Secrets behind the world’s great buildings

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of special features ahead of the inaugural RIBA International Prize for the world’s best building, announced on November 24. Jonathan Glancey is a British architecture critic and author.

Celebrated 20th century German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said architecture began when two bricks were put together well. This might sound simplistic, yet Mies was right – architecture is the self-conscious act of building, not just with common sense but also with artistry.

There will always be debate over the origins of the art, but the first works we recognize as architecture were built from tiers of sun-baked mud bricks in what is today’s southern Iraq. Although the buildings they formed have been rebuilt over the centuries, they were so well conceived that some – like the Ziggurat of Urnammu at Ur – have endured for millennia.

However, there is architecture and there is great architecture, and what constitutes the latter has exercised the minds of generations of critics, theorists, historians and architects themselves.

This year, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) hopes to advance this thinking with its inaugural RIBA International Prize. This “formidably rigorous” award will be presented in November to the architects of the building considered to be”the most significant and inspirational of the year.”

Heydar Aliyev Centre. Zaha Hadid Architects. 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo: Hufton + Crow)

courtesy riba

PARK ROYAL on Pickering. WOHA Architects Pte Ltd. Singapore. (Photo: Patrick Bingham Hall)

Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies. Mangera Yvars Architects Ltd. 2015, Doha, Qatar. (Photo: Qatar Foundation)

Jockey Club Innovation Tower. Zaha Hadid Architects. 2014, Hung Hom. (Photo: Iwan Baan)

courtesy riba

Sancaklar Mosque. Emre Arolat Architects. 2012, Büyükçekmece, Turkey. (Photo: Cemal Emden)

VIA at West 57th. BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). 2016, New York City. (Photo: Nic Lehoux0

courtesy riba

Europaallee Baufeld E. Caruso St John Architects. 2013, Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo: Georg Aerni)

Rundeskogen. dRMM Architects, Helen and Hard Architects. 2013, Stravanger. (Photo: Alex de Rijke)

Oita Prefecture Art Museum. Shigeru Ban Architects. 2014, Oita, Japan. (Photo: Hiroyuki Hirai)

Fulton Center. Grimshaw, HDR, Page Ayres Cowley Architects. New York, USA. (Photo: James Ewing)

Tula House. Patkau Architects. 2015, Heriot Bay, Quadra Island, Canada. (Photo: James Dow)

Public Library of Constitucion. Sebastian Irarrazaval Arquitectos. 2015, Constitucion, Chile. (Photo: Felipe Diaz)

Buenos Aires Ciudad Casa de Gobierno. Foster + Partners. 2015, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Nigel Young)

Culture House Rozet. Neutelings Riedijk Architects. 2013, Arnhem, Netherlands. (Photo: Scagliola Brakee)

courtesy riba

Saint Louis Art Museum. David Chipperfield Architects. 2013, St Louis, USA. (Photo: Simon Menges)

coutesy riba

The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Agence d'architecture Philippe Prost. Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France.(Photo: Aitor Ortiz)

Saint Trinitatis Catholic Church. Schulz und Schulz. 2015, Leipzig, Germany. (Photo: Simon Menges)

SkyTerrace. SCDA Architects Pte Ltd. 2015, Singapore. (Aaron Pocock)

St Angela's College Cork. O'Donnell + Tuomey. 2015, Cork, Ireland. (Photo: Alice Clancy)

Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library. DRDH Architects. Bodø, Norway. (Photo: David Grandorge)

UTEC. Grafton Architects. 2015, Lima, Peru. (Photo: Iwan Baan)

courtesy riba

Dlr Lexicon. Carr Cotter & Naessens. 2014, Dún Laoghaire Co. Dublin, Ireland. (Photo: Dennis Gilbert)

Andong Hospital. Rural Urban Framework. 2013, Baojing County, China. (Photo: Jose Campos)

Fine Arts Museum of Asturias. Francisco Mangado, Mangado y Asociados. 2015. Oviedo, Spain. (Photo: Pedro Pregenaute)

Museo Jumex. David Chipperfield Architects. 2013, Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo: Simon Menges)

Invisible House. Peter Stutchbury Architecture. Hampton Australia. (Photo: Michael Nicholson)

Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre. Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados. 2015, Ribeira Grande, Portugal. (Photo: Jose Campos)

European Hansemuseum. Studio Andreas Heller Architects & Designers. 2015, Lübeck, Germany. (Photo: Werner Huthmacher)

Farming Kindergarten. Vo Trong Nghia Architects. 2013, Bien Hoa City, Vietnam. (Photo: Hiroyuki Oki)

Office Building, Moganshan Road. David Chipperfield Architects. Hangshou, China. (Photo: Simon Menges)

The grand jury that makes the final decision on which building this will be is chaired by Richard Rogers, an architect famous for two 20th century ‘greats’, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Lloyd’s Building in the City of London. He is supported by four other architectural luminaries – Kunlé Adeyemi, Philip Gumuchdjian, Marilyn Jordan Taylor and Billie Tsien.

Building greatness

Rogers and his fellow judges have strict criteria to guide them. The chosen building has to demonstrate “visionary, innovative thinking and excellence of execution, while making a generous contribution to society and to its physical context - be it the public realm, the natural environment or both,” according to RIBA.

But these architects know full well that truly great buildings – the ones that catch our eyes, steal our hearts and send shivers up our spines – are rare, and that while good and even special buildings may emerge in any one year, none might be truly great.

As Frank Gehry, architect of the much-feted Guggenheim Museum Bilbao says, “Architecture should speak of its time and place but yearn for timelessness.”

We can date buildings of all eras with remarkable precision today, yet there are those – from the Pyramids at Giza and the Parthenon in Athens through to Mies’s Barcelona Pavilion, Le Corbusier’s pilgrimage chapel at Ronchamp and, yes, Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim – that will thrill people for centuries to come.

Some of these are imposing constructions, others modest, and not all of them have been costly to build.

“Making a great building is not about having lots of money, though you could make an argument that money helps,” says Richard Rogers. “Some of the best British architects have used the humble barn as the basis for intelligent, sophisticated and new buildings.”

Indeed, Rogers could have mentioned Mies, who traveled to London to receive RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1959. When asked by his hosts if he would like to visit some British buildings, the great architect chose to visit just one – the cathedral-like early 14th century timber and stone tithe barn at Bradford-on-Avon in rural Wiltshire.

Whether cheap or costly, humble or aloof, the timeless quality of great buildings has much to do with proportions, ratios and mathematics as it does with intangible poetic qualities.

As the influential 20th century American architect Louis Kahn put it, “a great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.”

Agents of change

As timeless as they may be, what makes a great a building is changing and has been since the Pompidou Centre in Paris was completed in 1977 to designs by Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano and structural engineer Peter Rice.

To many at the time, this iconoclastic public art gallery was an affront: wearing its insides on its outside, it was portrayed as a parody of an oil refinery. Even Rogers likes to tell the story of an elderly Parisian lady who hit him with her umbrella when he admitted that he was one of the building’s architects.

For judge Philip Gumuchdjian, the Pompidou was striking for quite different reasons.

“The importance of the experience for me was to suddenly turn a street corner in Paris and to see a completely new concept of building, of public space, of institution,” he says. “For the very first time in my life I realized that architects, architecture, a building, could change the way society functions, changes and moves forward.”

So a great building can be an agent of change, not purely in terms of structure or aesthetics, but socially, too.

Future forms

In the second decade of the 21st century, the latest developments in computer design and robotic construction mean that the ultimate form of future buildings may morph as they emerge from the ground. This is a complete change to traditional building design, yet it may give us great buildings imbued with a new kind of beauty.

courtesy GORPROJECT

The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has released a comprehensive list of the world's twisting tall buildings that are either completed or under construction. From Shanghai to Dubai, CNN takes a look at these spectacular spiraled skyscrapers, as well as some of the other tallest buildings in the world.

JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Topping CTBUH's list in terms of height is Shanghai Tower, which twirls 632 meters (2,073 feet) into the sky.

Connie Zhou/courtesy gensler

Shanghai Tower is also the tallest building in China, and the second tallest skyscraper in the world after the famous Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Connie Zhou/courtesy gensler

Located in Shanghai's burgeoning Lujiazui financial district and designed by architects Marshall Strabala and Jun Xia from the firm Gensler, its twisted form accommodates strong typhoon winds. The tower was completed at the end of 2015.

via lakhta center press center

Although not yet completed, the second tallest twisted building on CTBUH's list is the Lakhta Center, a tower in St Petersburgh, Russia.

via lakhta center press center

Designed by British architect Tony Kettle in conjunction with Gorproject, the tower has a projected height of 462 meters (1,516 feet) and is due to be completed by the end of 2018.

Bjarke Ingels Group

'The Eleventh' towers in Manhattan, New York, will have a rotating aesthetic that gives the appearance of movement. The towers, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, will stand 300 and 400 feet tall when they are completed in 2019.

designed by Andrew Bromberg at Aedas

A residential skyscraper in Dubai Marina, Ocean Heights stands 310 meters (1,017 feet) tall and has 83 floors. The tower is the second highest twisting tall building that's been completed and was designed by American architect, Andrew Bromberg from Aedas.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Completed in 2013 and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Cayan Tower soars 306 meters (1,005 feet) into the sky. It's the third tallest twisted tower in the world that's complete, according to CTBUH.

courtesy GORPROJECT

A white ribbon wraps around Moscow's stunning Evolution Tower, which topped out at 246 meters (807 feet) when completed in 2015.

courtesy GORPROJECT

Inspired by the city's St Basil Cathedral and Russia's never completed Talin's Tower, the chief architect for design was Philip Nikandrov, from Gorproject.

JOHAN NILSSON/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The world's first ever twisted tall building was the 190 meter (623 feet) Turning Torso, which was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2005.

AFP/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

"The unconventional form of a twisting building means every component of tall building design must be rethought," says the CTBUH report author, Shawn Ursini.

Iwan Baan/courtesy MAD Architects

Dubbed the 'Marilyn Monroe' towers by local residents due to its fluid, natural lines, Absolute World Towers was designed by MAD architects.

Tom Arban Photography Inc

Absolute World's two twisted towers stand at 176 meters (577 feet) and 158 meters (518 feet) tall.

istockphoto

Claiming the crown for the world's tallest building upon its completion in 2010, the Burj Khalifa stands a massive 198 meters (650 feet) above its nearest completed competitor.

image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group

However, the Burj Khalifa's 828 meter (2,717 feet) mark on Dubai's skyline may soon be eclipsed by a new mega-tall skyscraper.

image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group

Although not yet officially named, 'The Tower' at Dubai Creek Harbour will be 100m taller than the Burj Khalifa.

image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group

The Santiago Calatrava designed tower is expected to be completed in 2020 and will hold ten observation decks in its oval-shaped peak.

Jeddah Economic Company/Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Also competing for the title of the world's tallest building is Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the tower aims to break the 1 km (3,280 feet) threshold upon its expected completion in 2019. Such innovation doesn't come cheap - the building is expected to cost $1.23 billion.

Taking the race to even further extremes, a proposal for a tower double the height of the Burj Khalifa was unveiled In Feburary by Kohn Pefersen Fox Associates (KPF) and Leslie E Robertson Associates (LERA).

Kohn Pedersen Fox

The 1,600 meter -- one entire mile -- tower is part of a future city concept named "Next Tokyo 2045," which envisions a floating mega-city in Tokyo Bay.

DBOX

In December 2015, plans were unveiled for 1 Undershaft -- a 300 meter (984 feet) tall building that could become the City of London's tallest skyscraper.

DBOX

1 Undershaft will sit across the river from London's existing tallest building, The Shard, which sits 309 meters (1,013 feet) above London at its highest point.

Courtesy CIM Group

432 Park Avenue, the tallest all-residential tower in the western hemisphere, opened its doors in December 2015 and recently became the hundredth supertall building in the world. The 425.5 meter (1,396 feet) building was designed by Rafael Vinoly of SLCE Architects.

STAN HONDA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Known as the "Freedom Tower," One World Trade Center stands on part of the site previously occupied by the Twin Towers. At 541 meters (1,776 feet) it's the highest building in the western hemisphere, and cost $3.9 billion according to Forbes. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Taiwan Tourism

The first skyscraper to break the half-kilometer mark, Taipei 101 stands at 508 meters (1,667 feet) tall. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners to withstand the elements -- including typhoons, earthquakes and 216 km/h winds -- Taipei 101 utilizes a 660-tonne mass damper ball suspended from the 92nd floor, which sways to offset the movement of the building.

ChinaFotoPress/Getty Image

Construction of Shanghai's third supertall building took 11 years, but the skyscraper dubbed "The Bottle Opener" was met with critical praise and high-end residents when it was completed in 2008. At 492 meters (1,614 feet) tall, the Kohn Pederson Fox building's residents include the Park Hyatt Shanghai and offices for Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas.

ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong's tallest building has 108 floors -- but walking around it, you'd get a different story. The city's tetraphobia -- the fear of the number four -- means floors with the number have been skipped and the 484 meter (1,588 feet) tall International Commerce Center is marketed as a 118-story skyscraper. The building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The joint eighth highest completed skyscraper is still the tallest twin towers in the world at 451.9 meters (1,483 feet). Finished in 1996 and inaugurated in 1999, it's been the site of numerous hair-raising stunts. Felix Baumgartner set a then-BASE jump world record in 1999 by jumping off a window cleaning crane, and in 2009 Frenchman Alain Robert, known as "Spiderman," freeclimbed to the top of Tower Two without safety equipment -- and did so in under two hours. It was designed by Cesar Pelli.

Teddy Cross

Completed in March 2016, the Lotte World Tower is Seoul's first supertall skyscraper, and currently the sixth tallest building in the world. At 556 meters (1,824 feet) tall, the building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates.

“A great building is one that cannot have been imagined before it was created,” Gumuchdjian notes. “It’s a building that inserts inspiration into the backdrop of our every day life, a building that pulls us together as a society, a building that questions the way we live and empowers us to expand our understanding of the possible.”

Ultimately the judges of the first RIBA International Prize will be looking for a building that reflects the guiding philosophy of the studio Billie Tsien runs with her partner Tod Williams in New York.

Tsien says that she and Williams try to “make buildings that will last and…leave good marks upon the earth,” and names time and love as the two essential ingredients that make a great building.

“Nothing is immediately great, but we see architecture as an act of profound optimism. Its foundation lies in believing that it is possible to make places on the earth that can give a sense of grace to life – and believing that this matters. It is what we have to give and it is what we leave behind,” she and Tod write.

Transcendence, endurance and love. Here are three qualities the RIBA might want to add to Roman architect Vitruvius’s famous 1st century list of essential qualities of architecture – “commodity, firmness and delight” – to evoke the spirit their judges hope to find in the finest building of 2016.

It might just turn out to be truly great architecture, too.