Architectures

Worried that their dynasty would disappear, the Nasrid sultans built this Red Castle in a strategic location over the city of Granada, ensuring that it became a paradise lost, dedicated to art, poetry and beauty.

The sculptural power of the science center in Wolfsberg, Germany in which the plan is a landscape - the landscape of Zaha Hadid's experiences. The building is the realisation of an imaginative world that we know vividly through twenty years of abstract images. It permits us to experience space in ways that never seemed possible before.

Built in 1743, this traditional Japanese architectural masterpiece portrays a different understanding of architecture and building. It is a typical 'machiya' (Kyoto traditional townhouse) and was one of the largest rebuilt during the Meiji period.

One of the most ambitious buildings of the Mussolini regime, the leader of Italy's modern movement attempted the impossible in combining fascism with modernity. It reflects Libera's great ability to design ambiguously in a spare, metaphysical language that sits on a knife-edge between modernism and neo-classicism.

Designed for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Kenzo Tange's two concrete gymnasiums are famous for their suspension roof design His Pritzker Prize citation described it as "among the most beautiful buildings of the 20th century".

Through inventing the villa, a new type of housing, in 1550, Palladio sought to combine aesthetics with utility in transforming the Venetian Medieval Palace of Maser into a splendid country residence. His rigorous and innovative approach would have a lasting influence on Western architecture.