In today’s World, we can come across several creations categorized under iconic landmarks. Some of them are modern, and some of them are ancient. While the best ones out of them are named World Heritage by UNESCO. No matter what landmark we come across, they all have one particular character in common. Many architects and engineers have spent hundreds of hours or even more perfecting these landmarks, ensuring that visitors from all around the World could enjoy its beauty in any situation.
Let me ask you something. Have you ever wondered what these iconic landmarks will look like from above? Don’t worry, a group of talented and innovative youngsters has provided us with some breathtaking photographs of 6 of the most iconic landmarks. And the fact they did this amidst a world pandemic is really appreciable. Those photographs taken from the sky skillfully portray the beauty of those most photographed places in a different perspective.
You might be wondering what those 6 iconic landmarks are, those are “The Sydney Opera House,” “The Eiffel Tower,” “St, Mary Axe ‘The Gherkin,” “Statue of Liberty,” “The Colosseum,” and “The Shwedagon Pagoda.”
So let’s elaborate on each of them individually on how they look from above.
1. The Sydney Opera House (Australia, Sydney)
The principal architect of the Sydney Opera House, namely Jorn Utzon, “I was convinced that a new building in such a position as to be seen from all sides, had to be a large sculptural building.” Here we can clearly understand that he was very keen on how this particular creation would occupy the Sydney Harbor as he resided closer to “The Kornberg Castle,” which acquired a similar position over a nearly vertical drop placed between the Coasts of Denmark and Sweden. Also, Jorn Utzon specifically implies “as to be seen from all sides” here, we can understand that he was very much concerned about what his creation seemed to appear from the top.
2. St. Mary Axe’ The Gherkin’ (London, England)
The shape of this creation is inspired by the creature known as the Venus’ flower (Euplectella aspergillum). This is considered one of the tallest buildings in London and the way it looks from above is really astonishing. This is built so that it spreads outwards and then inwards from its circular ground-level footprint when climbing up this. We see when looking right from above the curved glass top placed on the top of this building, which has a “Club House” with 360 degrees view of the capital city.
3. Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)
Once see its view from the top it might take you a while to notice that it’s the World famous Eiffel Tower. When viewed from above, it appears to be an “X” shaped structure. Here, the middle point of this X-shaped structure is where the 4 large iron pillars meet, which start 300m below. Also, we find the tip of the Eiffel tower, which was designed by architect Stephen Sauvestre, Gustave Eiffel’s lead architect on the project.
4. Statue of Liberty (New York City, USA)
Statue of Liberty was a joint effort of France and the United States, which was built to celebrate the friendship between these two nations. When looking from the top, the first thing we notice in Statue Liberty is the 11 pronged star on which the statue is built. Its’ actually not a star constructed just for beauty; it was a fort built during the War of 1812 to protect the New York Harbor. Even the gold-plated torch, which was replaced in 1986, is highlighted when looking from above.
5. The Colosseum (Rome, Italy)
The Colosseum is an oval-shaped arena situated in Rome, which was built 1914 years ago by ancient Romans. This particular building seems to appear like a coiled centipede when viewed right from the top. But unfortunately, most of its structures were destroyed due to EarthQuakes and ill-maintenance. Despite all of that, it still remains one of the most iconic landmarks in the World.
6. Shwedagon Pagoda (Yangon, Myanmar)
The Shwedagon Pagoda, considered one of the most sacred pagodas in Myanmar, was built 2600 years ago, is one of the oldest Buddhist stupas on Earth. This building was enhanced over the years by devotees; for instance, a Queen named Shin Sawbu donated gold matching her body weight to renovate the golden roof of the pagoda that we see today. We can observe a true masterpiece of ancient art and architecture from the top. Unlike other landmarks we discussed above, this one is very colorful, and it depicts some different cosmic patterns which come in Hindu mythology. Apart from that, 4 small golden stupas are built surrounding the pagoda, which represents some sort of a zodiac pattern.
All these facts clearly show us that we can discover many unseen beauties in things we come across in our day-to-day lives just by changing the way we look at them.