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27. Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Toronto, Canada
Architect Daniel Libeskind was selected from around 50 finalists in an international competition to imagine the renaissance of this museum at the start of the new millenium. The extension’s centrepiece, the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, takes its name from five intersecting metal-clad prisms – which call crystals to mind and were inspired by the mineralogy galleries within the museum. As the largest museum in Canada, the design has won several awards since its opening in 2007.
28. The Turning Torso, Malmö, Sweden
Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, this was the world’s first twisting skyscraper and, at 190 meters, Sweden’s tallest. Opened in 2005, the building’s design was inspired by a sculpture of the same name – and created by the same designer. Comprised of asymmetrical shapes, the ‘torso’ is made up of nine sections of five-story pentagons, each of which rotate 90 degrees as the height increases. Connected by a steel exoskeleton, all of the energy used in the building comes from sustainable sources.
