A thousand-year-old library, a sanctuary suspended over a river, a museum-bridge, and a brutalist church along with temples, mausoleums, and UNESCO-listed mosques: Time Out’s new list of the 24 most beautiful buildings in the world is a curated exploration of global architecture that has shaped, and continues to shape, collective memory. From Asia to the Americas, each structure stands as a fusion of art, engineering, and cultural identity.
These are not just aesthetically outstanding buildings, but works that have left — or are destined to leave — a lasting mark across centuries or even millennia. Outstanding examples include the pyramids of Giza, the rock-carved Ad-Dayr in Petra, the Roman Pantheon, and the Taj Mahal, which opens the list: commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, it is still regarded today as one of the finest achievements of Mughal architecture.
From India, the list moves to Iceland, home to the Hallgrímskirkja cathedral in Reykjavík. Its striking silhouette was inspired by basalt columns formed by volcanic eruptions. Eight of the 24 selected works are located in Europe, such as the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris by Frank Gehry, a reinterpretation of the late 19th-century greenhouse, rendered in sweeping glass sails. Also featured is the Long Room of Trinity College in Dublin, the Kistefos Sculpture Park in Norway, and the Maggie’s Centre at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, an oncological care center designed to offer visual and emotional comfort through warm architecture and natural materials..
Africa is represented by two projects, vastly different in style and substance. The Komera Leadership Centre in Rwanda, designed to empower young women through space and education, and the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali, built from sun-dried mud-brick, it exemplifies Sahelian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Remarkably, the mosque is re-plastered annually in a collective ritual called Crépissage de la Grand Mosquée, involving the entire community.
Here is the full list of the 24 selected buildings:
1. Taj Mahal, India
2. Hallgrímskirkja, Iceland
3. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
4. Fallingwater, United States
5. Ad-Dayr in Petra, Jordan
6. Louis Vuitton Foundation, France
7. Trinity College Library, Ireland
8. Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali
9. Nasir Ol Molk Mosque, Iran
10. The Twist, Norway
11. Sagrada Familia, Spain
12. Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Bangladesh
13. Pantheon, Italy
14. Palmenhaus, Schönbrunn Palace, Austria
15. Bát Tràng Ceramic Community House, Vietnam
16. Eldridge Street Museum, United States
17. Las Lajas Shrine, Colombia
18. Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Australia
19. Maggie's Centre, St James's Hospital, United Kingdom
20. Baháʼí Temple of South America, Chile
21. Futuna Chapel, New Zealand
22. Komera Leadership Center, Rwanda
23. National Holocaust Monument, Canada
24. Enryaku-ji Temple, Japan