A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Printable Version
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A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Kyng - 01-17-2019
In the Mandela Effect, Reyzadren brought up a list of 7 structures, which he always thought were the 7 wonders of the world, but which he could never find on any "7 Wonders" list. This reminded me of a thread which existed on the old forum, where we tried to come up with a list of "7 wonders of the modern world". That thread hasn't been posted in since 2010 - so, I think it's time we gave it another go, for anybody who wasn't around back then
. What I want you to do is post a list of your "7 wonders of the modern world". You can choose any seven structures, subject to the following restrictions:
- They must be man-made. The Earth's natural beauty is splendid, but it's really a matter for another topic (which I might post later - or someone else can
);
- They must still exist. Ruins are allowed, but the basic shape of the structure should still be recognisable from what's left;
- They must be well-known. It's hard to create an exact guideline, but I guess a good rule of thumb is "If you need to link to it or tell people where it is, then it's probably not famous enough";
- They must be specific structures. Nothing like "The internet" or "The Manhattan Project".
So, here are mine. I've picked two from Asia (the largest and most populous continent), and one from each of the other five populated continents (though you don't have to do this - that's just what I've chosen to do):
- The Eiffel Tower. From Europe, it was going to be either this or the Colosseum, and it was tough to choose. I went with the Eiffel Tower, simply because it's complete and the Colosseum isn't;
- The Great Wall of China. It can't actually be seen from space, but its scale is still impressive enough for it to get my first Asian pick;
- The Taj Mahal. There were several other candidates for my second Asian pick (for example, Petra and Angkor Wat), but I think this is the best-known of the lot;
- The Pyramids. Only really one choice for my African pick, since it's the only remaining wonder from the seven ancient ones;
- Mount Rushmore. It may never have been fully finished, but those presidents carved into rock somehow impress me more than the Statue of Liberty does. Another candidate for my North American pick was Chichen Itza, but I think Mount Rushmore is better-known;
- Christ the Redeemer. My South American pick was going to be either this or Machu Picchu. But, since I picked the Eiffel Tower over the Colosseum because the latter was incomplete, I have to apply the same rule here;
- Sydney Opera House. Can't think of any other candidates for my Australian pick (Uluru isn't man-made ).
So, that's my personal list. What does yours look like?
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Detective Osprey - 01-17-2019
CN Tower is a marvel to look at. It's the tallest free-standing structure in North America... which I think I'd put on my list. I'll have to think of others, this list is going to be hard.
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Reyzadren - 01-17-2019
Tbf, I'm quite content with that Mandela Wonders list, unless I were to completely change all 7 for a new list, of course. Here though, I shall only swap out 1 structure:
* Eiffel tower
* Leaning tower of Pisa
* Colloseum
* Taj Mahal
* Great Wall of China Burj Khalifa
* Pyramid
* Statue of Liberty
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Kyng - 01-18-2019
(01-17-2019, 09:57 PM)Reyzadren Wrote: Tbf, I'm quite content with that Mandela Wonders list, unless I were to completely change all 7 for a new list, of course. Here though, I shall only swap out 1 structure:
* Eiffel tower
* Leaning tower of Pisa
* Colloseum
* Taj Mahal
* Great Wall of China Burj Khalifa
* Pyramid
* Statue of Liberty
Nice list
. I did consider the Burj Khalifa, given that it smashed the record for the world's tallest building, and there's nothing quite like it in the world today; however, I'm not sure whether it'll be as special in 50 years' time (it may be that there are taller skyscrapers by then, and even if there aren't, skyscrapers of similar size might be commonplace).Just out of curiosity, why did you choose to swap out the Great Wall of China?
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Reyzadren - 01-18-2019
^The wall was the one structure that I forgot while posting in the previous thread XD
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Pyrite - 01-19-2019
Having read the rules, here are my picks, with honourable mentions in brackets. I've tried to do some diversity in terms of the picks, rather than just picking lots of buildings or structures of the same type. My plan was to have one symbolic tower, two religious building/temples/graves, one military build, one statue, one 'lost' city and one commercial building.
Eiffel Tower [Big Ben / Elizabeth Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa]
Pyramids [Angkor Wat, Hagia Sophia]
Taj Mahal [Acropolis, St Basil's Cathedral]
Great Wall of China [Colosseum, Brandenburg Gate]
Christ the Redeemer [Statue of Liberty, Moai Statues]
Machu Picchu [Petra, Chichen Itza]
Petronas Towers [Sydney Opera House, Empire State Building]
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Kyng - 01-19-2019
Interesting set of criteria there
! Looking back at my own list, I see I've achieved a similar mix of buildings with different purposes, even though it wasn't what I was going for . I'm never sure how to judge commercial buildings for a list like this. It's certainly possible to make a case for the Petronas Towers: they may no longer be the world's biggest commercial buildings, but they are among the most architecturally interesting of all major skyscrapers (perhaps rivalled only by Taipei 101). The thing is, the most impressive commercial buildings are all comparatively recent, and newer and bigger ones are constructed so rapidly that the marvels of today will be outdone tomorrow. They haven't really "stood the test of time" yet, in the way that the structures from the other categories have.
(Then again, was "standing the test of time" ever part of the criteria for the original list of wonders? The Colossus of Rhodes only existed in its complete form for 54 years!)
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Pyrite - 01-19-2019
Yeah, I guess my thinking there was that they are one of the more iconic 'tallest buildings' and have been going for quite a while. My hesitancy with including newer builds is that they are recent things - Petronas Towers manage to be well-known, iconic, architecturally good looking and have stood for a while. The other thing was that whilst lots of people know about Taipei 101 and the Burj Khalifa, they're just tall buildings which you can only really admire for being...well...tall.
On another note, it'd be interesting to, off the back of this, compile a list of natural wonders of the world.
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Kyng - 01-19-2019
Yeah, I definitely agree on the Burj Khalifa. It's just not an interesting design to look at, and while it's the tallest building in the world now, it's set to lose that title to the 1km-high Jeddah Tower when it's completed in 2021. Taipei 101 is more interesting to look at than the Burj Khalifa, but still less so than the Petronas Towers IMO.
And, yes, I'd definitely like to have a similar topic in the Earth and Space forum, for natural wonders of the world. I'll start one once I've come up with a suitable list (or you can do it if you've got one in mind!)
RE: A modern "7 Wonders of the World" - Kyng - 06-07-2022
I've already posted a modern "7 Wonders of the World" list, consisting of 7 iconic structures built throughout human history, that are still standing today. However, not all of these wonders are particularly 'modern': some of them are quite ancient
. So, I decided to compile a separate list of seven "Wonders of the 20th Century".Here are the rules I used for this list. If you want to compile your own "7 Wonders of the 20th Century", then you're welcome to use these - but you're also welcome to use your own rules:
- They must be man-made. The Earth's natural beauty is splendid, but it's really a matter for another topic;
- They must be from the 20th Century. They have to have been started in or before 1900, and completed in or before 1999;
- They must still exist. Ruins are allowed, but the basic shape of the structure should still be recognisable from what's left;
- They must be specific structures. Nothing like "The internet" or "The Manhattan Project".
- One per continent (except Antarctica). However, that'll give me only six wonders, so my seventh pick can be from anywhere in the world.
Based on the above criteria, here are the seven "Wonders of the 20th Century" that I chose:
Mount Rushmore. A survivor from my original "Modern Wonders" list. 
Christ the Redeemer. I thought it was too old - but, I just checked, and it was built between 1922 and 1931, so it gets to go on the list. 
The Louvre Pyramid. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the sole survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - so, I thought it was fitting that this list would also include a pyramid . 
The Aswan High Dam. This was a very difficult pick: when I think of "20th-century African architecture", absolutely nothing comes to mind 
! And this isn't even interesting to look at: it's just a dam . But it did tame Africa's greatest river, after thousands of years of flooding - which is quite a monumental achievement in and of itself.
Petronas Towers. The tallest buildings constructed in the 20th century, with interesting architecture to boot. 
Sydney Opera House. Another survivor from my "Modern Wonders" list.
CN Tower. For my seventh 'wildcard' pick that could be from anywhere in the world, I went with the highest self-supporting structure that existed at the end of the 20th Century. Overall, I'm happy with six of my seven picks. The only one I'm unhappy with is my African pick - so, if anybody has any better ideas, then please let me know. Or maybe there just isn't anything from Africa that's worthy of inclusion on a "Wonders of the 20th Century" list, and I should instead make a second wildcard pick (which could be from anywhere in the world outside North America, since I already picked the CN Tower as my first wildcard?)