On the commute in this morning I was reading about the new
Large Hadron Collider soon to be opened at CERN running through Switzerland and France. I was thinking about this a few months back and wondered if this was essentially something that will be a potential WHS in the future. I think it would make a pretty decent site, as long as it doesn't destroy the universe as some critics have argued.
I was trying to think if there were any current or recent projects that could be included in the list in the future.
The one that has made the biggest impression on me in the last few years has been Valencia's
City of Arts and Sciences. There are plenty of European cities trying to regenerate themselves with landmark projects but so far this one has been the most impressive. And also I am quite a big fan of Santiago Calatrava.
I was trying to steer away from just listing Iconic Modern buildings, but think that perhaps the
Bilbao Guggenheim would stand out as the best of the bunch (
Judische Museum Berlin, Beijing's
'Birds nest' Stadium, Weil am Rhine's
fire Station and
Design museum , The '
Gherkin' in London).
Though I am yet to visit it but
The Millau Viaduct in southern France would certainly be something I could see finding its way on to the list in the future, it would make a good companion piece to le Pont du Gard.
I know that this was an issue with Brasilia but I was just wondering how long people think something has to be in existence before it becomes a WHS?
100, 50, 20,10 years? Or if its good enough could a new project get straight on if it is of outstanding universal value?
