Great structures throughout history

[steveedster]

Just found this, GCHQ Building in England...(British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence), like a mdern take on the Pentagon.

I was actually looking for this, also in England... The Diamond Light Source Synchrotron Particle accelerator ! Also impressive!

 

[wkndwrrr]

I don't think one can really choose the 'Greatest' building the entire history of the world, simply because there are so many factors in deciding this which are usually mutually exlusive. The three main factors, in order of importance to me, would be:

Age: Structures like the Pyramids, Stonehenge, and the Hanging Gardens fit this catagory.

Beauty/Delicacy: Structures like most of the famous Mosques, the Alhambra Palace, Angkor Wat and the Sistine Chapel fit this category

Size: Structures like the Pyramids, The Eiffel Tower, The Empire State Building, and the Petronus Towers fit this category

I find that Western structures tend to meet the size requirements, Classical World (Ancient Egypt to Roman Empire) structures tend the meet the age requirements, and Eastern structures tend to meet the beauty requirements.

I'd have to say, however, that the Great Pyramid has the most overlap, so it gets my vote.

Edit: Now that I think about it, the Great Wall meets several of the categories as well, so it gets second place.

 

[Gen. Rommel]

I find that Western structures tend to meet the size requirements, Classical World (Ancient Egypt to Roman Empire) structures tend the meet the age requirements, and Eastern structures tend to meet the beauty requirements.

I don't think one can put it that simply. I think each cultural grouping (as you placed them into east, west, and classical) have multiple entries in each of the categories you established (age, beauty, size). For instance, the Statue of Liberty can be percieved by many as a beautiful piece of human achievement, which I do indeed consider it to be. Others might categorise the blue mosque in Istanbul as a big achievement. As you can see, defining each cultural group as a certain trait is not really accurate, since each factor is present for all.

 

[Alpha Killer II]

Grand Canal of China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_of_China
About as impressive as the Great Wall of China and costed about the same amount of lives

 

[scherbchen]

AS a German I would actually nominate the Berlin Wall. Not for it's architectual value or it's ugliness but rather for it's importance in our countries recent history. When that thing came down it was just surreal, nobody of my generation or older ones really believed that was feasible.

I also see it as maybe the symbol of the Cold War. Neuschwanstein is just a tourist attraction built by some nutcase, really. But I can understand substituting the Brandenburg Gate for the Wall, I guess.

 

[Gen. Rommel]

I personally don't like associating the Berlin Wall as our definitive symbolic building/structure since it represents years and years of oppression and totalitarianism. Furthermore, if one truly wanted to value the symbolism of reuniting Germany, the fall of the wall would be the actual structure to praise, and since that's not actually a building, it hardly works as a famous structure (destruction of a structure does not equal a structure).

Besides, the Brandenburg Gate is much more symbolic for Germany's reunification, since it was closed off and placed in a make-shift "neutral" territory that only Eastern German guards were allowed to access. When the wall came down, the opening of the barricades marked the true opening of Germany's borders.

In addition, the many years that the Brandburg Gate has spanned Germany's history is considerable. It is a structure that embodies the Prussian/German defiance to cede to the French during the Napoleonic wars, mainly because Napoleon dismantled the structure and had the Nike quadriga transported to Paris to have it be re-used for a new French structure. Fortunately, Prussian generals were able to recapture it and brought it back to Berlin where it was then restored, as well as recieving the famous Iron Cross that adorns the staff that Nike holds in her right hand. It has since been a symbol of Germany and prowess therein.

Neuschwanstein is only Bavarian anyways, so I think the Brandenburg Gate is better. Besides, it's only famous because it inspired the Sleeping Beauty castle. It holds no actual symbolic meaning.

 

[scherbchen]

I personally don't like associating the Berlin Wall as our definitive symbolic building/structure since it represents years and years of oppression and totalitarianism. Furthermore, if one truly wanted to value the symbolism of reuniting Germany, the fall of the wall would be the actual structure to praise, and since that's not actually a building, it hardly works as a famous structure (destruction of a structure does not equal a structure).

Then again de-structing is basically the dismantling of a structure, making the Berlin Wall so powerfull in my mind because here you actually have a somewhat completed period of time neatly wrapped up in one ugly symbol (of all the negative connotations you mentioned). And never mind that the stretch of it left standing might still count as a structure, the fact that it's actual construction, history and eventually it's tumbling down has been covered on film makes it a still very real image in my opinion. I have never actually seen the Great Wall of China but I know it's there.

But as I said, I can understand picking the Gate in it's place, but for me it'll have to be the wall. Too many moving (in both senses of the word) pictures I associate with it, most af all seeing it come down live on TV the year I graduated, the best I can compare it to is the same feeling of surrealness as seeing 9/11 unfold on TV, but in a positive way. My father (who was born and raised there) actually was there that night, something I'll always be envious of.