mjobrienarchitect

Great buildings are buildings I've found to have useful lessons built into them, some lessons are formal, some conceptual, some spatial or constructive but all contain something to learn, that's why they are on this list, and why the list continues to grow, there is no shortage of great buildings in the world, I hope you can learn from these and make some great buildings yourselves!

Oh, and to get back to mjobrien.com click here

Aalvar Aalto

Will Alsop

• Sharp Center for Design Toronto

Amatuer Architects Wang Shu

• Museum in Ningbo

Archea Associati

• Liling Ceramics Museum Liling
• Antinori Winery Bargio

Emilio Ambasz

• Botanical Garden San Antonio
• Mixed use building Japan

Tadao Ando

• Pulitzer Foundation
• Modern Art Museum Ft. Worth

Baumschlager and Eberle

Bellini Ricciotti

• Louvre Islamic Collection

Belzberg Associates

• Los Angeles Holocaust Museum

BIG

• Shanghai Pavilion
• NYC Pyramid

Gunnar Birkerts

• Federal Reserve Minneapolis

Bohlin Larkin Powell

• Apple Store NYC
• Ledge House 

Santiago Callatrava

• TGV Lyon
• Milwaukee Art Museum
• Toronto Galleria
• Staderhofen Station Zurich

James Cutler

• Bloedel Center

Diller Scofidio Renfro

• ICA Boston
• High Line NYC
• Broad Museum LA

EDGE studio

• Pittsburgh Subway

Peter Eisenmann

• Wexner Center for Art
• Columbus Convention Hall

Arvid Elness

• Butler Square

EMBT 

• Shanghai pavilion Spain

Ensemble Studio

• SGAE 
• Studio Teatro

FOA Foreign Office Architects

• Yokohama Terminal

Norman Foster

• Berlin Free University Library

Eugene Freyssinet

Frank Furness

Jeanne Gang

• Aqua Tower Chicago
• Lincoln Park Pavilion

Frank Gehry

• Seattle Experience Music
• Chicago Pritzker Pavilion
• Disney Concert Hall
• Paris Louis Vuitton
• AGO Gallery Toronto

Antonio Gaudi

Haakinen and Komennen

• Finnish Embassey Washington

Zaha Hadid

• Antwerp Port House
• Vitra Fire Station Weil
• Landscape Pavilion Weil
• Chanel Foundation
• Burnham Pavilion Chicago
• Heydar Alyev Museum
• Broad Museum Michigan
• Maxxi Museum Paris
• Guangzho Opera House
• Phaeno Science Ctr. Wolfsburg

Herzog & deMeuron

• Dominus Winery Napa
• Signal Boxes Basel
• Schaulager Basel
• Walker Museum Minneapolis

Steven Holl

• Hunters Point Library NYC
• St. Ignatius Chapel Seattle
• Simmons Hall MIT
• Nelson Atkins Museum Kansas
• Visual Arts Building Iowa
• Art and Architecture Museum Nanjing
• Vanke Center Shenzen
• Storefront for Art New York

Helmut Jahn

• Michigan City Public Library

Toyo Ito

• Sendai Mediatheque
• TOD'S Store, Tokyo
• Grin Grin Fukuoka

Jakob + MacFarlane

• Paris Docks
• Orange Cube
• Georges Restaurant

Jourda & Parraudin

• Mont Cenis Academy

Fay Jones

• Thorncrown Chapel Arkansas
• Crosby Arboretum Mississippi

Johnston Marklee

• Menil Drawing Institute

K2S

• Kamppi Chapel Helsinki

Louis Kahn

• Trenton Bath House NJ
• Exeter Library New Hampshire
• Kimbell Art Museum Texas
• Olivetti Warehouse, PA
• Richards Medical Building PA
• Ft. Wayne Performing Arts IN

Krueck & Sexton

• Spertus Institute Chicago

Kengo Kuma

• CG Prostho Museum

Le Corbusier

• Ronchamp Chapel Belfort
• Carpenters Center for Art Harvard
• Cultural Center Firminy
• Heidie Weber Pavilion Zurich
• La Tourette Monastery Lyon
• Maison La Roche Paris
• Villa Savoye Poissy

Lewis Tsurmaki Lewis LTL

• Art House Austin

Daniel Liebeskind

• Royal Ontario Museum Toronto
• Denver Art Museum

MAD Architects

• Absolut Towers Missagua

J Mayer H.

• Metropole Seville

Thom Mayne

• Clatrans Los Angeles
• Perot Science Center Dallas

Richard Meier

• Anatheum New Harmony
• Rachovsky Dallas
• Giovannitti Pittsburgh

Charles Moore

MVRDV

• Binhai Library Tianjin

NBBJ

• Gates Foundation Seattle

Nieto Sobejano

• San Telmo Museum

Jean Nouvell

• Arab Institute Paris
• Guthrie Theatre Minneapolis
• 100 11th Ave NYC
• Louvre Abu Dhabi

OMA / Koolhaas

• CCTV Bejing
• Wyly Theater Dallas

Patricia Patkau and Partners

• Skating Shelters Winnipeg

Joseph Paxton

Thomas Pfifer

• Brochstein Pavilion Houston
• Sun Space Houston

Renzo Piano

• Kimbell Addition Ft. Worth
• IBM Pavilion
• Nasher Sculpture Garden Dallas
• Menil Foundation Houston
• Twombly Gallery Houston
• Pathe Foundation Paris
• Tjibaou Cultural Center New Caledonia
• Kansai Airport Japan
• Beyler Museum Basel
• California Academy of Science

REX

• Wyly Theater Dallas

RDAI

• Hermes Boutique

Kevin Roche

• Ford Foundation NYC

Rudy Ricciotti

• Islamic Collection Louvre
• Stade Jean-Bouin

H. H. Richardson

• Glessner House Chicago

Fernando Romero

• Museo Soumaya Mexico City

Richard Rogers

• Patco Research Princeton
• Pompidou Center Paris

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

• Farnsworth House
• Barcelona Pavilion
• IIT Campus

Rojkind Arcquitectos

• Foro Boca Concert Hall Veracruz

Michael Rotundi RoTo

• Prairie View A&M Architecture

Eero Saarinen

• TWA terminal New York
• Dulles Airport Washington
• Gateway Arch St. Louis
• Ingalls Hockey Arena Yale
• John Deere Moline
• MIT Chapel Cambridge

Eliel Saarinen

• First Christian Church Columbus
• Concordia campus Ft. Wayne

Sanaa

• Rolex Learning Center
• Grace Farms New Canaan

Rudolph Schindler

• Kings Road Houses Los Angeles

SHOP

• 290 Mulberry St. NYC

SMBW

• Belvedere Mausoleum Salem VA

Snohetta Architects

• Charles Library Philadelphia

SOM

• Bienecke Library Yale
• Church of Christ the Light S.F.
• John Hancock and Fazlur Kahn
• Sears Tower and Fazlur Kahn
• One Shell Oil Plaza Houston

Randall Stout

• Art Museum of Western Virginia Roanoke
•   :Superstructure
•   :Roofing and Cladding

 Louis Sullivan

• National Farmers Bank Owatonna 
• Schlesinger Mayer Store Chicago

Todd Williams and Billie Tsein

• American Folk Art Museum

Peter Zumthor

• Swiss Sound Box Hanover
• Kunsthaus Bregenz
• Therme Baths Vals
• Bruder Klaus Chapel
• St. Benedict Chapel

I think this column will become a list of pre-1800's great buildings at some point in the future.