Summary: Stunning pictures of some the world’s greatest architecture.
Though every medium speaks its truth, there is something spiritually enlightening in architecture above and beyond what we find in paintings or sculpture. The sheer magnitude of these edifices, their audacity and time-challenging austerity, let us taste the eternity of beauty. That these places are dwellings, an entire artificial world made for human occupation, shows the daring and pride inherent in the architectural mien. No wonder, then, that so many of the greatest structures ever built were inspired by religion, the things men hold with highest awe.
Legend has it that the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, intending to celebrate his love for his favorite wife. It is perhaps the most beautiful mausoleum ever constructed, and the design is believed to belong to Indian architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori.
The Forbidden City housed the Emperor and his family for centuries, from the mid-Ming Dynasty till the end of the Qing Dynasty. It symbolized and centralized the Chinese Government.
The Millennium Dome was designed to celebrate the advent of the new millennium. Built on the Meridian Line where the new millennium officially began, in Greenwich England, it is the world’s largest dome. Though built to celebrate an arbitrary date – as most people see it – it yet celebrates the beginning of what many take as a new historical epoch: the advent of a globalized world.
As one of the world’s largest structures, towering at 1,053 feet, the Burj Al Arab hotel flaunts a sort of postmodern architectural style, resembling a billowing spinnaker sail.
The Hagia Sophia began as a 6th century cathedral, and has remained a vital Christian church for over 900 years. Now it is one of the most popular of Istanbul’s rich cultural locations. Full of stunning mosaics and frescoes, it is beautiful in and out.
There are endless painters, sculptors, and musicians, all expressing their love for art and the sublime through their medium, and all with a sort of aplomb and egoistic grandiosity. But nothing compares with the ego of an architect. After all, they are creating something huge.