What are some easily identifiable landmarks?

September 29, 2008 2:59 PM

I'm working on a project and I need to create a collage of landmarks (the idea being a sort of national or global skyline, if you will). Specifically, I need US-based landmarks, and then international landmarks. I'm looking for help coming up with any visually obvious landmarks I might have missed.

Here's what I've got so far:

US-
Hollywood sign, Space Needle, Golden Gate Bridge, St. Louis Arch, Mt. Rushmore, Washington Monument, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty

International-
London Tower, Stonehenge, Eiffel Tower, Tower of Pisa, Pyramids, Taj Mahal, St. Basil's Cathedral, Great Wall of China

OK, hive mind- what have I missed?

posted by JReed to media & arts (24 comments total)

CN Tower in Toronto, Canada
posted by pseudostrabismus at 3:03 PM on September 29, 2008

Christ the Redeemer in Rio.
posted by rtha at 3:14 PM on September 29, 2008

Sydney Opera House
posted by craichead at 3:16 PM on September 29, 2008

Parthenon, Coliseum
posted by celkins at 3:17 PM on September 29, 2008

Awesome... all good ideas. Funny how your mind can miss stuff that you'd think would be obvious at first glance!

Keep 'em coming... thanks!
posted by JReed at 3:20 PM on September 29, 2008

Does it have to be actual structures, or generic representations? A pagoda would make me instantly think Japan (or the Far East, in general).

Mt. Fiji?
posted by SuperSquirrel at 3:31 PM on September 29, 2008

No, it doesn't necessarily need to be a specific structure, or a structure at all really. Anything that represents a particular part of the world (without being too much of a generalization) works.

I guess an example of 'too much of a generalization' would be something like an igloo- it's just too cartoonish. The idea is to communicate global (and national) community via a global skyline. Hopefully that makes some sort of sense.
posted by JReed at 3:35 PM on September 29, 2008

maybe the Sears Tower in Chicago? (I know I always recognize it when I see it, but don't know if it's as internationally recognized by shape as, say, the Empire State Building.)

Rocky Mountains for Denver? (Maybe too generalized.) Niagara Falls?
posted by scody at 3:40 PM on September 29, 2008

Tikal
The Dome of the Rock
The Temple of Heaven
Bank of China Tower
posted by Rhaomi at 3:51 PM on September 29, 2008

@scody - I was thinking about Sears tower but I wondered if enough people would recognize it. The Rockies are a good idea (and I had been thinking about it). I have no idea how I'd represent Niagra Falls in a skyline, though. :)

@Rhaomi - Cool, thanks. The links are really helpful!
posted by JReed at 3:58 PM on September 29, 2008

A little cheesy, but recognizable: The Epcot sphere?
posted by faunafrailty at 4:12 PM on September 29, 2008

Angkor Wat, Arc de Triomphe, tomb or ramses, sphynx, Himeji castle, machu pichu,
posted by NormandyJack at 4:14 PM on September 29, 2008

The Tokyo Tower
The TransAmerica Tower (San Francisco)
The Luxor Hotel (Las Vegas)
Castle Neuschwanstein
posted by Class Goat at 4:25 PM on September 29, 2008

the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Harbour Bridge behind it is pretty iconic, at least to Australians.

What about Machu Pichu, or the Easter Island Heads?
posted by robotot at 4:59 PM on September 29, 2008

Arches National Park
Mesa Verde, except that I don't think it could easily be fit into a skyline
I agree that the Easter Island statues are iconic.
posted by Class Goat at 5:42 PM on September 29, 2008

grand canyon
buckingham palace
posted by smalls at 6:21 PM on September 29, 2008

Hillbrow Tower, representing Johannesburg, ZA

I would have never recognized it prior to visiting and discovering it in a lot of their marketing and advertisements... provides a little more representation for that part of the earth
posted by nathaole at 6:24 PM on September 29, 2008

and the burj al arab hotel in Dubai
posted by smalls at 6:26 PM on September 29, 2008

OK, now I'm on a roll:
The White House/US Capitol Building
Alcatraz
Gibraltar Rock
London Bridge
The Kremlin
The Great Mosque in Mecca
The Vatican
OK I think I'm done now!
posted by smalls at 6:35 PM on September 29, 2008

The Transamerica Building in San Francisco

Perhaps less known by name but is certainly iconic: The Flatiron Building
posted by mmascolino at 8:06 PM on September 29, 2008

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

skyscraperpage.com might be of help...
posted by benzo8 at 1:59 AM on September 30, 2008

For an iconic bridge in London, you need Tower Bridge, not London Bridge. (London Bridge is the one in the song, but Tower Bridge is the one people recognise in photos.)

The Liver Building is UK iconic, but perhaps not well known enough internationally.

Uluru/Ayres Rock

The Sphinx

Giant's Causeway
posted by the latin mouse at 4:08 AM on September 30, 2008

In London, three of the most iconic landmarks used to depict the city are the Swiss Re Tower (the 'Gherkin'), St Paul's Cathedral and the London eye.

Also, the Houses of Parliament (incorporating 'Big Ben').

They appear in silhouette everywhere.
posted by freya_lamb at 5:45 AM on September 30, 2008

Awesome... thanks for all the wonderful suggestions, everyone. Much appreciated!
posted by JReed at 8:29 AM on September 30, 2008