# What Is Your Favorite Building? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263 "2009-02-24T20:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/1 "2009-02-24T20:30:40Z")
Mine is probably the [Temple of Heaven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TempleofHeaven-HallofPrayer.jpg), in Beijing. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/2 "2009-02-24T20:47:51Z")
Strictly because of its emotional resonance (for me, anyway), I nominate [Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Cindyrella%27s_Castle_%40_Magic_Kingdom.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/3 "2009-02-24T20:57:16Z")
Neuschwanstein Castle I visited there last year… [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_Neuschwanstein.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_Neuschwanstein.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/4 "2009-02-24T21:07:28Z")
Westminster Abbey. I feel like it’s the genesis point of the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/5 "2009-02-24T21:17:13Z")
The Ponderosa. Ok, Ok, I’ll stop. If we’re talking real live buildings that people use and stuff, I’d say the Standard Oil Building in Chicago, the Rookery (Chicago), or the Wrigley Building (Chicago), or Union Station (Chicago). I like 'em all equally so I can’t pick one. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/6 "2009-02-24T21:21:59Z")
What an excellent question! My choice is the Secretariat Building of the United Nations. It’s distinctive against the NY skyline, and since my father used to work there I’ve been in it a lot. The Chrysler building is pretty good also. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/7 "2009-02-24T21:29:10Z")
Jeez, just one? I can’t! We see it so often on TV that I think we forget what a good-looking building the White House is: [File:WhiteHouseSouthFacade.JPG - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WhiteHouseSouthFacade.JPG) Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater is a masterpiece; I love it!: [File:Wrightfallingwater.jpg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wrightfallingwater.jpg) Other than the obvious NYC skyscrapers, I’ve always liked the Johnson/Burgee-designed Bank of America Center in Houston: [File:Bank of America Center Houston.JPG - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bank_of_America_Center_Houston.JPG) The Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg is a handsome building: [File:Colonial Williamsburg Governor's Palace Main Building.JPG - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Colonial_Williamsburg_Governor%27s_Palace_Main_Building.JPG) San Francisco has the most. impressive. city hall. evah!: [File:Sfcityhall.jpeg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sfcityhall.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/8 "2009-02-24T21:58:56Z")
Just one? I don’t think so, Tim. Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA: > **[Winchester Mystery House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House)** > > Reportedly haunted locations: > The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, that was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester. The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The Victorian and Gothic style mansion is renowned for its size and its architectural curiosities. > It is sometimes claimed to be one of the "most haunted places in the world", but there is no evidence to... House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI: > **[House on the Rock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_on_the_Rock)** > > The House on the Rock is a tourist attraction located between the cities of Dodgeville and Spring Green, Wisconsin. Opened in 1959, it is a complex of architecturally distinct rooms, streets, gardens, and shops designed by Alex Jordan Jr. > Both of Jordan's biographers relate a story told by Sid Boyum, which places the inspiration for the house in a meeting between Alex Jordan Jr. and Frank Lloyd Wright, at some unspecified time between 1914 and 1923. Jordan Sr. supposedly drove with Boyum to Ta... For the Lily Pads, the Johnson Wax HQ in Racine, WI: > **[Johnson Wax Headquarters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Wax_Headquarters)** > > Johnson Wax Headquarters is the world headquarters and administration building of S. C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin. Designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the company's president, Herbert F. "Hib" Johnson, the building was constructed from 1936 to 1939. Its distinctive "lily pad" columns and other innovations revived Wright's career at a point when he was losing influence. Also known as the Johnson Wax Administration Building, it and the nearby 14-story Johnson Wax Re Th... Full-on visual appeal: Sydney Opera House > **[Sydney Opera House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_opera_house)** > > The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. > Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973, 16 years after Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of... And when it’s completed, probably Burj Dubai @ over half a mile tall: > **[Burj Khalifa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Dubai)** > > The Burj Khalifa\[a\] (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010) is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the world's tallest building. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 242.6 m spire) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since its topping out in 2009, supplanting Taipei 101, the previous holder of that status. > Constructi... ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/9 "2009-02-24T22:07:52Z")
The [Palacio de Comunicaciones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plaza_de_Cibeles,_Madrid.jpg) in Madrid is a nice looking structure. The Temple of Heaven and Westminster Abbey have already been mentioned. I somehow made it to Beijing without seeing the ToH, so another trip may be in order. I also didn’t see much of Westminster Abbey while in London, so I guess I’ll go back there as well. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/10 "2009-02-24T22:12:26Z")
Well hell, if we’re allowed more than one: [The Illinois State Capitol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illinois_State_Capitol_pano.jpg) is pretty cool, in an imposing, gothic sort of way. Also in Springfield, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed [Dana-Thomas House](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/326607039_27ece6a156.jpg?v=0). And my favorite place to spend a summer afternoon, [Wrigley Field](http://www.horschgallery.com/admin/uploads/Products/Product324/2815-wrigley-field.JPG). ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/11 "2009-02-24T22:12:35Z")
Picking just one, I’ll go with [Casa Batlló](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Batll%C3%B3). ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/12 "2009-02-24T22:20:44Z")
I’m partial to the [Gherkin](http://www.eikongraphia.com/wordpress/wp-content/SwissRe.jpg) in London. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/13 "2009-02-24T22:20:58Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Full-on visual appeal: Sydney Opera House > > [Sydney Opera House - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_opera_house) I knew the architect, Jørn Utzon, had a falling out over this project. They reconciled in the ensuing years, and he designed some renovations and changes, but I just found out that he died a few months ago, having never seen the completed building. That almost breaks my heart. I’m having to give this a lot of though for my own choice. Someday before I die, I want to see the **Hagia Sophia**. Until I do, I’m trying to think of a favorite among the buildings I have been to. There have been some great ones. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/14 "2009-02-24T22:26:45Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > And my favorite place to spend a summer afternoon, [Wrigley Field](http://www.horschgallery.com/admin/uploads/Products/Product324/2815-wrigley-field.JPG). Darn it, I’m adding Arlington Park Racetrack (Arlington Heights)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/15 "2009-02-24T23:09:46Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > …Full-on visual appeal: Sydney Opera House > > [Sydney Opera House - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_opera_house)… Love it - and have a friend who works there! ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/16 "2009-02-24T23:27:19Z")
I work in the [Darth Vader Building](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_and_Blanchard_Building) which I think is kinda neat. It isn’t all that great from an outside view but [Salvador Dali’s house](http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2832951060029634790yanzrI) is pretty dang cool. ---
**Author:** ![WPA-Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WPA-Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WPA-Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/17 "2009-02-25T00:21:05Z")
I am partial to the Gulf Tower and Koppers Building, both in downtown Pittsburgh. Here they are during the day (Koppers is on the left): [http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/pittsburgh24.jpg](http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/pittsburgh24.jpg) At night (From a different angle, the Gulf Tower is the taller): [http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/78980555.jpg](http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/78980555.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/18 "2009-02-25T00:40:37Z")
[Marin](http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CU/Main/flw/photo_display.cfm?pID=2) [Civic](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Marin_County_Civic_Center_Inside_20060610.jpg) [Center](http://www.storrer.com/images/fllwhall.jpeg). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/19 "2009-02-25T01:25:49Z")
I love the [Cathedral of Learning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Learning) at the University of Pittsburgh. My mom’s from Pittsburgh, and when I was a little girl she took me there and showed me the nationality rooms - but it was black, then! I didn’t know it was supposed to be yellow! I hadn’t been to many big universities with cool buildings then and I just thought that place was It - it’s very… reverent, you know? Somebody wanted to build a university building and called it a _Cathedral of Learning_ - I dunno, I just love it. When you go there when classes are in session, it’s very much alive, full of students. Very cool. Along similar lines, the Bodleian Library at Oxford moved me very personally. I love all the beautiful Gothic cathedrals of the Old World, but my favorite is Winchester, because it’s the first one I ever saw. I was with a class of high school kids, and we all went in chattering and making idiots of ourselves, and when we got through the doors every single teenager shut up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263/20 "2009-02-25T01:38:03Z")
I will always go to the [National Cathedral](http://www.nationalcathedral.org/) in Washington DC if I get a chance. I spent a lot of time there as a kid and I know some of the nooks and crannies, but I feel like there’s still lots to discover, esp. since it wasn’t even finished until about 10 yrs. ago. I’m sure the ancient gothic cathedrals in Europe are way cooler, but this is the one I know. I went to William and Mary and I really like the [Wren Building](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Building). I liked to go to its “Great Hall” (not all that big) when empty and curl up into one of its round windows. A really nice peaceful hush there. I also had a few minutes on its back porch that changed my life forever 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-building/487263.md?page=2)