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St Nicholas is the Anglican parish church of Blakeney, Norfolk, in the deanery of Holt and the Diocese of Norwich. The church was founded in the 13th century, but the greater part of the church dates from the 15th century when Blakeney was a seaport of some importance. Of the original structure only the chancel has survived rebuilding, perhaps owing to its link to a nearby Carmelite friary. An unusual architectural feature is a second tower, used as a beacon, at the east end (the church stands just inland from, and about 30 metres (98 ft) above, the small port). Other significant features are the vaulted chancel with a stepped seven-light lancet window, and the hammerbeam roof of the nave. St Nicholas is a nationally important building, with a Grade I listing for its exceptional architectural interest.

Much of the original church furniture was lost in the Reformation, but a late-Victorian restoration recreated something of the original appearance, as well as repairing and refacing the building.
The Victorian woodwork was created to match the few older pieces that remained, or to follow a similar style; thus, the new wooden pulpit follows the themes of the medieval font. Of the stained glass smashed in the Reformation only fragments have been recovered, and these have been incorporated in a window in the north aisle of the church. Nine Arts and Crafts windows by James Powell and Sons are featured on the east and south sides of the church, and the north porch has two modern windows of predominantly blue colour. St Nicholas contains some notable memorials, including several plaques for the Blakeney lifeboats and their crews, and much pre-Reformation graffiti, particularly depictions of ships. The location of the latter suggests that they were votive in nature, although the saint concerned is now unknown. (Full article…)

The buildings of Nuffield College, one of the colleges of the University of Oxford, are to the west of the city centre of Oxford, England, and stand on the site of the basin of the Oxford Canal. Nuffield College was founded in 1937 after a donation to the University by the car manufacturer Lord Nuffield; he gave land for the college, as well as £900,000 (approximately £246 million in present-day terms) to build and endow it. The architect Austen Harrison, who had worked in Greece and Palestine, was appointed by the University to design the buildings. His initial design, heavily influenced by Mediterranean architecture, was rejected by Nuffield, who called it “un-English” and refused to allow his name to be associated with it. Harrison reworked the plans, aiming for “something on the lines of Cotswold domestic architecture“, as Nuffield wanted.

Construction of the second design began in 1949 and was finished in 1960. Progress was hampered by post-war building restrictions, and the effects of inflation on Nuffield’s donation led to various cost-saving changes to the plans. In one change, the tower, which had been planned to be ornamental, was redesigned to hold the college’s library. It was the first tower built in Oxford for 200 years and is about 150 feet (46 m) tall, including the flèche on top. The buildings are arranged around two quadrangles, with residential accommodation for students and fellows in one, and the hall, library and administrative offices in the other. The chapel has stained glass windows designed by John Piper. (Full article…)

The New Orleans Mint (French: Monnaie de La Nouvelle-Orléans) operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a branch mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. During its years of operation, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins of nearly every American denomination, with a total face value of over US$307 million. It was closed during most of the American Civil War and Reconstruction.

After it was decommissioned as a mint, the building has served a variety of purposes, including as an assay office, a United States Coast Guard storage facility, and a fallout shelter. Since 1981 it has served as a branch of the Louisiana State Museum. Damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, after over two years of repairs and renovations, the museum reopened in October 2007. The New Orleans Mint has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and it is the oldest extant structure to have served as a U.S. Mint. (Full article…)

The Tweed Courthouse (also known as the Old New York County Courthouse) is a historic courthouse building at 52 Chambers Street in the Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. It was built in the Italianate style with Romanesque Revival interiors. William M. “Boss” Tweed—the corrupt leader of Tammany Hall, a political machine that controlled the New York state and city governments when the courthouse was built—oversaw the building’s erection. The Tweed Courthouse served as a judicial building for New York County, a county of New York state coextensive with the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the second-oldest city government building in the borough, after City Hall.

The structure comprises pavilions to the east and west of a central section, as well as a rear wing to the south. Architect John Kellum and political appointee Thomas Little designed the first portion of the building, which was constructed from 1861 to 1872. Construction was interrupted in 1871 when Kellum died and the corruption involved in the building’s construction was exposed to the public. The project was completed by architect Leopold Eidlitz, who added the rear wing and finished the interior between 1877 and 1881. (Full article…)

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1687 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, said to be the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. It is considered to be a complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton’s principal façade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes.

For about three centuries until 1984, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow family, which had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Their heirs, the Cust family, were created Baron Brownlow in 1776. Despite his great wealth Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet, chose to build a comparatively modest house rather than one of the grand Baroque palaces being built by others at the time. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. Nevertheless, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations, such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and followed the latest thinking on house-planning, in seeking to separate those parts of the building that were for the use of the family from the areas where servants carried out their domestic duties. Successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. (Full article…)

Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a 20,000-acre (8,100 ha) estate in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The house is listed as Grade II* and the landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The site has been occupied since Elizabethan times when a large manor house was constructed. This was replaced in 1771 by a Georgian mansion for the owners, the Hoste Henleys. In 1836 Sandringham was bought by John Motteux, a London merchant, who already owned property in Norfolk and Surrey. Motteux had no direct heir, and on his death in 1843, his entire estate was left to Charles Spencer Cowper, the son of Motteux’s close friend Emily, Viscountess Palmerston. Cowper sold the Norfolk and the Surrey estates and embarked on rebuilding at Sandringham. He led an extravagant life, and by the early 1860s, the estate was mortgaged and he and his wife spent most of their time on the Continent. (Full article…)

William Burges ARA (/ˈbɜːrdʒɛs/; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoclassical architectural style and re-establish the architectural and social values of a utopian medieval England. Burges stands within the tradition of the Gothic Revival, his works echoing those of the Pre-Raphaelites and heralding those of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Burges won his first major commission for Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral in Cork in 1863 when he was 35. He died in 1881 at his Kensington home, The Tower House aged only 53. His architectural output was small but varied. Working with a long-standing team of craftsmen, he built churches, a cathedral, a warehouse, a university, a school, houses and castles. Burges’s most notable works are Cardiff Castle, constructed between 1866 and 1928, and Castell Coch (1872–1891), both of which were built for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. Other significant buildings include Gayhurst House, Buckinghamshire (1858–1865), Knightshayes Court (1867–1874), the Church of Christ the Consoler (1870–1876), St Mary’s, Studley Royal (1870–1878), in Yorkshire, and Park House, Cardiff (1871–1880). (Full article…)

Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country’s most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch‘s unique architectural identity and culture, and was appointed the first official Provincial Architect of the developing province of Canterbury. Heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic philosophy behind early Victorian architecture, he is credited with importing the Gothic Revival style to New Zealand. His Gothic designs constructed in both wood and stone in the province are considered unique to New Zealand. Today, he is considered the founding architect of the province of Canterbury. (Full article…)

The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a 44-story, 604-foot (184 m) Art Deco skyscraper located in the Chicago Loop, standing at the foot of the LaSalle Street “canyon”. Built in 1930 for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), it has served as the primary trading venue of the CBOT and later the CME Group, formed in 2007 by the merger of the CBOT and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 2012, the CME Group sold the CBOT Building to a consortium of real estate investors, including GlenStar Properties LLC and USAA Real Estate Company.

The CBOT has been located at the site since 1885. A building designed by William W. Boyington stood at the location from 1885 to 1929, being the tallest building in Chicago from its construction until its clock tower was removed in 1895. The Boyington building became unsound in the 1920s and was demolished in 1929, replaced by the current building designed by Holabird & Root. The current building was itself Chicago’s tallest until 1965, when it was surpassed by the Richard J. Daley Center. (Full article…)

The I.G. Farben Building – also known as the Poelzig Building and the Abrams Building, formerly informally called The Pentagon of Europe – is a building complex in Frankfurt, Germany, which currently serves as the main structure of the Westend Campus of the University of Frankfurt. Construction began in 1928 and was complete in 1930 as the corporate headquarters of the I.G. Farben conglomerate, then the world’s largest chemical company and the world’s fourth-largest company overall.

The building’s original design in the modernist New Objectivity style was the subject of a competition which was eventually won by the architect Hans Poelzig. On its completion, the complex was the largest office building in Europe and remained so until the 1950s. The I.G. Farben Building’s six square wings retain a modern, spare elegance, despite its mammoth size. It is also notable for its paternoster elevators. (Full article…)

Oriel College (/ˈɔːriəl/) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, whose claim of being founded by King Alfred is no longer promoted). In recognition of this royal connection, the college has also been historically known as King’s College and King’s Hall. The reigning monarch of the United Kingdom (since 2022, Charles III) is the official visitor of the college.

The original medieval foundation established in 1324 by Adam de Brome, under the patronage of King Edward II of England, was the House of the Blessed Mary at Oxford, and the college received a royal charter in 1326. In 1329, an additional royal grant of a manor house, La Oriole, eventually gave rise to its common name. The first design allowed for a provost and ten fellows, called “scholars”, and the college remained a small body of graduate fellows until the 16th century, when it started to admit undergraduates. During the English Civil War, Oriel played host to high-ranking members of the king’s Oxford Parliament. (Full article…)

The French queen Catherine de’ Medici was patron for building projects including the Valois chapel at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the Tuileries Palace, and the Hôtel de la Reine in Paris, and extensions to the Château de Chenonceau, near Blois. Born in 1519 in Florence, Catherine de’ Medici was a daughter of both the Italian and the French Renaissance. She grew up in Florence and Rome under the wing of the Medici popes, Leo X and Clement VII. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, she left Italy and married Henry, the second son of King Francis I of France. On doing so, she entered the greatest Renaissance court in northern Europe.

King Francis set his daughter-in-law an example of kingship and artistic patronage that she never forgot. She witnessed his huge architectural schemes at Chambord and Fontainebleau. She saw Italian and French craftsmen at work together, forging the style that became known as the first School of Fontainebleau. Francis died in 1547, and Catherine became queen consort of France. But it wasn’t until her husband King Henry’s death in 1559, when she found herself at forty the effective ruler of France, that Catherine came into her own as a patron of architecture. Over the next three decades, she launched a series of costly building projects aimed at enhancing the grandeur of the monarchy. During the same period, however, religious civil war gripped the country and brought the prestige of the monarchy to a dangerously low ebb. (Full article…)

The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder footbridge in the Loop community area of Chicago, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Maggie Daley Park (formerly, Daley Bicentennial Plaza) with Millennium Park, both parts of the larger Grant Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry and structurally engineered by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it opened along with the rest of Millennium Park on July 16, 2004. Gehry had been courted by the city to design the bridge and the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and eventually agreed to do so after the Pritzker family funded the Pavilion.

Named for energy firm BP, which donated $5 million toward its construction, it is the first Gehry-designed bridge to have been completed. BP Bridge is described as snakelike because of its curving form. Designed to bear a heavy load without structural problems caused by its own weight, it has won awards for its use of sheet metal. The bridge is known for its aesthetics, and Gehry’s style is seen in its biomorphic allusions and extensive sculptural use of stainless steel plates to express abstraction. (Full article…)

Vkhutemas (Russian: Вхутемас, IPA: [fxʊtʲɪˈmas], acronym for Высшие художественно-технические мастерские Vysshiye Khudozhestvenno-Tekhnicheskiye Masterskiye “Higher Art and Technical Studios”) was the Russian state art and technical school founded in 1920 in Moscow, replacing the Moscow Svomas.

The workshops were established by a decree from Vladimir Lenin with the intentions, in the words of the Soviet government, “to prepare master artists of the highest qualifications for industry, and builders and managers for professional-technical education”. The school had 100 faculty members and an enrollment of 2,500 students. Vkhutemas was formed by a merger of two previous schools: the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and the Stroganov School of Applied Arts. The workshops had artistic and industrial faculties; the art faculty taught courses in graphics, sculpture and architecture while the industrial faculty taught courses in printing, textiles, ceramics, woodworking, and metalworking. (Full article…)

El Lissitzky (Russian: Эль Лиси́цкий, born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky Russian: Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, listen; 23 November [O.S. 11 November] 1890 – 30 December 1941) was a Russian and Soviet artist, active as a painter, illustrator, designer, printmaker, photographer, and architect. He was an important figure of the avant-garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the Soviet Union.

Lissitzky began his career illustrating Yiddish children’s books in an effort to promote Jewish culture. He started teaching at the age of 15, maintaining his teaching career for most of his life. Over the years, he taught in a variety of positions, schools, and artistic media, spreading and exchanging ideas. He took this ethic with him when he worked with Malevich in heading the suprematist art group UNOVIS, when he developed a variant suprematist series of his own, Proun, and further still in 1921, when he moved to Weimar Republic. In his remaining years he brought significant innovation and change to typography, exhibition design, photomontage, and book design, producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim for his exhibition design. This continued until his deathbed, where in 1941 he produced one of his last works – a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany. (Full article…)

John Douglas (1830–1911) was an English architect based in Chester, Cheshire. His output included new churches, alterations to and restoration of existing churches, church furnishings, new houses and alterations to existing houses, and a variety of other buildings, including shops, banks, offices, schools, memorials and public buildings. Perhaps his best-known design is that for the Eastgate Clock in Chester. His architectural styles were eclectic, but as he worked during the period of the Gothic Revival much of his output incorporates elements of the English Gothic style. He was also influenced by architectural styles from the mainland of Europe, and frequently included elements of French, German, and Netherlandish architecture. Douglas is probably best remembered for his incorporation of vernacular elements in his buildings, in particular half-timbering, in which he was influenced by the black-and-white revival in Chester. Other vernacular elements he employed included tile-hanging, pargeting, and the use of decorative brick in diapering and the design of tall chimney stacks. Of particular importance is Douglas’ use of joinery and highly detailed wood carving.

John Douglas was born in the Cheshire village of Sandiway and was articled to the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley, later becoming his chief assistant. He established an office in Chester in either 1855 or 1860, from where he practised throughout his career. Initially he ran the office himself but in 1884 he appointed his assistant, Daniel Porter Fordham, as a partner. When Fordham retired in 1897, he was succeeded by Charles Howard Minshull. In 1909 this partnership was dissolved and Douglas ran the office alone until his death in 1911. As his office was in Chester, most of his works were in Cheshire and North Wales, although some were further afield, in Lancashire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Scotland. (Full article…)

Sedgemoor is a former local government district in the English county of Somerset. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be “buildings of exceptional interest”. Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, severe restrictions are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building’s structure or its fittings. In England, the authority for listing under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 rests with Historic England, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; local authorities have a responsibility to regulate and enforce the planning regulations.

Sedgemoor is a low-lying area of land close to sea level between the Quantock and Mendip hills, historically largely marsh (or moor). It contains the bulk of the area also known as the Somerset Levels, including Europe’s oldest known engineered roadway, the Sweet Track. (Full article…)

The city of Shanghai, China has one of the largest skylines in the world, with 193 completed skyscrapers that reach a height of 150 metres (492 feet) as of 2025, making it the city with the sixth-most skyscrapers in the world. It also has the third most skyscrapers in mainland China, after Shenzhen and Guangzhou. As the largest urban area in China, with an urban area population of over 21.9 million residents as of 2020, Shanghai is home to some of China’s tallest buildings.

Shanghai’s first high-rise building boom occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, during the city’s heyday as a multinational center of business and finance. The city’s international concessions permitted foreign investment, and with it came architectural styles influenced by the West, as seen today in areas such as the French Concession and the Bund. After the Communist takeover in 1949, Shanghai’s urban development was stifled, punished for its earlier capitalist excesses. (Full article…)

Runcorn is an industrial town in Halton, Cheshire, England, on the south bank of the River Mersey where it narrows at Runcorn Gap. In the town are the 61 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings in the current urban area of Runcorn, including the districts of Runcorn, Halton, Weston, Weston Point, and Norton. Two of these are classified as being in Grade I, nine in Grade II*, and 51 in Grade II.

In the United Kingdom, the term “listed building” refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. These buildings are in three grades: Grade I consists of buildings of outstanding architectural or historical interest; Grade II* includes particularly significant buildings of more than local interest; Grade II consists of buildings of special architectural or historical interest. Buildings in England are listed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on recommendations provided by English Heritage, which also determines the grading. (Full article…)

The U.S. state of Rhode Island is home to 27 buildings over 175 feet (53 m) in height. Five of these buildings are taller than 300 feet (91 m), all of which are located in the state’s capital and largest city, Providence.

The tallest skyscraper in the city and state is the Industrial National Bank Building at 111 Westminster Street in Downtown Providence, which rises 26 floors and 428 feet (130 m). The Industrial National Bank Building, nicknamed the “Superman Building” due to its resemblance to the fictional Daily Planet building from the 1950s TV series, Adventures of Superman, is also the sixth-tallest building in New England outside of Boston. The second-tallest building in Providence is One Financial Plaza, which rises 30 floors and 410 feet (125 m) and was completed in 1973. (Full article…)

Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States, with a metropolitan area of over 9 million people. It is home to over 1,250 completed high-rises, 137 of which stand taller than 492 feet (150 m) as of 2026. The birthplace of the skyscraper, Chicago has always played a prominent role in their development, and its skyline spans the full history of skyscraper construction. The tallest building in the city is the 110-story Willis Tower (also known as the Sears Tower), which rises 1,451 feet (442 m) in the Chicago Loop and was completed in 1974. Of the fifteen tallest buildings in the United States, five are in Chicago. Chicago’s skyline is the second largest in the United States, in North America, and in the Western Hemisphere, after New York City.

The Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, is regarded as the world’s first skyscraper. This building used the steel-frame method, innovated in Chicago; it was originally built with 10 stories, and later expanded to 12, to a height of 180 feet (55 m), an enormous height for the 19th century. Being the inventor of the skyscraper, Chicago went through a series of early high-rise construction booms that lasted from the 1880s to the mid-1930s, during which nine of the city’s 100 tallest buildings were completed. Chicago and New York City were the only cities in the world with large, high-rise skylines during the first half of the 20th century. Chicago then went through an even larger building boom that lasted from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, in which many notable commercial skyscrapers were built, such as the city’s fourth-tallest building, the Aon Center, its fifth tallest, 875 North Michigan Avenue (originally known as the John Hancock Center), and Willis Tower, which was the tallest building in the world upon its completion until 1993, and the tallest in the United States until 2013. For most of the 20th century until the 1990s, Chicago had the second largest skyline in the world. (Full article…)

Taunton Deane is a former local government district with borough status in the English county of Somerset. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be “buildings of exceptional interest”. Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, severe restrictions are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building’s structure or its fittings. In England, the authority for listing under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 rests with Historic England, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; local authorities have a responsibility to regulate and enforce the planning regulations.

The district of Taunton Deane Area covers a population of approximately 100,000 in an area of 462 square kilometres (178 sq mi). It is centred on the town of Taunton, where around 60,000 of the population live and the council are based, and includes surrounding suburbs and villages. (Full article…)

Toronto is the largest city in Canada, with a metropolitan area population of over 6.2 million. Eight of Toronto’s tallest buildings are also the tallest in all of Canada. Toronto has one of the largest skylines in the world, with 108 completed skyscrapers taller than 150 m (492 ft) as of 2026, 31 of which have a height greater than 200 m (656 ft). It is the third largest skyline in North America, after New York City and Chicago. The city’s tallest building since late 2025 has been SkyTower at Pinnacle One Yonge, which rises 351.8 metres (1,154 ft) tall. It is also the tallest building in Canada. However, the tallest free-standing structure in the city is the 553.3 m (1,815 ft) CN Tower, which was the tallest free-standing structure in the world from 1975 until 2007, and remains the most prominent landmark on Toronto’s skyline.

The history of skyscrapers in Toronto began in 1894 with the construction of the Beard Building, which is often regarded as the first skyscraper in the city. Toronto went through its first building boom in the late 1920s and early 1930s, increasing the number of tall buildings in the city. Following the Great Depression, there was a great lull in high-rise construction for over 30 years. A second, larger building boom began in the 1960s, which saw the construction of many recognizable commercial skyscrapers, such as the TD Bank Tower and Commerce Court West in 1973, the aforementioned First Canadian Place, and the postmodernist skyscrapers of Scotia Plaza and TD Canada Trust Tower towards the end of the boom. (Full article…)

Tokyo is the most populated of Japan‘s 47 prefectures. Mainland Tokyo is divided into two sections: Western Tokyo and the special wards of Tokyo. The prefecture’s tallest structures are within the 23 special wards, which comprise the area formerly incorporated as Tokyo City. As of May 2025, there are over 200 structures in Tokyo that stand at least 150 metres (490 ft) tall, of which 49 are at least 200 metres (660 ft) tall, including those that are still under construction but have been topped out. Most of these structures are buildings; however, there are other types of structures among the tallest in the prefecture, such as freestanding towers and incineration smokestacks.

The tallest structure in the prefecture is Tokyo Skytree, a megatall lattice tower that rises 634 metres (2,080 feet), which was completed in 2012. It also stands as the tallest structure in Japan, the tallest tower in the world, and the third-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The second-tallest structure in Tokyo is the 333-metre-tall (1,093-foot) Tokyo Tower, a lattice tower completed in 1958. The tallest building and third-tallest overall structure is the 325-metre-tall (1,066-foot) Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower, completed in 2023 and being Tokyo’s only supertall skyscraper. It is also the tallest building in Japan and the world’s largest skyscraper by floor area. The second-tallest building and fourth-tallest structure is the 284-metre-tall (932-foot) Nihonbashi 1-Chōme Central District Redevelopment (tentative name), which is topped out and scheduled for completion in 2026. Including topped-out buildings, Tokyo is home to 17 of the 25 tallest freestanding structures and 18 of the 25 tallest buildings in Japan. (Full article…)

Charles Holden (12 May 1875 – 1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s. Other notable designs were Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London‘s headquarters at 55 Broadway and the University of London‘s Senate House. Many of his buildings have been granted listed building status, indicating that they are considered to be of architectural or historical interest and protecting them from unapproved alteration. He also designed over 60 war cemeteries and two memorials in Belgium and northern France for the Imperial War Graves Commission from 1920 to 1928.

Holden’s early architectural training was in Bolton and Manchester where he worked for architects Everard W. Leeson and Jonathan Simpson before moving to London. After a short period with Arts and Crafts designer Charles Robert Ashbee, he went to work for Henry Percy Adams in 1899. He became Adams’ partner in the firm in 1907 and remained with it for the rest of his career. (Full article…)

Widnes is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey where it narrows at Runcorn Gap. The town contains 24 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, 5 are classified at Grade II*, and the rest are at Grade II; Widnes has no Grade I listed buildings. In the United Kingdom, the term “listed building” refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance. Listed buildings are categorised in three grades: Grade I consists of buildings of outstanding architectural or historical interest; Grade II* includes particularly significant buildings of more than local interest; Grade II consists of buildings of special architectural or historical interest. Buildings in England are listed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on recommendations provided by English Heritage, which also determines the grading.

Before 1847, the area now occupied by the town of Widnes consisted of the hamlets of Farnworth, Cronton, Appleton, and Upton; a few scattered houses; and areas of mostly marshy farmland. In 1833 a canal and a railway reached the area; the Sankey Canal was extended to a point on the River Mersey to the east of Runcorn Gap and the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway established a terminus adjacent to the canal. Widnes Dock, the world’s first railway dock, was established at the new terminal, and in 1847 John Hutchinson established the first chemical factory nearby. During the second half of the 19th century, more chemical factories were built and the town grew, absorbing the previously separated hamlets. The town became overcrowded and highly polluted with smoke, chemical fumes, and waste. (Full article…)

Mendip is a former local government district in the English county of Somerset. The Mendip district covers a largely rural area of 285 square miles (738 km²) ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 11,000. The administrative centre of the district is Shepton Mallet.

In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be “buildings of exceptional interest”. Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, severe restrictions are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building’s structure or its fittings. In England, the authority for listing under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 rests with Historic England, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; local authorities have a responsibility to regulate and enforce the planning regulations. (Full article…)

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually “to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture”. Founded in 1979 by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the award is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation. It is considered to be one of the world’s premier architecture prizes, and is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. (Full article…)

The city of Las Vegas, Nevada and its surrounding unincorporated communities in the Las Vegas Valley are the sites of more than 160 high-rises, 42 of which stand taller than 400 feet (122 m). The tallest structure in the city is the Strat tower, which rises 1,149 feet (350 m) just north of the Las Vegas Strip. The tower is also the tallest observation tower in the United States. However, the Strat is not considered a building because the vast majority of the tower is not habitable. The tallest building in Las Vegas is the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which rises 735 feet (224 m) and was topped out in November 2008. This building remained unfinished for several years due to the late-2000s recession and opened in December 2023. The second tallest habitable building in the city is the 59-story Resorts World, which rises 673 feet (205 m) and was completed in 2021.

Beginning in the 1960s, high-rise hotels began to become more concentrated on the Las Vegas Strip. The first high-rise hotel and casino resort to rise higher than 492 feet (150 m) was the 529-foot (161 m) New York-New York Hotel & Casino, completed in 1997. Las Vegas entered into a skyscraper-building boom in the late 1990s that has continued to the present; of the city’s 40 tallest skyscrapers, 39 were completed after 1997. As of 2025, the skyline of Las Vegas is ranked 66th in the world and 18th in the United States with 176 completed high-rises. (Full article…)

John Douglas (1830–1911) was an English architect based in Chester, Cheshire. His designs included new churches, alterations to and restoration of existing churches, church furnishings, new houses and alterations to existing houses. He also designed a variety of other buildings, including shops, banks, offices, schools, memorials and public buildings. His architectural styles were eclectic, but as he worked during the period of the Gothic Revival, much of his work incorporates elements of the English Gothic style. Douglas is probably best remembered for his incorporation of vernacular elements in his buildings, especially half-timbering. Of particular importance is Douglas’ use of joinery and highly detailed wood carving.

Douglas was born in the Cheshire village of Sandiway and was articled to the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley, later becoming his chief assistant. He established an office in Chester in either 1855 or 1860, from where he practised throughout his career. Initially he ran the office himself but in 1884 he appointed a former assistant, Daniel Porter Fordham, as a partner. When Fordham retired in 1897, he was succeeded by Charles Howard Minshull. In 1909 this partnership was dissolved and Douglas ran the office alone until his death in 1911. As his office was in Chester, most of his work was carried out in Cheshire and North Wales, although some was further afield in regions including Merseyside, Greater Manchester, and Shropshire. (Full article…)

Imperial War Museum North (sometimes referred to as IWM North) is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. One of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, it explores the impact of modern conflicts on people and society. It is the first branch of the Imperial War Museum to be located in the north of England. The museum occupies a site overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal on Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park, an area which during World War II was a key industrial centre and consequently heavily bombed during the Manchester Blitz in 1940. The area is now home to the Lowry cultural centre and the MediaCityUK development, which stand opposite the museum at Salford Quays.

The museum building was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind and opened in July 2002, receiving 470,000 visitors in its first year of opening. It was recognised with awards or prize nominations for its architecture and is a prime example of Deconstructivist architecture. The museum features a permanent exhibition of chronological and thematic displays, supported by hourly audiovisual presentations which are projected throughout the gallery space. The museum also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions in a separate gallery. Since opening, the museum has operated a successful volunteer programme, which since January 2007 has been run in partnership with Manchester Museum. As part of a national museum, Imperial War Museum North is financed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and by self-generated income. Admission is free. (Full article…)

William Adam (1689 – 24 June 1748) was a Scottish architect, mason, and entrepreneur. He was the foremost architect of his time in Scotland, designing and building numerous country houses and public buildings, and often acting as contractor as well as architect. Among his best known works are Hopetoun House near Edinburgh, and Duff House in Banff. His individual, exuberant style built on the Palladian style, but with Baroque details inspired by Vanbrugh and Continental architecture.

In the 18th century, Adam was considered Scotland’s “Universal Architect”. However, since the early 20th century, architectural critics have taken a more measured view, Colin McWilliam, for instance, finding the quality of his work “varied to an extreme degree”. As well as being an architect, Adam was involved in several industrial ventures and improvement schemes, including coal mining, salt panning, stone quarries and mills. In 1731 he began to build up his own estate in Kinross-shire, which he named Blair Adam. He was the father of three architects; John, Robert and James, the last two were the developers of the “Adam style“. (Full article…)

Colonel Eustace James Anthony Balfour (8 June 1854 – 14 February 1911) was a London-based Scottish architect. The brother of one British Prime Minister and nephew of another, his career was built on family connections. His mother was the daughter of a Marquess, and his wife Frances, a noted suffragist, was the daughter of a Duke. Frances’s sister in-law was Princess Louise, daughter of the reigning Queen Victoria.

Balfour’s initial work was on English and Scottish country houses, but he won only one major commission in this field. However, his appointment as surveyor of the Grosvenor Estate in London gave him architectural control over much of Mayfair and Belgravia in the 1890s and 1900s, and the opportunity to design many buildings himself. (Full article…)

Dolbadarn Castle (English: /dɒlˈbædɑːn/ dol-BAD-an; Welsh: Castell Dolbadarn; Welsh pronunciation: [kastɛɬ dɔl’badarn]) is a fortification built by the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great during the early 13th century, at the base of the Llanberis Pass, in northern Wales. The castle was important both militarily and as a symbol of Llywelyn’s power and authority. The castle features a large stone keep, which historian Richard Avent considers “the finest surviving example of a Welsh round tower”. In 1284 Dolbadarn was taken by Edward I, who removed some of its timbers to build his new castle at Caernarfon. The castle was used as a manor house for some years, before falling into ruin. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a popular destination for painters interested in Sublime and Picturesque landscapes. It is now owned by Cadw and managed as a tourist attraction, and is protected as a grade I listed building. (Full article…)

St Mary’s Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk’s Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this site since before the time of the Domesday Survey. The tower is the oldest in Cheshire, although it had to be largely rebuilt after it fell in 1757. One unusual feature of the interior of the church is that the old stone seating around its sides has been retained. In the south aisle are some ancient carved stones dating back to the Norman era. The architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of ‘best’ English parish churches. In the churchyard is a tall 17th-century sundial. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Nantwich. Its benefice is united with those of St David, Wettenhall, St Oswald, Worleston, and St Bartholomew, Church Minshull. (Full article…)

The Shamrock was a hotel constructed between 1946 and 1949 by wildcatter Glenn McCarthy southwest of downtown Houston, Texas next to the Texas Medical Center. It was the largest hotel built in the United States during the 1940s. The grand opening of the Shamrock is still cited as one of the biggest social events ever held in Houston. Sold to Hilton Hotels in 1955 and operated for over three decades as the Shamrock Hilton, the facility endured financial struggles throughout its history. Hilton Hotels sold the hotel to the Texas Medical Center in 1985 and it was demolished in 1987. The former hotel site is now campus locations for Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology and DeBakey High School for the Health Professions. (Full article…)

The McDonald’s Chicago Flagship is a flagship McDonald’s restaurant located in Chicago.

The McDonald’s restaurant on the site first opened in 1983. It had a rock and roll theme, and was first called the Original Rock ‘N Roll McDonald’s, and later the Rock N Roll McDonald’s. It was one of the most famous McDonald’s locations in the world and was once the busiest in the United States. The building had long been a local tourist attraction. The original building was demolished in 2004, a new structure opened in 2005 with a maximum occupancy of 300, which is about three times the standard McDonald’s patron seating capacity. The original 1983 building and the first design of the rebuilt 2005 structure site held a rock and roll exhibit in a building adjacent to the restaurant and a small upstairs McDonald’s museum display. The building featured the first two-lane McDonald’s drive-through, relatively luxurious decor, a café, flat panel televisions and a green roof. (Full article…)

Zvi Hecker (Hebrew: צבי הקר; 31 May 1931 – 24 September 2023) was a Polish-born Israeli architect. His work is known for its emphasis on geometry and asymmetry. (Full article…)

Fort Greble was an American Civil War-era Union fortification constructed as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during that war. Named for First Lieutenant John Trout Greble, the first West Point graduate killed in the U.S. Civil War, it protected the junction of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, and from its position on a bluff in the Congress Heights, precluded any bombardment of the Washington Navy Yard and southeastern portions of the city. It was supported by Fort Carroll to the northeast and Fort Foote to the south. It never fired a shot during the war, and after a brief stint as a U.S. Army Signal Corps training facility, was abandoned and the land returned to its natural state. As of July 2007, the site of the fort is a community park. (Full article…)

Longtown Castle, also termed Ewias Lacey Castle in early accounts, is a ruined Norman motte-and-bailey fortification in Longtown, Herefordshire. It was established in the 11th century by Walter de Lacy, reusing former Roman earthworks. The castle was then rebuilt in stone by Gilbert de Lacy after 1148, who also established the adjacent town to help pay for the work. By the 14th century, Longtown Castle had fallen into decline. Despite being pressed back into use during the Owain Glyndŵr rising in 1403, it fell into ruin. In the 21st century the castle is maintained by English Heritage and operated as a tourist attraction. (Full article…)

The Mezhyhirya Savior-Transfiguration Monastery (Ukrainian: Межигірський Спасо-Преображенський монастир, romanized: Mezhyhirskyi Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Monastyr) was an Eastern Orthodox female monastery that was located in the neighborhood of Mezhyhiria outside of the Vyshhorod city limits.

The monastery was located just 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the north of Vyshhorod. Today, the territory is part of the Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast (province) in northern Ukraine. The location is situated in the Mezhyhirya ravine, on the right bank of the Dnieper River in close proximity to the Kyiv Reservoir. (Full article…)

Chicago Spire is a cancelled skyscraper project that was partially built between 2007 and 2008 located at 400 Lake Shore in Chicago. If completed, it would have stood 2,000 feet (610 m) high with 150 floors and been the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. When originally proposed as the Fordham Spire in July 2005, the design had 116 stories, included a hotel and condominiums, and was topped with a broadcast antenna mast. The building was designed and spearheaded by Spanish architect-engineer Santiago Calatrava and Chicago developer Christopher T. Carley of the Fordham Company. On March 16, 2006, the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the initial design of the building. Initial construction started but the Great Recession began in late 2007. On November 4, 2014, a court ruling brought the original development plan and the extended litigation over the nine-year-old project to a close. Developer Garrett Kelleher signed over the property location to the project’s biggest creditor, Related Midwest, who announced that they would not build the Spire and made plans for the two tower 400 Lake Shore by David Childs. (Full article…)

Fort Pasir Panjang or Labrador Battery is located within Labrador Park at the southern tip of Singapore island. It was one of the 11 coastal artillery forts built by the British in the 19th century to defend the western passageway into Keppel Harbour against piracy and foreign naval powers. During the 1942 Battle of Pasir Panjang, the fort played a supporting role but a limited one in defending the Malay Regiments against the Japanese invasion at Bukit Chandu. In 1995, the site was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of the 11 World War II sites in Singapore. (Full article…)

Via della Conciliazione (“Road of the Conciliation”) is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy. Roughly 500 metres (1,600 ft) in length, it connects Saint Peter’s Square to the Castel Sant’Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber River. The road was constructed between 1936 and 1950, and it is the primary access route to the Square. In addition to shops, it is bordered by a number of historical and religious buildings – including the Palazzo Torlonia, the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri and the Palazzo dei Convertendi, and the churches of Santa Maria in Traspontina and Santo Spirito in Sassia.

Despite being one of the few major thoroughfares in Rome able to cope with a high volume of traffic without congestion, it is the subject of much ire both within the Roman community and among historical scholars due to the circumstances under which it was constructed. The area around the church was rebuilt several times following the various Sacks of Rome, and again after having deteriorated due to the loss of prosperity resulting from the Papacy’s relocation to Avignon during the 14th century. Through all of these reconstructions, the area in front of the short courtyard of Saint Peter’s Basilica remained a maze of densely packed structures overhanging narrow side-streets and alleyways. (Full article…)

St Mary’s Church is an Anglican church at the end of a lane to the south of the village of Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England. It dates from the 14th century, with later additions and a major restoration in the late-19th century. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

The church was built in the Gothic style, and has historically been associated with the Stanley family of Alderley. Its major features include a fine tower, the Stanley pew which is entered by an outside staircase, a 14th-century font, the western gallery, and monuments to the Lords Stanley of Alderley. The grounds contain a 17th-century former schoolhouse, now used as a parish hall, a medieval church cross, and the Stanley Mausoleum, which dates from 1909. An ancient yew tree stands in the churchyard. (Full article…)