1

It's a question that has divided architects for centuries: What makes a great building?

Can it be found in the formal columns of Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia in Charlottesville, or the delicate glass walls of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in Manhattan, or the constantly changing mechanical skin of Thom Mayne's Caltrans building in Los Angeles?

Nope, those favorites of architects and critics don't qualify, according to a poll of the general public to be released today. The Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, however, does.

A survey of Americans' favorite 150 buildings and structures placed the gild-encrusted Italianate behemoth with its choreographed fountains at a lofty No. 22 on the list, tucked between Philadelphia City Hall and New York's Saint John the Divine Cathedral.

"The Bellagio -- I can't believe it," bellows Edward Feiner, a director of the Washington, D.C., office of top corporate architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which has five buildings on the list. "The Bellagio is tasteless."

In the eyes of other beholders, though, the Bellagio is an icon, elevated to that status in a survey commissioned by the American Institute of Architects to suss out how Americans feel about their architecture. In conjunction with its 150th anniversary, the Washington trade group asked Harris Interactive to develop a survey of 2,000 ordinary Americans. They were shown photographs and asked to rate 247 buildings nominated by 2,500 architects in various categories.

Some of the results weren't shocking: the Empire State Building was No. 1, the White House No. 2. But others were surprising. The National Cathedral in Washington, well known but certainly not an icon, came in No. 3, beating out the Golden Gate Bridge (5), the U.S. Capitol (6) and William Van Allen's Chrysler Building in New York (9). Also on the list: Apple Inc.'s new glass cube of a store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue (53).

The ratings, as well as Mr. Feiner's reaction, reveal the tension between architecture as personal expression and public art, between form that pleases those who look at a building and function that nurtures those who use it.

"Taste is a big word, isn't it?" says David Rogers, design partner at Jerde Partnership of Venice Calif., Bellagio's architect. "The idea of what people like and not what architects think people like is a wonderful testimonial to the actual experience and romance and excitement of being in a place that gives people pleasure."

The results also accentuate the disconnect between what architects want to build and what regular people actually like. In the last AIA survey of architects in 1991, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, a house built atop a waterfall in Bear Run, Pa., topped the list. It's No. 29 on the general-public survey. Architects ranked Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia as No. 2. It's not on the new list.

The new survey also could be seen as an indictment of contemporary architecture. Other than the Bellagio, no buildings from the last decade made it to the top 30. Only two in the top 20 were built in the last 35 years and both have special meanings: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (10) and the World Trade Center (19). Americans preferred older buildings that evoke ancient architectural styles such as Gothic, Greek and Roman traditions. Of the top 50, only 12 can be described as "modern-looking," with square angles and lots of glass and steel.

Some in the architectural establishment -- whose favorite building is often said to be an ivory tower -- say the profession is taking the survey seriously. "The results are meant to get a dialogue going with the people who use the buildings," says RK Stewart, president of the American Institute of Architects. (One of his favorites, however, Rafael Moneo's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, failed to make the cut.) The association plans to post the results in blog form to get even more feedback at www.Aia150.org.

To Mr. Feiner, who is credited with injecting federal buildings with a jolt of high design when he was the U.S. government's chief architect, the list is "useful in a way" because it "reinforces again that architecture is relevant to people's lives -- even if it's for the Bellagio." (Trying to find a reason why it scored so highly on the list, Mr. Feiner says Dale Chihuly's glass flower sculptures inside the hotel are "fantastic.")

Mr. Feiner thinks the picks are less about architectural quality and more about emotions. "If you look at that first part of the list, it's mostly Washington icons. It's the attachment people have to them, not that they're necessarily great architecture." He says people picked what they perceive as important buildings: churches, government buildings, sports stadiums. "If you asked the typical citizen of Rome or Athens for their top 10 buildings, it would be the same list: the Parthenon, the Forum, the stadium. Here we have Camden Yards," he says, referring to the nostalgia-tinged home of the Baltimore Orioles (No. 122 on the list).

Some architects are more dismissive. Mark Robbins, dean of architecture at Syracuse University, says the survey "reinforces one's sense that the general public's knowledge of architecture is still limited to things that are big and have columns or have a lot of colored lights." He says the list reminds him of the Zagat guides to restaurants, which rely on customer submissions. "It's only as good as the people who send in reviews. When I lived in Columbus, Ohio, Applebee's was in Zagat's."

To be sure, the poll isn't a true reflection of how people interact and appreciate a building. Respondents were shown static photographs of each building online and were asked to rate them on a scale of one to five. "Buildings unfold in time and space and can't really be understood from a flat pictorial way," says Mr. Robbins.

And architects complain that some keystone buildings in U.S. history are missing from the list. Richard Meier -- whose spare, white designs appear five times on the list with buildings such as the Getty Center in Los Angeles (No. 95), more than any other living architect -- calls the results "fascinating." But, he adds, "many of these things on the list are places people go and enjoy themselves, but I wouldn't consider them works of architecture." He finds it "very curious" that such Modernist architectural standards as Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York and Farnsworth House in Plano, Ill., aren't on the top 150, nor is Philip Johnson's Glass House, in New Canaan, Conn.

Other notable no-shows: Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wis., Louis Kahn's Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif. -- and the recent winner of the Pritzker Prize, a top architectural honor: Mr. Mayne's building for the regional office of California's transportation department in Los Angeles.

Todd Schliemann, designer with James Polshek of the massive glass box Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (at No. 33, the top modern-looking building of recent vintage, completed in 1998), isn't surprised that the list is dominated by older, traditional-looking buildings. "The older the building, it's a safer bet, like an old sofa," he says.

Michael Lykoudis, dean of the classically oriented architecture school at University of Notre Dame, says "most buildings since World War II have been preoccupied with a narrow set of criteria, for a corporate client or for the architect. That type of architecture can't have the kind of mystery that a complex cultural exercise like Union Station in D.C. has.... What architects see in pristine detail gets lost on people if they can't connect to it on the philosophical and practical level."

Mr. Schliemann says he is pleased the Rose Center is in the same company as those older buildings, but adds, "The recognition that I would like is to go up to 42nd Street and see a snow globe made of the Rose Center. That would mean it was in an icon that has some permanence, as ironic as that sounds."


Corrections & Amplifications

The U.S. Capitol is No. 6 on the AIA's list of most popular architecture and the Lincoln Memorial is No. 7. Camden Yards is No. 122. An earlier version of this article and a chart published with it had incorrectly switched the ranks of the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, and the article had incorrectly said Camden Yards was ranked No. 120. The above article and chart have been corrected.


http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/MK-AI411_POPARC_20070206215249.gif


FAVORITE ARCHITECTS


The American Institute of Architects survey reflects America's enduring love for Frank Lloyd Wright, whose buildings appear eight times on the list, more than any other. Richard Meier leads all living architects with five buildings.


Frank Lloyd Wright – 8
Henry Hobson Richardson – 6
Philip Johnson – 5
Richard Meier – 5
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Bruce Graham) – 5
Cass Gilbert – 3
Daniel Burnham – 3
Eero Saarinen – 3
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh – 3
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue – 2
Frank Gehry – 2
John Portman – 2
John Russell Pope – 2
McKim, Mead, and White – 2
Michael Graves – 2
NBBJ – 2
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (James Ingo Freed) – 2
Thomas Jefferson – 2
Wallace K. Harrison – 2


http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/MK-AI410A_POPAR_20070206215224.gif

[Jularc]

Check out the whole list of the top 150 buildings on this link...

Americans' Favorite Buildings (THE TOP 150) (http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-poparch07-sort2.html)

[Lecom]

Arguably, the WTC was more famous than the ESB, even before 9/11.

[JEH-NYC]

Cool!
Like a skillion other folks, I work between Chrysler and ESB! :)

[Buckeye Native 001]

art deco is america's favorite architectural style!

No complaints here :)

[john_mclark]

why is the golden gate on there it's not a building, its a bridge

[ColDayMan]

Go Paul Brown Stadium too!!!

[JManc]

Arguably, the WTC was more famous than the ESB, even before 9/11.

i disagree. the trade center was more prominent in the manhattan skyline but the empire state building was (and still is) the most famous skyscraper in the world.

[BTinSF]

What's a post like this without a photo? :)


I'm not sure it's a "building" but it is beautiful:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/GoldenGateBridge-001.jpg/800px-GoldenGateBridge-001.jpg

http://www.lwn-photo.com/images/GGB/Golden_Gate_B-sunset.jpg

http://www.inetours.com/images/GGB/GGB_4th_4464.jpg

http://www.lwn-photo.com/images/GGB/Golden_Gate_Bridge_ss.jpg

[hauntedheadnc]

I hereby humbly submit for your consideration, No. 8 on the list:

http://www.stat.ohio-state.edu/~brian/hobbies/travel/pics/biltmore.jpg

Gah! Why do they call it Biltmore Estates? There's only one of them! Singular! Sorry, but that always drives me up a wall, and everybody needs at least one irrelevant pet peeve that they can take out and fondle from time to time.

[dropdeaded209]

the bellagio at No. 22 kills the whole list for me.

[bryson662001]

Arguably, the WTC was more famous than the ESB, even before 9/11.

Before 9/11 the twin towers would have been near the top of the list of the most reviled buildings.

[VivaLFuego]

Seems like a list of the most well-known and 'recognizable' structures, to me.

[Xelebes]

why is the golden gate on there it's not a building, its a bridge


It is a building. You need to build a bridge, it just doesn't appear out of nowhere.

Anyways, they key to making good architecture is only one thing: craftmanship. Something that has been lacking in modernist architecture during the 20th century but has been improving in the new millenium.

[Exodus]

Seems like a list of the most well-known and 'recognizable' structures, to me.It is. The average person is only familier with main land marks, though they did pick out some nice ones. What surprises me is that the average person likes the classic look, I've always thought I was in the minority.

[pdxstreetcar]

I think one could study this list and make observations but first exclude the super famous and iconic buildings as well as the emotionally attached buildings.
So what stands out to me is...
8 Biltmore Estates/Vanderbilt Residence NC - Ashville Hunt, Richard Morris 1895 Residence
9 Chrysler Building NY - New York Van Alen, William 1930 Skyscraper
10 Vietnam Veterans Memorial DC - Washington Maya Lin in association with Cooper-Lecky Partnership 1982 Memorial/Monument
16 St. Regis NY - New York Trowbridge & Livingston 1904 Hotel
18 Hotel Del Coronado CA - San Diego Reid, James 1888 Hotel
21 Philadelphia City Hall PA - Philadelphia McArthur, Jr., John 1881 Govt.
22 Bellagio Hotel and Casino NV - Las Vegas Jerde Partnership with Deruyter Butler and Atlandia Design 1998 Hotel
23 Cathedral of St. John the Divine NY - New York Heins & La Farge and Ralph Adams Cram Religious (unfinished)
24 Philadelphia Museum of Art PA - Philadelphia Trumbauer, Horace 1928 Museum
25 Trinity Church MA - Boston Richardson, Henry Hobson 1877 Religious
26 Ahwanee Hotel CA - Yosemite Valley Underwood, Gilbert Stanley 1928 Hotel
30 Taliesin East WI - Spring Green Wright, Frank Lloyd 1911 Residence
32 Wanamaker's Department Store PA - Philadelphia Burnham, Daniel 1909 Retail
33 Rose Center for Earth and Space - American Museum of Natural History, Museum of Natural History NY - New York Polshek Partnership 2000 Museum

and even some of these are iconic for their cities or what they represent


Or have a list of relatively unknown buildings yet of high architectural quality that would likely be judged for their architectural distinction not for their non-architectural meanings.

Remember that these buildings were nominated first by AIA members, it was the public that chose the ordering. It is a shock that the Seagram Building and Glass House were left off considering this.

[Exodus]

It is a building. You need to build a bridge, it just doesn't appear out of nowhere.

Anyways, they key to making good architecture is only one thing: craftmanship. Something that has been lacking in modernist architecture during the 20th century but has been improving in the new millenium.Not a building, but a structure. Sure they had to "build" it, but the word "building" tends to have two different meanings.

[Wheelingman04]

art deco is america's favorite architectural style!

It's my favorite, though I love many other styles.

[CGII]

I'm absolutely amazed that something as obscure as Frank Lloyd Wright's Morris Gift Shop made the list.

[spyguy]

The Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas (No. 22) beats Frank Lloyd Wright's magisterial Fallingwater house in Bear Run, Pa. (No. 29).

That's the worst part and partly why I can't really accept this list as being anything more than just another list.

[Steely Dan]

americans love lists.

SPP'ers love ripping apart lists.

[svs]

The National Cathedral at number three makes the list worthless for me. Derivative and not even visited all that much by visitors to Washington compared to the Smithsonian, Capitol, etc. If you gave a bunch of postcards to a set of chimpanzees you could probably develop a list as valuble.

[SD_Phil]

I was surprised at the lack of Los Angeles buildings on the list, especially farther and farther down.

[Evergrey]

Nice to see Boston's Trinity Church only came in 3 spots behind a casino in Las Vegas!

[plinko]

I seem to recall when I was in architecture school reading a list like this from the 1950's done just by architects.

IIRC (I don't recall the order), the top 5:

Empire State Building
Chrysler Building
Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln
PSFS Building, Philadelphia
Terminal Tower, Cleveland

I would easily rate all 5 of these in my top 100 buildings in this country.

[Upward]

Before 9/11 the twin towers would have been near the top of the list of the most reviled buildings.

I don't think so. This is basically a list of the most well-known buildings. This is the general public, not fans (or critics) of architecture or the urban form. I don't think most people disliked the WTC, especially people outside of NYC.

Anything that's on postcards or is a standard tourist attraction is likely to show up on this list. Things like the sports venues on are on the list because people see them on TV and large numbers of the general public go into them to see events. Some things are on this list happen to actually be good architecture, and others are there just because they're big and impressive.

[BTinSF]

duplicate--sorry.

[toddguy]

Isn't there a big difference between saying, "What are your favorite buildings' then 'what do you think are the buildings that best represent good architecture"?? It sounds like the first question is closer to what was asked. In fact some of my favorites are not architecturally great either. I would have different responses to the different questions so I see no problem with people answering the way they did. Unless they went out of their way to say 'be sure to pick which buildings you think are the best architectually' people are going tp simply say what they like the best. Were the people who liked the Bellagio simply saying they chose it because it was great architecture...... or because they thought it was impressive, attractive, a spectacle, fun and lively, pleasing to the eye, etc.? Probably the latter.

[NYguy]

The Empire State, it's always been my favorite, so I owe it a little tribute...here's to Number 1!

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/23908552/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/23908552/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/24732438/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/62683573/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/62683594/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/62683639/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/26176560/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/26176564/large.jpg

[MayorOfChicago]

Interesting list, but the title is a little misleading. Seems more based on recognition than actual architectural scrutiny. I think the average American likes a lot of things because they're either "pretty", or well known and recognizable.

Edit -

I looked back at the title, I guess it's just "America's favorite buildings", not best architecture. Makes me stand by my comment as to why these are on the list though.

[LostInTheZone]

It is. The average person is only familier with main land marks, though they did pick out some nice ones. What surprises me is that the average person likes the classic look, I've always thought I was in the minority.

this would only surprise you if you hung out with a lot of architects and designers. It still surprises them, and they can't understand it.

[Amanita]

One thing that some of these architects need to learn- it doesn't matter how much critics or other architects like a building, or how well it fits in with the design trends du jour, or how "classic" it is. People need to relate to it for it to be a full success. The architectural community hated the WTC, but alot of people liked it- it was a landmark, and an accessable one at that- you could go to the top for the food or the view, and enjoy it. Many people since 9/11 have said that coming into NYC from outside, when you saw the towers, they knew they had arrived- it felt like they were home.

I guess I'm in the minority when I don't think that looks are the ONLY thing that matter in a building. What good is cutting edge design if the architectural community likes it, but the people who have to deal with it every day hate it or just can't relate? After 9/11 I saw so many architects dismissing the WTC, saying "Oh well, they were ugly anyway, no big loss" or some variant thereof. They completely ignored and brushed off as insignificant the fact that their image was known and loved by people all over the world. It's almost like having a person in your neighborhood murdered- that person being a friend and familiar face to many. And then some jackass afterward saying "Oh well, no big loss that they're dead. It's not like they were a supermodel or anyone important".

[mhays]

I'm shocked that the architecture community didn't already know this stuff.

The Seagram Building?! To most of us it's just another boring box behind a boring plaza. Did architects really think the public likes it?

It's interesting to watch the deluge of defensiveness and denial coming from the architecture community. I'm sure that their next step will be a series of calls for the public to be "educated" about architecture. In truth the architects are equally in need of education, as there's truth on both sides.

[pico44]

I'm not sure it's a "building" but it is beautiful:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/GoldenGateBridge-001.jpg/800px-GoldenGateBridge-001.jpg

http://www.lwn-photo.com/images/GGB/Golden_Gate_B-sunset.jpg




New York may be the greatest bridge city in the world, but no single bridge can touch the Golden Gate. Wow!

As for the list, it isn't claiming to be a definitive review of America's buildings, it's simply a list of builings we like the most. The poll used a large sample size of people, so i don't think anyone can question its accuracy. Sure it'd be nice to see the Seagram building and Lever House on there, but for the most part it looks like Americans have pretty good taste.

[NYguy]

New York may be the greatest bridge city in the world, but no single bridge can touch the Golden Gate. Wow!

As for the list, it isn't claiming to be a definitive review of America's buildings, it's simply a list of builings we like the most. The poll used a large sample size of people, so i don't think anyone can question its accuracy. Sure it'd be nice to see the Seagram building and Lever House on there, but for the most part it looks like Americans have pretty good taste.

http://www.lwn-photo.com/images/GGB/Golden_Gate_B-sunset.jpg


The Golden Gate is beautiful, and the color certainly helps. I think it beats
New York's two largest span bridges in beauty though...

http://www.likeanorb.com/images/tubbyhook/shiny_bridge.jpg_http://www.likeanorb.com/images/tubbyhook/boatsandoats.jpg


http://www.columbia.edu/images/cu_home_gwb_night.jpg


http://www.cygnus1095.com/Verrazano-NarrowsBridge.jpg

[pico44]

The Golden Gate is beautiful, and the color certainly helps. I think it beats
New York's two largest span bridges in beauty though...



I think the George Washington Bridge is the second most beautiful bridge in the world. The Brooklyn, Manhattan, Verrazano, Queensboro, and Hell's Gate would all make my top twenty as well.

[Patrick]

Impressive to see the WTC is 19.

[2PRUROCKS!]

The fact that the John Hancock Center in Chicago was left off is a crime. It is better than any other Chicago building on that list and I thought one of the most recognizable buildings in the world...what gives?!? Would anyone even care to try to explain this to me and I'm sure many others who find this to be completely baffeling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[JonVegas]

Chicago Tribune's architecture critic article on the whole thing.

The public is even open to supposedly "tasteless" places like the Bellagio, whose luxe fantasy world is said to be inspired by the idyllic Italian village of Bellagio and nearby Lake Como.

Perhaps, as Venturi once said, architects have something to learn from Las Vegas.

I don't think the Bellagio is tasteless. It's a very nice hotel.
Just because it is a casino is no reason to knock it.
Las Vegas is a real town with real buildings and real citizens. Regardless of the purpose they serve, the buildings are real.

Frank Lloyd Wright is lower on the list because most people look at his stuff and say WTF. People don't need a degree in architecture to know a bunk design when they see one. Art history teachers can bang you over the head all day and call whackos and hacks like Wright and Ghery geniuses. Fortunately most people can trust their eyes and pick true classics like ESB and Chrysler.

IMHO

[pdxstreetcar]

Here's the part thats been missing, these are the buildings nominated by architects but didn't make it in the top 150...

98 Buildings That Didn't Make The Cut
860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments - Chicago, IL
American Folk Art Museum - New York, NY
Art & Architecture Building - Yale University, New Haven, CT
Baker House - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Beinecke Rare Book Library - Yale University, New Haven, CT
Beth Shalom Synagogue - Elkins Park, PA
Boston City Hall - Boston, MA
Bradbury Building - Los Angeles, CA
Burton Barr Library/Phoenix Public Library, Phoenix, AZ
Caltrans Building - Los Angeles, CA
Carpenter Center - Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels - Los Angeles, CA
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption - San Francisco, CA
CBS Headquarters/ Black Rock - New York
Center for British Arts/Museum of British Art - Yale University, New Haven, CT
Chapel/W15 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Crown Hall - Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago, IL
Dallas City Hall - Dallas, TX
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport - Dallas, TX
De Young Museum - San Francisco, CA
Denver Art Museum - Denver, CO
Denver Public Library - Denver, CO
Eames House - Pacific Palisades, CA
Ennis House/Ennis-Brown House - Los Angeles, CA
Esherick House - Chestnut Hill, PA
Experience Music Project - Seattle WA
Farnsworth House - Plano, Illinois
First Christian Church - Columbus, IN
First Church of Christ Scientist - Berkeley, CA
First Unitarian Church - Rochester, NY
Ford Foundation Headquarters - New York, NY
Frank Gehry Residence - Santa Monica, CA
Freer Gallery of Art - Washington, DC
Genzyme Center - Cambridge, MA
Gropius House - Lincoln, MA
Guaranty Building - Buffalo, NY
Horton Plaza - San Diego, CA
IBM Building - Chicago, IL
Inland Steel Building - Chicago, IL
Jacobs Field - Cleveland, OH
John Deere Headquarters - Moline, Illinois
John Hancock Building - Chicago, IL
Johnson Wax Building - Racine, WI
Kaufmann Desert House - Palm Springs, CA
Kimball Art Museum - Fort Worth, TX
Kings Road House - West Hollywood, CA
Larkin Building - Buffalo, NY
Lever House - New York, NY
Lovell Beach House - Newport Beach, CA
Macy's - New York, NY
Marin Country Civic Center - San Rafael, CA
Marshall Fields - Chicago, IL
Minneapolis Central Library - Minneapolis, MN
Modern Art Museum Of Dallas-Fort Worth - Fort Worth, TX
Monadnock Building - Chicago, IL
Morgan Library & Museum - New York, NY
Mount Angel Library - Mount Angel, OR
Museum of Contemporary Art - Los Angeles, CA
Museum Of Fine Arts - Houston, TX
Nasher Sculpture Center - Dallas, TX
National Gallery of Art (East Wing) - Washington, DC
North Christian Church - Columbus, IN
Oakland Museum of California - Oakland, CA
O'Hare International Airport - Chicago IL
Peabody Terrace - Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Petco Park (San Diego Padres) - San Diego, CA
Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building/PSFS - Philadelphia, PA
Phillip Johnson's Glass House - New Canann, CT
Prada - Los Angeles, CA
Prada - New York, NY
Price Tower - Bartlesville, OK
Rachofsky House - Dallas, TX
REI Flagship Store, Seattle, WA
Reliance Building - Chicago, IL
Richards Medical Center - Philadelphia, PA
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport - Washington, DC
Rosenthal Center For Contemporary Art - Cincinnati, OH
Salk Institute - La Jolla, CA
San Francisco Public Library - San Francisco, CA
Sandra Day O'Connor United States Court House - Phoenix, AZ
Seagram's Building - New York, NY
Smith House - Darien, CT
Soldier Field - Chicago, IL
Sony Plaza (AT&T Corporate Headquarters) - New York, NY
Staples Center - Los Angeles, CA
Superdome - New Orleans, LA
The Chapel of St. Ignatius - Seattle University, Seattle, WA
The Menil Collection - Houston, TX
Tiffany & Co. - New York, NY
Unity Temple - Oak Park, IL
University of Phoenix Stadium (Arizona Cardinals Stadium) - Glendale, AZ
Vanna Venturi House - Chestnut Hill, PA
Wainwright Building - St. Louis, MO
Washington Dulles International Airport - Chantilly, VA
Wexner Center for the Arts - Ohio State University - Columbus, OH
Whitney Museum - New York, NY
William J. Clinton Presidential Library - Little Rock, AR


When it comes to the tops in architecture, it's all about how it makes people feel (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2007/02/13/DDGRFO28SL1.DTL)
John King
Tuesday, February 13, 2007

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2007/02/13/DDGRFO28SL1.DTL

[pdxstreetcar]

A talk given by Robert Campbell several years ago on this very subject...

Why Don’t the Rest of Us Like the Buildings the
Architects Like?
Robert Campbell - Boston Globe Architecture Critic
http://www.amacad.org/publications/bulletin/summer2004/campbell.pdf

This informal talk was given at the House of the Academy on April 2, 2004, as part of the Academy’s Friday Forum series.

The talk focuses on Peabody Terrace a dorm at Harvard using the mid-century "housing projects" model. It is loved by architects and hated by the public.

[grollo]

New York Times Building (not even finished yet) better than Hearst Tower???

[Antares41]

New York Times Building (not even finished yet) better than Hearst Tower???


Now! NYT Bldg was the surprise on the list for me! Makes me really want to re-visit the criteria for the voting. I'm one of the those who fall on the side of liking the building, but, I wouldn't think such a polarizing building would finish #68, and, not ahead of the universally applauded Hearst bldg.:koko:

[trueviking]

this would only surprise you if you hung out with a lot of architects and designers. It still surprises them, and they can't understand it.

architects like old buildings as much as anyone...probably more....because we have studied them and appreciate them for more than just the fact that they are old.

generally architects dont like fake old buildings....big difference.

in 80 years this list will be filled with buildings built today...it has nothing to do with architectural quality...it is about familiarity...many of these buildings are not great architectural achievements, they have just been around a long time.

a similar list in europe would be filled with modern buildings.....probably why i wish i lived there.

[DJM19]

Interesting that the Bellagio is the only "modern" in the top 30, yet its ugly as sin

[mhays]

architects like old buildings as much as anyone...probably more....because we have studied them and appreciate them for more than just the fact that they are old.

generally architects dont like fake old buildings....big difference.

in 80 years this list will be filled with buildings built today...it has nothing to do with architectural quality...it is about familiarity...many of these buildings are not great architectural achievements, they have just been around a long time.

a similar list in europe would be filled with modern buildings.....probably why i wish i lived there.

Architectural achievements -- there's the crux of the issue. Architects build "achievements" and the public wants stuff that looks good. They're often different things.

Personally I doubt that much of today's "achievements" will be loved in 80 years. We'll see it just like we see buildings of the 50s, 60s, and 70s today: ugly, regardless of how "familiar" they are.

I do like some avant garde architecture, mostly because it excites my imagination. But mostly the current stuff I like is paying more attention to long-time architectural lessons and less attention to the fads and "achievement" stuff that gets you in Architectural Digest. AD, btw, is about 70% stuff that I think is horrible.

[JonVegas]

Interesting that the Bellagio is the only "modern" in the top 30, yet its ugly as sin

http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/bellagio.jpg
http://www.martinandmartincivilengineers.com/images/bellagio.jpg
http://www.gimponthego.com/bellagio.jpg


Break down for me what you find so ugly about it. I don't have the same feelings so I'm honestly interested to see where you're comming from.

Here's what I like to be fair:
2 story windows, colors, general property layout (fountain, village facade) Scale, and the faux-patina roof.

[trueviking]

Architectural achievements -- there's the crux of the issue. Architects build "achievements" and the public wants stuff that looks good. They're often different things.

Personally I doubt that much of today's "achievements" will be loved in 80 years. We'll see it just like we see buildings of the 50s, 60s, and 70s today: ugly, regardless of how "familiar" they are.

I do like some avant garde architecture, mostly because it excites my imagination. But mostly the current stuff I like is paying more attention to long-time architectural lessons and less attention to the fads and "achievement" stuff that gets you in Architectural Digest. AD, btw, is about 70% stuff that I think is horrible.

yeah whatever.... sorry if i dont buy your pre-concieved rant...

what is your favourite band?.....whoever it is, 99% of the world hates them...does that mean they make bad music?...by your logic only celine dion should be able to record music, because she is favoured by the broadest swath of the general population....your comment could read....all the public wants is music that sounds good....is good sounding music judged by how many people it appeals to?

a list of america's favourite paintings would probably have the mona lisa at the top...does this mean that we shouldnt allow modern art?...all art should copy works done 400 years ago?

most people like the pt cruiser...enough said.

there is a place for design that pushes boundaries of imagination....it moves thinking forward and inspires new ideas....as an example, once, people hated glass buildings because they were new....today's architecture offers spacial and environmental quality far beyond what any stone building ever could because of this advancement.

the architecture and architects that you are dismissing represent .00001% of the profession.....you are painting the entire discipline with the same brush.....good modern architecture does not have to be fake old and it can respond to every bit of functional and aesthetic sensibility that it needs to without being an 'achievement' or grasping at some ancient style.

besides, most people are idiots....if design quality was based on the opinion of the unwashed masses, everything would look like a greek temple.

this list is about familiarity and that is it.

[slide_rule]

ouch.

i'm assuming mhays is alluding to the worst of starchitecture. yes, it's pretty
bad, with some affectation-spewing turd in all-black quoting nietzsche and designing 'concepts' which have unlimited budgets and absolutely no consideration for practicality. thus you get blobs 'n shards presented as 'modern'. but they do have rich patrons and media access to their advantage. they're not representative of present day contemporary architects, but they generally give architecture a bad name.

as for architectural digest, that's more about the houses of the rich and famous. it's more focused on the matching of drapes and chairs than architecture.

unfortunately, the tweed-wearing, descended-from-the-mayflower, friends with prince charles clique isn't much better. designing office blocks with mansard roofs and palladian facades may appeal to people, but much of this attraction is based on both nostalgia, and because this type of (expensive and unnecessary) architecture is lauded in the media as well. think about it. neoclassical and victorian styles are sought after for everything from offices to private houses, yet equally beautiful and historically significant styles such as pre-columbian aztec, or mughal indian are confined to theme parks.

modern materials and technology should allow architecture to go beyond louis XIV's standards of beauty. modernist architecture fell out of favor amongst both the highbrow critics and the lowbrow builders not because it was aesthetically unappealing, but because it had become ubiquitous. numerous cut-rate warehouses and public housing units married the practicality of modernism with the mindset of cost accountants.

tastes are fickle. ironically the cheeseball googie architecture of the 50s to early 70s is making a comeback. half a century ago, art deco was seen as passe, etc.

[mhays]

It's interesting to watch architects in denial.

Pre-war architecture looks better to most people. It's sad that this doesn't matter to you.

Edit: We might like the occasional whacky museum, and personally I like sleek office towers and Vancouver-type condos. But anonymous boxes like the Seagram Building and...whatevers like the San Francisco courthouse will never be loved.

[slide_rule]

if pre-war architecture looks inherently better, why would the vietnam war memorial and the gateway arch be on the list? they're even more austere than the typical modernist boxes. give it another few decades. tastes will change, and people will grow fond of another batch.

the seagram and the lever house aren't on the minds of most people because their designs were popular and pragmatic, and thus copied until their designs became anonymous.

keep in mind that tastes change. many of the new york skyscrapers weren't seen as 'pretty' until many years after their erection. why else would the singer building be torn down? same thing with the destroyed wtc. they were less delicate but much taller and higher profile boxes than the seagram and lever buildings.

the fountainebleau hotel is another example. it may be miami-modern/streamline/art moderne or whatever now. but it was ridiculed as nouveau riche trash (with notable anglo snobbery against its jewish architect and patrons) when it was built. yet it's now on the top 100 list?

as an aside, MANY of the pictures do not correspond to the actual buildings. the 1910 madison square gardens in the list was accompanied with a picture of its widely disliked 1968 bicycle roof replacement.

[mhays]

Seagram wouldn't win in any version of the contest. You could do great exterior and interior photography and put it up against an equally-anonymous building from 1910. Assuming both were in equal shape, including mep, seismic, and elevator systems, the real difference would be window area and aesthetics, and the old building would win.

[trueviking]

It's interesting to watch architects in denial.

Pre-war architecture looks better to most people. It's sad that this doesn't matter to you.


yup...and most people eat at mcdonald's, shop at wal-mart, watch reality t.v., listen to celine dion, live in peach coloured stucco house that look exactly like their neighbour's, on a street that looks exactly like the next one, in a suburb that looks like the one down the road.....and they drive around in a silver mini van just like their friend's.

are you willing to claim that these things are the best of their type (restaurant, neighbourhood etc.) because they are the most popular?

broad acceptance by the masses generally means the lowest quality.

it is the same with all kinds of art...architecture included....you seem to think all architecture should be dismissed because of a few 'whacky museums'....should cinema be dismissed because they made 2 jackass movies?

seagram and lever changed the way the world looks.....modernism would not have proliferated around the world if only architects loved it....the people paying the bills had to as well...and they liked what the public would buy.

[mhays]

Office buildings are designed to meet pro formas, with aesthetics far down the list of priorities.

The same executives go home to...houses that resemble past styles, even if many were done poorly. Why do you suppose that is?

I don't know where you get this McDonalds analogy. Attractive styles can be well-built, sustainable, etc., just like any other. I don't like the cheap knock-offs either.

Read my "whacky museum" sentence again. I suggested that we often like them. I do.

[slide_rule]

Office buildings are designed to meet pro formas, with aesthetics far down the list of priorities.

the seagram building and lever house were built as works of art, with no expense spared, similar to the 'whacky' museums of today. the fact that these buildings could also function as practical office buildings attests to their status.

these modernist designs were both efficient and aesthetically pleasing, spawning a zillion cut-rate imitators. because these designs became so widespread, people became inured to their presence. but it doesn't diminish the original impact.

[mhays]

Maybe Seagram was built as art. Today that style of building is built mostly because it's cost-effective. An office building is like a hotel: rental rates and occupancy rates don't reflect beauty.

Actually, the quality of the work environment is rising as a criteria. More companies are realizing environment's role in attracting and retaining the best staff -- location, character of the space, etc. While this impacts the design of new buildings, it's most closely related to the resurgence of many old buildings.

[trueviking]

Maybe Seagram was built as art. Today that style of building is built mostly because it's cost-effective.


that isnt true at all....curtain wall costs $50 per square foot...masonry is closer to $20....modernist buildings are not cheap...quite the opposite.


Actually, the quality of the work environment is rising as a criteria. More companies are realizing environment's role in attracting and retaining the best staff -- location, character of the space, etc.

you are very right....which is why the modernist style became popular in the first place.....people might like the decoration of a retro style building from the outside, but there is no comparasin to the quality of the interior environment of a modernist building.....openness, views, connection to the outside and access to natural light are critical factors that create healthier environments, increase productivity, reduce sick days and generally make better spaces to occupy.

solar gain also is a key strategy for sustainable design that is not possible with masonry, punched window design.

http://www.margolisfurniture.co.uk/contemporary_home_office_furniture_uk/office_interiors/office_space_planning.jpg

http://www.integra.jp/ja/files/images/office_interior_modern_daytime.jpg

[rgalston]

retro

Otherwise known as classical.

[mhays]

TrueViking: I believe your masonry figure is only for part of the enclosure system price, while the curtain wall figure is more inclusive. I'll ask someone at work. But I know that there's no such thing as a $20 exterior for a major commercial building. Part of my question will be about weight difference, and its impact on structural needs.

You're right that natural light is desirable. But my 1889 office building has plenty, with its 50% window coverage above desk level. In fact, most people close their blinds when there's direct sunlight. Personally, I also appreciate that we're not in a fishbowl -- who wants to be on display for people across the street?

[CGII]

...anonymous boxes like the Seagram Building and...whatevers like the San Francisco courthouse will never be loved.

How do you know? First off, the Seagram is still regarded as one of the best examples of modernism in the world. Second, what makes you think you can predict the legacy of a building? It's just utterly moronic to call out that some brand new building will be hated in a few decades to come. Well, that's what they said about the Eiffel Tower. They also thought shit like the NY Colisseum would age well. I've gone into this before.

[mhays]

Maybe the San Francisco courthouse will surprise me. But Seagram has had how many decades? Maybe it was admired at some point, but it doesn't seem to be today among non-architects.

Speaking of Seagram, architects in denial over the survey often talk about a public bias for "familiar" buildings. But that rings false once the buildings from the 50s-70s are considered. Those are plenty familiar and simply scored poorly.

[LostInTheZone]

furthermore, why is the Seagram building higher in the cannon than the Pepsico headquarters farther up the avenue?

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/9792/4pepsicozi9.jpg http://www.thecityreview.com/park500.gif

oh wait I know- one is Mies, and one is SOM. But in my opinion, THIS is the best midcentury building on Park Avenue. You never hear about it though.

[trueviking]

TrueViking: I believe your masonry figure is only for part of the enclosure system price, while the curtain wall figure is more inclusive. I'll ask someone at work. But I know that there's no such thing as a $20 exterior for a major commercial building. Part of my question will be about weight difference, and its impact on structural needs.

You're right that natural light is desirable. But my 1889 office building has plenty, with its 50% window coverage above desk level. In fact, most people close their blinds when there's direct sunlight. Personally, I also appreciate that we're not in a fishbowl -- who wants to be on display for people across the street?

where i come from at least, a stucco wall (EIFS) runs about $12 psf.....masonry $20-25 psf (masonry, air space, rigid insulation, air/vapour barrier, exterior drywall, steel studs, finish drywall)...curtain wall runs between $45-50 psf.

anyways, whatever the numbers in your area...it cant be argued that modernist buildings are popular because they are cheaper....they simply are not.

my 1897 office space certainly does not offer the same light quality that a modern building would....

[mhays]

I asked someone in our (general contractor) estimating department, who happens to be a 25-year architect. He gave me figures of $90 for curtain wall and $75 for a typical punched window system for a high-rise, obviously ballparked and dependent on many other factors. Locally, panelized brick would be a significant additional cost due to the lack of a big commercial supplier. The punched window system has the disadvantage of being a foot thick in some cases, meaning reduced interior square footage.

So yes, curtain wall is apparently chosen due to preference, not cost. On the other hand, this same architect, who personally tends toward modernity, honesty of materials, and so on, brought up the same point I have, which is that homes are a clearer indication of what people like than offices.

He also told me something about Seagram's own dishonesty/fakery. Apparently Seagram's structure is steel encased in concrete, and the exterior steel facade is pasted on (like shutters on a suburban rambler). Is this true?

[LostInTheZone]

^I know that's the case with Mies' Lake Shore Drive apartments in Chicago. The fire code wouldn't allow him to use exposed steel, so he put black steel panels overtop the fireproofing to mimic the look of an exposed steel frame. He claimed that this was to express the structure underneath, but how is that not considered ornament?

http://members.aol.com/richpat/860/twobldgs.jpg

Modernists are guilty of the same kind of fakery as the historicists they claim to hate. You love the look of the cantelevered ribbon windows of the Starret-Lehigh building, so you inexplicably replicate the look but not the functionalism by doing ribbon windows and wraparound corners with structural columns right up against the glass. Cantelevered roofs like on the Pirelli Tower or Robie house are indeed impressive, but a little metal awning that angles out over the front door is no different than skinny plastic columns on a suburban villa- it's pastiche, done for style.

And to trueviking: I don't see how traditionalists are any more nostalgic than an architectural establishment that continues to romanticize the struggle of the Bauhaus architects against the establishment, and hold up the Seagram building as the be all and end all of architecture, 50 years after the fact. The whole profession needs to stop telling everyone that their ultimate asperation is to be a rebel genius, and start teaching them how to design competent, functional buildings based on what we already know works.

PS- I do like the buildings in the picture above, so don't get me wrong. I like them more than the Seagram building, in fact. I believe they're earlier.

[trueviking]

And to trueviking: I don't see how traditionalists are any more nostalgic than an architectural establishment that continues to romanticize the struggle of the Bauhaus architects against the establishment, and hold up the Seagram building as the be all and end all of architecture, 50 years after the fact. The whole profession needs to stop telling everyone that their ultimate asperation is to be a rebel genius, and start teaching them how to design competent, functional buildings based on what we already know works.


i agree...i doubt many architects aspire to design strict modernism of the 50's...they see the flaws just as everyone else does....and as i said, .00001% of the profession is out there trying to a 'rebel genius'.....modernism was a reaction to historic styles...yes, it went too far in the other direction, but it started the movement towards the architecture that we see today....interesting, human scale, context appropriate, sustainable, light filled, healthy architecture that uses massing, volume, proportion, rythm and scale to create beauty instead of intricate sculpture and replication of ancient typology.

http://www.23hq.com/bnt/photo/756219/standard

http://www.bf-ringgaarden.dk/images/shl_1.jpg

http://architettura.supereva.com/books/2005/200510005/07.jpg

http://www.vmzinc-us.com/images/Portfolio/Perimeter/06_5232_52_smaller.jpg

http://f5.putfile.com/5/1380430109.jpg

http://www.edgypix.com/comps/lond010023c.jpg

http://www.atypicaljoe.com/archives/images/HearstHdqtrs.jpg

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/jubilee/jubilee1.jpg

http://bhmedia.se/slike%20dana/velike/Turning%20Torso1.jpg

[trueviking]

I asked someone in our (general contractor) estimating department, who happens to be a 25-year architect. He gave me figures of $90 for curtain wall and $75 for a typical punched window system for a high-rise, obviously ballparked and dependent on many other factors. ?

wow...not the same as here...if you figure a square box of 100'x100'x12' thats like $45-$50/sf of construction area just for the envelope....nothing would get built here if those were the costs.

[texcolo]

http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/bellagio.jpg
http://www.martinandmartincivilengineers.com/images/bellagio.jpg
http://www.gimponthego.com/bellagio.jpg


Break down for me what you find so ugly about it. I don't have the same feelings so I'm honestly interested to see where you're comming from.

Here's what I like to be fair:
2 story windows, colors, general property layout (fountain, village facade) Scale, and the faux-patina roof.

It's a 40 storey Italian Villa. It's out of proportion and KITSCH (sp?).

[mhays]

trueviking, personally I find the buildings in photos 1, 2, 4, and 5 ugly, though I see positives in each one. I bet those would score poorly among non-architects. Photo 3 is cool, though a nerve-wracking escalator ride for some people.

Bellagio: Most people don't care that it's an out-of-scale representation of a certain formula. They just think it looks nice. Though I'm not necessarily a fan, I don't mind the building at all based on these pictures.

[trueviking]

trueviking, personally I find the buildings in photos 1, 2, 4, and 5 ugly, though I see positives in each one. I bet those would score poorly among non-architects. Photo 3 is cool, though a nerve-wracking escalator ride for some people.


thats fine....my aesthetic preferences are no more valid than yours....it was simply a response to this:

"The whole profession needs to stop telling everyone that their ultimate asperation is to be a rebel genius, and start teaching them how to design competent, functional buildings based on what we already know works."

those buildings are all far more sustainable and create healthier environments than any old or faux old building ever could....they do what he was claiming is not done in modern architecture.....personal taste aside, the point was to show that buildings can be unique, interesting, functional and competent without being self indulgent and over the top or pretending to be built by the ancient greeks.

[oilcan]

"The public library... and the ballpark... what about me?"

Honorable mention.. :)

http://2modern.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/space_needle_seattle_washington_1.jpg

[mhays]

I thought the same thing! What a bizarre omission.

[phillyskyline]

Does anyone know what city Ranked 4th? Also anyone have a picture of the Hotel Del Coranado in San Diego? I didn't know it was famous...

[CarlosV]

Great list....

[zilfondel]

...and Robert Venturi and Michael Lykoudis promote bad architecture. What else is new?

It is. The average person is only familier with main land marks, though they did pick out some nice ones. What surprises me is that the average person likes the classic look, I've always thought I was in the minority.

I dunno... I'm an architecture student who's studied a LOT of modern arch theory & philosphy, and love it (modernism, modern regionalism, etc) and absolutely disdain any attempt to recreate historic architecture, particularly in the context of modern society & culture... yet I too love 'the classics' in their own context: (hopefully) well-preserved landmarks in our architectural heritage!

As far as liking the classic look; it's the architects who are in the minority (compared to their colleagues) - see the two names at the beg. of this post.

[LostInTheZone]

^so... a rowhouse with brick walls that help with climate control, bay windows that let in a lot of light, and a pitched mansard roof that sheds snow and rain and allows for an extra story up top... is completely irrelevant to modern life?

what I can't stand about modernism is the arrogant assumption that pre-Bauhaus architecture was somehow NOT functional, and that the past has nothing to teach us.

[Patrick]

Arguably, the WTC was more famous than the ESB, even before 9/11.

True. I'd bet the Two Towers would be A LOT higher on this list if 9/11 never happened, who knows, they could have even been number 1? Too bad America lets go of the past so quickly.

[pdxstreetcar]

The AIA has updated their website for the 150 favorites. Now you can select your favorite 5 buildings from the list of 150 and there is a web vote of the top 5.

Fallingwater is as of now the most popular building in this web vote, followed by the Chrysler Building.

http://www.favoritearchitecture.org

[Alliance]

This list is just out of control. There are real gems on here and real pieces of cr@p.

No John Hancock Center but the NYT times building makes it? And whats with the large number of baseball fields?

This does nothing but piss me off.

[mhays]

The AIA has updated their website for the 150 favorites. Now you can select your favorite 5 buildings from the list of 150 and there is a web vote of the top 5.

Fallingwater is as of now the most popular building in this web vote, followed by the Chrysler Building.

http://www.favoritearchitecture.org

Oh, so now architects can stack the vote.

Fallingwater is a good example. Beloved by architects, unknown by the guy on the street unless he reads architecture books.

[rdm]

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/4917/dsc00530bv1.jpg

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/9484/dsc00538bk9.jpg

oh shite! i didn't even realize hotel del coronado was on the list. it is a beautiful structure, on perhaps one of the most beautiful places i've been to in the US. great list :)

[CommercialRealtor]

The Empire State Building (showing my age).

[pico44]

This list is just out of control. There are real gems on here and real pieces of cr@p.

No John Hancock Center but the NYT times building makes it? And whats with the large number of baseball fields?

This does nothing but piss me off.



I don't think you should let it get you down. It's merely a representation of what the general public likes. Naturally everyone will agree with some and not with others. I do agree with you about the John Hancock building though; Chicago's greatest skyscraper would be high on my personal list. Right below the devine NY Times Tower. :)

[andrewkfromaz]

Here's the part thats been missing, these are the buildings nominated by architects but didn't make it in the top 150...

98 Buildings That Didn't Make The Cut
Burton Barr Library/Phoenix Public Library, Phoenix, AZ
Sandra Day O'Connor United States Court House - Phoenix, AZ
University of Phoenix Stadium (Arizona Cardinals Stadium) - Glendale, AZ


I wonder who nominated the buildings. These do NOT belong on any such list. The Court House in particular is a horrible building. Burton Barr Library is one of my favorite local buildings, but nowhere near the level of any of the libraries on the actual list. And what kind of architect nominates a stadium? Someone over at HOK is high-fiving himself...

[BnaBreaker]

Isn't the Vietnam Veterans Memorial literally just a wall?

[StethJeff]

L.A.'s Union Station and Hollywood Bowl are nice, but I think that the Argyle Hotel and Bullocks Wilshire are much more beautiful examples of the architecture in L.A.
http://www.famous-hollywood-hotel.com/mainpic.jpg
http://www.extron.com/technology/img/southwestern1.jpg

And on a side note, where on that list is the Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning? That building is gorgeous.

[Young Gun]

^so... a rowhouse with brick walls that help with climate control, bay windows that let in a lot of light, and a pitched mansard roof that sheds snow and rain and allows for an extra story up top... is completely irrelevant to modern life?

what I can't stand about modernism is the arrogant assumption that pre-Bauhaus architecture was somehow NOT functional, and that the past has nothing to teach us.

A brick house may help to regulate a more even temperature throughout the day, but it is a bad choice from an energy standpoint it doesn't hold up to stick build with proper fiberglass insulation. The R value of brick per inch is only 0.44 Stick built with a 6 inch exterior stud will be approximately R-30

[hauntedheadnc]

A brick house may help to regulate a more even temperature throughout the day, but it is a bad choice from an energy standpoint it doesn't hold up to stick build with proper fiberglass insulation. The R value of brick per inch is only 0.44 Stick built with a 6 inch exterior stud will be approximately R-30

Oh, well then. Thanks for clearing that up.

[SkyscraperMan]

The Empire State, it's always been my favorite, so I owe it a little tribute...here's to Number 1!

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/23908552/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/23908552/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/24732438/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/62683573/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/62683594/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/62683639/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/26176560/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/26176564/large.jpg


:previous:
You really are NYguy. :tup: