I'll start....

Boston:

City Hall: I actually really like this building but when it was built 40 years ago, it was a big leap in terms of going against tradition. This entire government services area was planned by I.M. Pei, Paul Rudolph, Gerhard Kallman and Walter Gropius. The style is Brutalist, and next to the style; the major complaint about this building is it's poor use of internal space and it's cold uninviting plaza.

The photo below was taken during the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France.

http://static.flickr.com/73/186006838_e0b2e49aa7_b.jpg

I was thinking the Freedom Tower and the new developments happening around the former WTC in Lower Manhattan.

As for HK, there are a few "Art-Deco" inspired skyscrapers such as the Entertainment Building in Central. Its a contrast compared to some of the glass and steel scrapers in the area but it doesn't hurt the skyline that much

http://www.edwardwilliams.com/images/portfolio/modelmaking/entertain.jpg

The biggest style that was extremely innovative at the time of construction is HSBC. The way the building was structured with the supports on the outside was very innovative and revolutionary.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20060826/IMG_1596.jpg

I lived in Paris for a time and though it can't be said to be my city - having lived there I suppose I can contribute.

I have two buildings to add to the collection.

The first is the mairie of Nanterre. When you take all of Paris' architecture into account, this modernist building is quite distinct. I can also add that it is a lot uglier than the photo may suggest when you get up close and personal with it.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd6/MonsieurAquilone/Nanterre.jpg

In Paris itself, I think the most unconventional building (if you discount the Pompidou which is basically an attempt at deliberate abstract architecture to suit its purpose) is the Tour Montparnasse. Again, considering Paris' architectural history, the Tour is modern in style (quite nice considering the date of its construction) and provides an atypical view of Paris from on high than if you were to do the 'traditional' Eiffel Tower route. Considering height limits in the city, the Tour is very unique.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd6/MonsieurAquilone/TourMontparnasse.jpg

Yuyuan Gardens are an example of traditional Chinese architecture in a predominantly Classical European Shanghai:

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee268/KuaiYu2011/yuyuan-gardens-shanghai.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee268/KuaiYu2011/yuyuangarden2006_1_original.jpg

Sharpe Center for Design in Toronto by Will Alsop:

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-1.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-5.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-4.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-7.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-8.jpg

Some people think its neat, others think its ghastly.

I'm still undecided.

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4573.jpg

Sharpe Center for Design in Toronto by Will Alsop:

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-1.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-5.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-4.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-7.jpg
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-8.jpg

Some people think its neat, others think its ghastly.

I'm still undecided.

did they just build that structure to put on top of and to cover an aging square building or was that the idea at inception?

either way I wouldn't call it pretty or iconic obviously but it's neat because it's small and random which is much more manageable than large and botched....

^No it was an addition of sorts, the only thing linking them is the common stairs I believe.

Iconic it may not be, but it is not comparable to anything else in the city.

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/sharpcentre/OCAD-7.jpg
^^ Too much...that addition has turned out to appear so Montréal-à-la-1960s.

Montreal's Bibliothèque national was supposed to hark back to honouring the time-honoured tradition of adorning its institutional buildings by roofing them in copper. This library in downtown's Latin Quarter was supposed to be cladded in the metal, but penny pinchers re-invented the national treasure by cuttin' the boxy building into some airport-ish design, which Montreal's just got too fuking much of, by swapping its plated claddings for panes of glass that, still after three years, explode and thus shower outward onto any one of its three streets :ohno:

Airport-ish shit's so fuking dreary, no matter how much one tries to jazz it up...take off, eh?

Bunch of lazy tossers, the approved designers are turning out to be on- and off-island here...

Bratislava:

Hotel Spirit

http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/4972881.jpg

I think its clear, why is unusual :)

Roanoke Virginia

The Art Museum of Western Virginia (soon to be known under a new name)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2147262088_a880f16828.jpg

Its pretty evident how far-out this project is compared to the surroundings (located in a pretty modest, conservative city of about 95,000)...

The above picture is merely a render, but the project is very close to completion (just some finishing touches on the interior), however, i am not in the city right now to get current pictures of it.

This is a picture of the cityscape prior to the museum project to give you an idea of the type of buildings you would see and as a comparison to how far against the norm this new project is

http://static.flickr.com/53/110223456_a5dbb9b740.jpg

Everything in Tianjin goes with its style, whether it's modern or faux-historic, because most of the faux-historic skyscrapers are in the downtown where most of the historic buildings are, and the modern buildings in the CBD and suburbs do not detract from the historic buildings. Pretty much anything goes in Tianjin, there's no skyscrapers in the major lowrise historic zones (only along the outskirts on busy roads), and there's nothing that's non boxy or cylindrical yet. Once we get some more daring buildings, then I might say it's against the prevailing style (shake some things up, which is a good thing).

Boston has a huge amount of Brutalist buildings, pretty much wherever you go in Boston you can find a contrast between the historic and Brutalist styles.

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4573.jpg

I agree with this one. But its the 21st century giving the city of London a more futuristic feel.

There is a huge debate going on in London at the moment over how to redevelop parts of the City, which still has a lot of very historic buildings. In fact, several high profile advocates have spoken out on all this, and I think even the heritage body at the UN is concerned.

I was thinking the Freedom Tower and the new developments happening around the former WTC in Lower Manhattan.

I agree. I was an advocate of "rebuild the towers." Oh well. :(

I agree. I was an advocate of "rebuild the towers." Oh well. :(

I was thinking more of Hearst Tower as more that goes against the style of NYC

I love the Hearst Tower...particularly because it is not overly tall, 600 feet or so. If it cut the skyline it would be too much.

I agree. I was an advocate of "rebuild the towers." Oh well. :(

The Freedom Tower isn't that bad at all but its neighbouring supertalls aren't that great especially in design.

The architects should have come up of something better. Personally, I think a Skyneedle style design would be better for Freedom Tower.

For Detroit it is definitely the Renaissance Center. While Detroit has examples from every era of of skyscrapers (chicago school, art deco, modern, international, brutalist, post-modern, etc.) most of them blend together. The Ren Cen on the other hand competes with the rest of the skyline. I'll let you guess which one is the Ren Cen in the photo below:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/181197575_1f0b606b85_b.jpg
© Kyle Melwing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kylemelwing/)

Here's a closer angle:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/50054714_58c4a2b949_b.jpg
© Shih-Fen (http://www.flickr.com/photos/shihfen/)

I love these buildings, London transplants:

Hindu Temples

Sri Murugam Temple, East Ham:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/1472108943_97f9325f46.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3133/2731257115_919f8e90e7.jpg?v=0

http://www.tamilnation.org/images/diaspora/uk/TDL_0089.jpg http://www.goldgenie.com/custom/temple2.jpg



Sri Swaminarayam Mandir, Neasden in white marble

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1352/539420183_098f343abc_o.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/425756696_56156e8eb5.jpg?v=0

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/9519/1qb7.jpg

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/8066/3ci5.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/995/6yj0.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4223/moods022f29383c1np2.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8716/moods017f2939b31bs7.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/899/moods021f293bf43rn4.jpg

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/images/london/neasden-temple/pillars-of-divinity-c-officsite.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2627343667_5191f16695.jpg?v=0

and a sister temple completed in golden sandstone,
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2118/2226548995_a3af364629_b.jpg

Vishwa Temple, Southall

http://lh5.ggpht.com/calicocaptive/RseOL4jSXtI/AAAAAAAAAJE/6WHrXPpxkzc/s640/London%20Mission%20Trip%20%28August%2007%29%20051.JPG



Sikh Gurdwaras

Gurdwara Karamsar, Ilford

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/113/295090139_ac3500a903.jpg?v=0 http://www.karamsar.org/pictures/gnsss_top.jpg

http://www.redbridgerenet.co.uk/gurdwara-9-05/stonework1.jpg http://www.redbridgerenet.co.uk/gurdwara-9-05/frontdoor.jpg

http://www.redbridgerenet.co.uk/gurdwara-9-05/longshot.jpg http://www.redbridgerenet.co.uk/gurdwara-9-05/stonework2.jpg

Gurdwara Guru Singh Sabha, Southall

http://www.hazursahib.com/images/guru-london.jpg http://www.geograph.org.uk/photos/17/30/173016_4b39e90c.jpg

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/gallery_images/0803/0000/0398/gurdwara_sri_guru_sing_sabha2.jpg http://lh3.ggpht.com/tamaskascsak/RnWdLxMSmCI/AAAAAAAAABw/AZuiBScXwZI/s640/SV300061.JPG

http://www.cowleytimberwork.co.uk/Final%20Images%20GIFs%20only/geodesic2.jpg



Islamic Mosques (there are over 300 in London):

Central London Mosque, Regent's Park:

http://www.milesfaster.co.uk/gallery/london-images/london-central-mosque.jpg

http://i.pbase.com/o6/10/728310/1/75904228.aVZDxJfE.LON_8657.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1180/1351364689_c4deb43c99.jpg?v=1189860828 http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/mosque/regents_m2.jpg http://www.klisia.net/blog/uploaded_images/mosque1_jpg-729244.jpg

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/images/london/central-mosque/nik_034.jpg



Sha Jehan Mosque, Woking, dating from 1889:

http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/1photos/london/mosque2.jpg http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/1photos/london/mosque1.jpg


East London Mosque, Whitechapel

http://harddisken.23visualblog.com/792/10291/58a442358dab12a186dfa4eab1c70abf/standard http://srv-londonimages-5.londontown.com/2006/March/TM188623_429long.jpg

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photos/78/61/786161_33bf66ed.jpg http://www.euboia.org/images/East_London_Mosque.jpg

Fazl Mosque

http://www.alislam.org/albums/mosques/aaj.sized.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f8/Fazl_Mosque.JPG/180px-Fazl_Mosque.JPG

Wimbledon Mosque

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/478119627_894c10914c.jpg?v=0 http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/478119593_9f1e53b097.jpg?v=0

Aziziye Mosque, Stoke Newington

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2288/2224609584_c24c89dbfe.jpg?v=0 http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2634240979_c9ae9c25f3.jpg?v=0

Suleymaniye Mosque, Dalston

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/177/412475453_0cb889a715.jpg?v=1173182254 http://brickfields.org.uk/images_proof/late20c4.jpg



Pagodas and Wats

Kew Gardens pagoda

http://srv-londonimages-1.londontown.com/2006/May/WS799023_429long.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2044/2163408031_71bdf23122.jpg?v=0

Peace Pagoda, Battersea

http://weburbanist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/battersea-park-peace-pagoda.jpg http://www.batterseapark.org/images/pagoda2.jpg

Blackheath 'Pagoda'

http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/images/lewisham/blackheath/pagoda-01796-750.jpg http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/graphics/2008/01/17/lppagoda117.jpg

Himalaya Palace, Southall

http://www.lightningfield.com/2005/11/084.jpg http://www.mewe.org.uk/londondeco/Images/Himalya3.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/77/189941455_788ed4a319.jpg?v=0 http://www.mewe.org.uk/londondeco/Images/Himlay2.jpg

floating restaurant, Regents Canal

http://www.milesfaster.co.uk/gallery/london-images/feng-shang.jpg http://z.about.com/d/golondon/1/0/Q/M/-/-/chinese.jpg

Docklands

http://www.lotusfloating.co.uk/pics/boar_front_2.jpg

Thai Wat, Wimbledon

http://www.modernbuddhaway.org/files/images/Interfaith-2006.JPG http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/137188985_6b08bbad8b.jpg?v=0 http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2413172404_2a11bc640c.jpg



Maori Meeting House, Hinemihi wharenui, Clandon Hall

http://www.kohanga.co.uk/images/splashImage.jpg http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/maori1.jpg

http://www.tangatawhenua.com/images/15/33kohanga2.jpg http://www.touristnetuk.com/se/surrey/images/editpics/Maori_Carving_Clandon_Park_Surrey_Colin_Smith.jpg

I love the Hearst Tower...particularly because it is not overly tall, 600 feet or so. If it cut the skyline it would be too much.

I wish it was a bit taller since it's quite hidden from view. I could barely see it from the Port Authority bus terminal.

Boston's city hall is truly pukeworthy. It truly goes against the historical style in Boston. :ohno:

that toronto thing is an art school though isn't it?

so its artsy fartsy and as an "art" school is sort of their goal which makes sense

i wouldn't say it doesn't fit in perhaps not with itys surroundings but toronto takes chances and that one certainly takes chances and therefore "fits" in

that toronto thing is an art school though isn't it?

so its artsy fartsy and as an "art" school is sort of their goal which makes sense

i wouldn't say it doesn't fit in perhaps not with itys surroundings but toronto takes chances and that one certainly takes chances and therefore "fits" in

Yes - for OCAD.

Philadelphia's City Hall is meant for Philly but would also look good in Boston. Government Center is putrid. I cannot think of any buildings that look out of place in Philadelphia (maybe Penn center) because it is such an ecclecctic architectural city. Greek Revival, Post-Modern, Federal....it all fits here.

Oh wait...the Kimmel Center. Just looks like it was dropped from the sky. http://www.gophila.com/assets/dmt/images/4.KimmelCntr-B.KristG.jpg

Boston's city hall is truly pukeworthy. It truly goes against the historical style in Boston. :ohno:

It's a Brutalist masterpiece, the only problem is that the plaza is a little too big, but it is still well-used. A very refreshing modern contrast, the architecture is perfect, it exudes power, and it is one of the purest forms of Brutalism, just pure concrete!

Kimmel looks a lot better at night when the base loses its detail and the top is lit
Philly City Hall is great but I don't think it would fit Boston....too white and French....there is not too much limestone in Boston