Building Icons

The great buildings of the world were constructed to worship the divine, to flaunt wealth, to exert power or to protect their owners. Some are thousands of years old. Others are very much buildings of the future.

They exemplify human ingenuity and creativity at its greatest. And they showcase what can happen when enormous resources and labour are marshalled for a common cause.

You can see this in towering skyscrapers around the world, the great castles of Europe and Japan, magnificent palaces, public spaces such as the Eiffel Tower, Central Park and the Sydney Opera House. Or sacred buildings from Stone Henge to St Basil’s Cathedral via the Parthenon and Angkor Wat.

All these structures represent far more than the reasons they were built. They have come to define their age, their culture, or their nation. They are Building Icons.