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The world’s 8 most beautiful skyscrapers

9 October 2015
Sam RigbyFeatures correspondent
News imageAlamy Chrysler Building, New York CityAlamy
Chrysler Building, New York City
Architecture
Design
Chicago Architecture Biennial

Watch
News imageGetty Images 918989580 1

Should we all live in '15-minute cities'?

We explore a different model of city life, where everything is on your doorstep.

Design
News imageLubljana

Inside the stunning 'new Athens' of Central Europe

Jože Plečnik transformed the city of Ljubljana into a 'Slovenian Acropolis'.

Design
News image2 DG96 AR

How an 'erotic' body part inspires a legendary designer

What exactly inspires the haute couture designer and self-confessed cobbler, Manolo Blahnik?

Fashion
News imageBridge1

A close look at the highest railway bridge in the world

The Chenab Rail Bridge is a scenic bridge 35m (114ft) higher than the Eiffel Tower.

Design
News imageZEROe Airbus concept aircraft

Can redesigning aeroplanes save the planet?

Discover some radical solutions that could make air travel more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Design
News imageThe utopian town built by 8,000 people in the desert

The utopian town built by 8,000 people in the desert

The utopian town built by 8,000 people in the high desert of Arizona.

Design
News imageScreen Shot 2020 12 03 at 6 11 12 PM

The Japanese project rethinking society through its toilets

This Tokyo project is reimagining the city though its public toilets.

Design
News imageLongyearbyen 1

Could you live in Norway’s most extreme town?

Longyearbyen is the world’s northernmost permanent settlement.

Design
News imageArt in the age of social distancing

Online festival celebrates arts affected by Covid-19

Playwright Nick Green launched the Social Distancing Festival to shine a spotlight on lost projects.

Design
News imageExtinction 1

Why humanity should embrace its ‘inevitable’ extinction

The end is nigh. Can design save our planet?

Design
News imageCreating new life

'Should we create new life if we can't protect what exists?'

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg explores the human impulse to 'better' the world.

Design
News imageVertical forest milan

How incredible ‘living homes’ could save the climate

Combining living systems with architecture can create more sustainable ways to design and build cities.

Design
News imageTeng CHEN Still 1 Maximalism vs minimalism

The extreme homes of maximalists and minimalists

In a world obsessed with decluttering, some people find beauty in an overstuffed apartment.

Design
News imageBuildings

Could Earth’s entire population live in one mega-city?

Can architecture help us prepare for the future?

Design
News imageUrinal men's toilet

Are we living in a man's world?

Parts of modern Barcelona show what a city designed by women, rather than men, might look like.

Design
News imageThe glass house designed for the desert

The miraculous house in the middle of the desert

Could innovative design help us live in more extreme conditions in the future?

Design
News imageThe garden of six qualities

The garden of six qualities

The expansive park-like garden of Kenroku-en is Japan’s perfectly imperfect version of nature.

Design
News imageBuilding an island to solve a housing crisis

Can an island solve a Nordic housing crisis?

A bold solution for a Scandinavian housing shortage

Design
News imageLEGO: the invention of the legendary brick

LEGO: the invention of the legendary brick

The son of the inventor Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen talks about his family's extraordinary business.

Design
News imageNorway’s dramatic underwater restaurant

The world’s largest undersea restaurant

Along with gastronomy, it showcases what lies in the Nordic Seas.

Design

More from the BBC
19 Feb 2026
News imageA grand home with green lawns and a water feature in front (Credit: William Abranozicz)

The historic US home that embodied the super-rich

The largest privately owned home in the US, Biltmore House was an "American chateau built on the scale of a European palace". It reveals much about the dreams of the US's one per cent.

19 Feb 2026
10 Feb 2026
News imageInterior with wooden staircase and blue walls (Credit: Richard Powers/ The Iconic Nordic House)

Eight iconic Nordic homes throughout history

These design masterworks reveal the origins of Scandi style – and they all emerge from a distinctive vision of "soft modernism" that still influences how we live now.

10 Feb 2026
13 Jan 2026
News imageExterior of a modern tree house in a forest overlooking a lake and mountains (Credit: Woodnest/ Sindre Ellingsen)

10 of the world's most spectacular tree houses

Treetop living is not just for kids. These architect-designed, "nest-like" dwellings – created in forests all over the world – are the ultimate sky-high retreats from urban living.

13 Jan 2026
6 Jan 2026
News imageA red sofa with decorative pillows and artwork of animals hung on the wall behind (Credit: Imogen Rosemary/ Tabby Booth artist)

Eight quick fixes to revitalise your home

How to transform your living space for the new year – and create a unique, artisan-style look, without spending on "fast furniture".

6 Jan 2026
24 Dec 2025
News imageThe Pacific Ocean seen from the ISS in orbit (Credit: Don Pettit/ Nasa)

The ISS: 25 years in 25 numbers

The International Space Station (ISS) is humanity's most expensive object and has been in orbit for 25 years. Read its fascinating history, told in 25 numbers.

24 Dec 2025

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