Big buildings

Few buildings are as iconic as the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku. The masterpiece was completed in 2012 and is the brainchild of Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, who have also designed the BMW Central Building (Leipzig, Germany), MAXXI (Rome, Italy) and London Aquatics Center - just to mention a few. Most visitors to Heydar Aliyev just wander the massive grounds to take in the vast building complex from every angle, but the cultural center actually host various concerts in addition to the odd permanent exhibition of gifts received by Azerbaijan's presidents.

There are few sites of historical relevance in the Gulf region. Instead, icons of modernity erupt from the desert sands. The Emirates has its Burj Khalifa. Kuwait has its Kuwait Towers. For Bahrain, its iconic building is the World Trade Centre. Marketed as the country's first SMART building, the symbiotic 50-storey towers (240 m) boast a fully integrated IT infrastructure. But beyond that, its the expansive views, business facilities and high-end shopping and dining options that are the attraction for most visitors. Frankly, the Centre's space age appearance is probably what most people will remember most. In a country lacking in major attractions, the WTC in Manama would have to qualify as a highlight.

Once the highest building in the world, it is now downgraded to the tallest twin towers. Built in 1998, the builindg rises almost a half kilometre (451.9 m) towards the sky. There are 88 floors, but the tallest observation deck for the public is disappointingly only on the bottom level of the double decked skybridge on the 41st and 42nd floors. The rest of the building is boring office spaces and off limits for tourists. The towers' design is based on Islamic architecture and Chinese numerology (8 is a lucky number... the 88 floors, octagonal plan, etc.) and is a fairly impressive sight, especially at night when the glass and steel structure is lit up.

Falowiec is a wavy apartment block from the early 1970s during the communist era. Falowiec literally means wavy in Polish. There are eight of those in the otherwise drab district of Przymorze in Gdansk. The block at Obrońców Wybrzeża street is apparently the longest with 860m, which also makes it the longest apartment block in Europe. With more than 6000 people living in that one block, what a street party they could have.

This 38-story skyscraper is very different from anything else in Barcelona. It was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and completed in 2005. With its slender round bullet shape, Torre Agbar resembles a bit the Gherkin in London. Currently, Torre Agbar's 144 m makes it the highest building in Barcelona, but it will be surpassed by the Sagrada Familia (170 m) once that's complete. Though the public has no access to the inside of Torre Agbar, it's still an impressive sight, particularly at night when the tower is illuminated by 4,500 glass panels. The constant colour change makes it look like a giant lava lamp.

Taipei 101 is sticking more than half a kilometre into the sky (509.2 m) and has 101 floors above ground and 5 under. It was once the tallest building in the world, but is today overtaken by Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It's an impressive construction shaped like bamboo with a size that is hard to grasp no matter where you stand in Taipei. It's possible to visit the observatory decks on the 89th (inside) and 91st (outside) floors for a fee. The lower levels are, of course, shopping malls and office spaces.

Burj Khalifa is ridiculously tall, 828 m (plus a small tip) to be more precise, making it the tallest building in world. It's so tall that every other building in Dubai, even other super-tall skyscrapers, look tiny compared to this sleek shiny tower which seems to disappear into the sky. From the air the tower looks like a symmetric Y, a design apparently inspired from a lily, but from the ground it resembles an elegant sci-fi rocket. The 163 floors - where the top one is at 621 m - are used for both corporations, residences and hotels. Yes, here you can stay in an Armani suite. At first, during the construction, it was called Burj Dubai, but when completed it changed name to Burj Khalifa, probably in honor of Sheikh Khalifa, emir of Abu Dhabi, as he bailed out the project when it was badly needed.

After the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building is probably the most well-known icon of New York City. It was completed in 1931 as the tallest building (381 m or 1,250 ft.) in the world with 102 floors, a title it kept for 41 years. Today, it is still the tallest building in New York after the destruction of the World Trade Center (417 m or 1,368 ft.). Strangely enough, the Empire State Building has also been hit by a plane. In 1945, a small US B-25 bomber flew into the 79th floor by accident, killing 11 office workers along with the plane's three crew members. Luckily, the building kept standing, so we today can enjoy the magnificent views of New York from the outside observation deck right at the top.