NEW YORK (AP) -
Architectural triumphs in Chicago, Seattle, London,
Germany and Japan have made it on to Conde Nast
Traveler's list of the "new seven wonders of the
world."
The magazine's April issue honours Millennium Park
in Chicago with two spots on the list - one for Cloud
Gate, a stainless steel sculpture that reflects the
viewer, the park and the city, and the other for Frank
Gehry's footbridge spanning Columbus Drive, connecting
the outdoor amphitheatre and Grant Park.
Also on the list are:
-A 40-storey London building, located at 30 St.
Mary Axe, affectionately nicknamed the Gherkin, a
reference to its unusual curved structure. A steel
lattice built atop the reflective glass exterior makes
it look like the tower is wrapped in ribbons of black
and silver diamonds.
-The Matsumoto Performing Arts Center, two hours
east of Tokyo, where walls of undulating concrete
feature hand-cut windows, shaped like the holes in
Swiss cheese and designed to bring to mind the
region's abundant snowfall.
-The Seattle Public Library, a light-filled glass
cathedral with a honeycomb mesh exterior. The building
offers sweeping views of the city, and four floors are
arranged in a gently sloping spiral so visitors can
move between levels without stairs or elevators.
-A fashion palace in Tokyo's high-end Ginza
district for Dior couture. The five-storey glass box
has white acrylic panels that flow like fabric on a
skirt.
-The Langen Foundation art galleries outside
Duesseldorf, Germany, which consist of two distinct
structures - Japanese works on display in a concrete
block enveloped in glass, surrounded by a reflecting
pool, and European works in underground concrete
galleries that are intended to remind visitors of the
classified NATO missile site once housed here.
