Museo Guggenheim in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao, opened in 1997, is one of the most influential and striking buildings in modern architecture. With its ribbon-like sheets of titanium and its collection of interconnecting blocks, the museum gives a nod to Bilbao's industrialism but also to the saucer-like curves of Frank Lloyd Wright's Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Perched high above the holy city of Lhasa is the former seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of the Dalai Lama. More notable now for its imposing presence than its residents, this huge construction is 13 stories high, contains thousands of rooms, and is styled like a traditional Buddhist gompa (temple), if significantly more elaborate. More than 7,000 workers were said to have been involved in its construction during the 7th century AD.Potala Palace is now a state museum of China, and has been given a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

4. La Sagrada Familia, Spain



Surely the most extraordinary church on the planet, from the mind of one of history's most eccentric designers: Antoni Gaudí. With its tapering towers like the straightened arms of an octopus, construction of Sagrada Família began in 1882, though Gaudí's vision was so complex that the church is still unfinished. It will ultimately feature three façades and 18 towers, the tallest of them (557 feet) representing Jesus Christ.

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