There’s something we humans can’t help but find appealing about glass structures. Whether it’s the impossibility of what appears to be a brittle substance that can withstand massive loads, or its sheer transparency, the result is usually the same: a pretty cool-looking building.
Here’s a selection – some more famous than others – of the most impressive glass structures we’ve seen so far.
This list is provided by Anglican House.
Louvre
We can start with the obvious: Built in 1989, the main entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, is a somewhat monolithic-looking glass pyramid that reaches more than 20 meters in the middle of the museum square.
This pyramid is a cultural classic and has been made into a number of films, and is an essential part of Dan Brown’s pop-classics, The Da Vinci Code.
Fractions
The Shard is a very large hotel which opened in London in early 2013. It is made up of 11,000 individual glass panels and is over a thousand feet high.
During the opening ceremony, they put on a laser light show which made it look like alien spaceships were attacking London. The highest score.
Gherkins
The Gherkin will be celebrating its 10th yearth anniversary since construction in December 2013. The 180-metre-tall glass structure has gone by several names since appearing on the River Thames, including St Mary Ax and the Swiss Re Building.
Selgas Cano Office
This Madrid office uses glass to create a tube of office space amidst a vibrant forest. Unsurprisingly, Selgas Cano is a company of a group of architects.
Willis Tower
This is a large, fairly upside-down skyscraper that used to be called the Sears Tower. There are 108 stories in the tower, and several of them feature iconic sky decks that look absolutely terrifying to stand on.
Basque Health Headquarters
The Basque Health Headquarters is a large irregular black glass building located at a very busy crossroads in Bilbao, Spain. Perhaps even more striking about this place is that the Basques are an autonomous community within Spain.
Kanagawa Institute of Technology
There’s no particular history about this school building, but you can’t say it’s not great to look at.
Santambrogiomilano Greenhouse
This glass cube house looks like it’s so high concept that we’ll have to wait a while to see if it’s actually real and not a highly skilled Photoshop gimmick. Almost everything in the house is made of glass, except for the bed.
Privacy issues were addressed by placing the house in an open forest.
Parc du Futuroscope
A French amusement park with a unique sharp mirrored glass structure as its main feature- This is French luxury at its finest.
The Great Glass House
Perhaps one of the lesser known buildings on the list, the Great Greenhouse is in Wales and is reportedly the largest single span greenhouse in the world and houses the country’s national botanical gardens. The design is inspired by raindrops on the ground.
David is a UK-based writer passionate about home improvement and design.
