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Institute for Sound and Vision, The Netherlands
Along with architecture firm Neutelings Riedijk, Jaap Drupsteen covered the façade of the massive media archive and museum with images from Dutch television, abstracted into a giant four-sided mural and baked directly onto cast glass. (Design by Neutelings Riedijk Architecten/Photo by Scagliola Brakkee)
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The Golden Temple, Amritsar, India
This most sacred Sikh shrine sits in the middle of what was once a wooded lake. The radiance of this gilded building is amplified by reflections in the surrounding water and the devotional music that emanates from the temple. (Geetesh Bajaj)
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Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE
This 60-story sail-shaped hotel was designed to be a national icon. But the interior is where the beauty lies: a nearly 600-foot-tall atrium. The undersides of tier after tier of semicircular balconies reveal a spectrum of colours. (Courtesy of Burj al Arab)
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Sagrada Família, Barcelona
Antoni Gaudí spent more than 40 years on this glorious, chaotically complex, Gothic-Art Nouveau cathedral. Though he died in 1926, construction continues today. Completion is scheduled for sometime between 2017 and 2026. (Kelly Kollar)
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National Congress Hall, Brasilia, Brazil
Architect Oscar Niemeyer’s colonnaded marvel, with its grand sci-fi entrance ramp, skinny twin towers, and two bowl-shaped meeting halls, treats the business of government as a monumental work of art. (Courtesy of Embratur)
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