30 St. Mary Axe, London WC1 - Foster and Partners (odds: 5-2, the favourite) Enlarge Image

The Swiss Re building, more commonly known as The Erotic Gherkin, sometimes referred to as the Towering Innuendo, but properly titled 30 St Mary Axe, was the favourite on the short list for this year's �20,000 Stirling Prize for the greatest contribution to British architecture.

That's not because the others aren't in their own ways amazing buildings, but merely because the Gherkin has so quickly become such a recognisable symbol of the capital.

William Hill named the Foster and Partners building as the favourite to win the prize.

But the competition was pretty impressive too.

Kunsthaus, Graz - Peter Cook, Colin Fournier (odds: 4-1) Enlarge Image

The Kunsthaus, in Graz, Austria, designed by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier is just as unusual as the Gherkin, if not more-so.

Architecture critic Giles Worsley calls it "some great bulbous sea urchin or perhaps a deformed liver, with scaly skin and protruding ventricles, dropped into the middle of a Baroque town," adding that it "deliberately asserts its alien quality".

Imperial War Museum North, Manchester - Studio Daniel Libeskind (odds: 5-1) Enlarge Image

The Imperial War Museum North, in Manchester, designed by the Studio Daniel Libeskind, has been called one of the "six wonders of the post-carbuncle world".

One critic said the building "encapsulates the commitment to remember the heroism and horror of war coupled with the undertone of embarrassment at the colonialist glorification of British military history".

Libeskind is the architect for the World Trade Center site.

Phoenix Initiative, Coventry - MacCormac Jamieson Prichard (odds: 4-1) Enlarge Image

The Phoenix Initiative, Coventry, by MacCormac Jamieson Prichard, is a regeneration project which aims to show off what Coventry already has to offer to maximum effect.

As well as linking the cathedral and Coventry Transport Museum, the initiative provides new public spaces, housing, offices and leisure facilities.

Business Academy Bexley, Foster and Partners, odds 5-1 Enlarge Image

The Business Academy in Bexley, another Foster and Partners work, is cited as an example of how a building can have an impact on people's lives.

Before its regeneration, the school had among the worst GCSE results in the country. But since its relaunch, and in its new environment, performance has soared, and this year its pass rate had jumped by 18 times.

The Spire, Dublin - Ian Ritchie Architects (odds: 3-1) Enlarge Image