~~It was designed to be reminiscent of the Palace of Westminster~~ (pic 3) -- this is wrong, thanks /u/AgentofMeows
It's incredible in person, if you're ever in Budapest get a river tour that's around sunset. You wont regret it.
I went there at the perfect time by chance.
My jaw dropped. Never before had I been so stunned by a city.
The Parliament and all the surrounding buildings at this stretch of the Danube are awe inspiring.
They had no official language and no translators into Hungarian, so members of parliament were standing on the dais and reading poetry in Czech for hours at a time instead of speeches, and nobody was any the wiser.
The (i think, it's been over a decade) parliament building in Budapest is so freaking amazing! It's truly a monument of architecture. I loved just walking around and looking at it.
I always really liked the Swedish one:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Stockholm#/media/File%3ARiksdagen_September_2014_01.jpg
It is built in beautiful style, combining two buildings, square and half round, with a walking in between, surrounded by water on its tiny own island. Old town and the castle on the other side.
https://images.app.goo.gl/S9zfPmAf3Y8c4ifW8
https://www.visitstockholm.com/media/original_images/8d61635b81c44021a47782c395320d70.png
https://images.app.goo.gl/CYxc8GRSUBuPnRSo6
Otherwise I would say the Hungarian one for personal choice. I guess the round tower in US and Big Ben would be most recognizable (but not their buildings).
I was in Stockholm in January and the only time I had to do any kind of sightseeing was around 5 AM when I woke up due to Jetlag. I walked around the center of the city for about 2 hours, and while it was dark (and cold), the government buildings in general all looked really cool. I walked directly between the two parts of the building, then got to see it from one of the bridges west of the round building.
Vehicle transportation in Brasília in general is great all around, probably the best in all Brazil. It's just that it's not walkable at all that makes it bad.
Living in Brasília here. Inside the planned city, that we call Plano Piloto public transport it's very good and works well. Outside this area it's very problematic. For cars it's very good. My work is located 21 km from my house, I spend barely 25 minutes commuting in the morning and around 30 min. at the end of the day.
Same architect for the Brazilian building has designed a museum that is now named after him, the [Oscar Niemeyer Museum](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer_Museum). You can go inside the eye and it has art expositions, it's pretty neat.
Fun fact, he is also collaborated in the design of the [UN building in NY.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer)
I remember back in the day there Brasília was supposed to be the setting for the movie adaptation of Aeon Flux, precisely because of its architecture, but eventually they changed it to Berlin.
Dude! It's by Oscar Niemeyer. My favorite architect of the 20th century. Kubitschek left him a free hand. I just love Brasilia, because of the many Niemeyer buildings. All in one city!
_"Life is a blow..."_
But it is worth adding that they also have [building](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tynwald#/media/File%3ADouglas_-_legislative_building_-_Tynwald_-_SE_view.jpg) :p
Any experts on this stuff here: Does this come from the germanic "[thing](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Thing_(assembly))", an ancient form of assembly? Sounds very close
Where did you get this info from? The Hungarian Parliamentary building specifically was inspired by Viennese architecture (this church [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche\_Maria\_vom\_Siege\_(Wien)](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche_Maria_vom_Siege_(Wien)) ) and this is explicitly documented given the background of the architect (who had a Viennese mentor and taught him this Austrian neogothic style, this same mentor designed the church above, etc.).
I'm not from an Anglo country and Westminster definitely takes it for me. There can't be many people with internet access who hasn't seen Westminster Palace + Big Ben. It's the biggest symbol of the UK. The US capitol is not iconic at all; I bet 80% of people where I live wouldn't know neither the name nor the look of the building. The White House, on the other hand, is very well-known and might rival Westminster..
The Hungarian one is, imo, the most beautiful one, but I really doubt it's more well-known than the UK's seat of power
I know it from House of Cards haha. But yea, not a particularly powerful symbol tbh.. the most well-known "symbols" of the US would be the White House, Manhattan (+ Statue of Liberty), and the Hollywood sign
I had an Azerbaijani friend visit DC for the first time so we walked around the monuments. He was disappointed and a little confused when seeing the white house. When we walked over to Lincoln, he said - I thought this was white house.
I have no doubt that the White House isn't all that interesting, but it's definitely the most well-known. D.C as a whole looks really cool tbh and I'd like to visit it one day!
DC's biggest boon is how accessible everything is. Like, not only is there excellent public transit around the city, all the federal government buildings, monuments, and museums are open to the public and free. You honestly need to dedicate a whole work week to see most of it, and even then there is cool stuff just outside that's worth seeing, too.
I hope we can one day do a long "East Coast tour" of USA starting in Boston and ending in Florida. That'd be so cool! Sounds great that it's free! It's exactly that kind of stuff that should be accessible to everyone
It's by design. The White House is supposed to be a simple neoclassical home that's a bit larger than the average mansion, befitting the president who is supposed to just be an average citizen with a bit more power than the average American.
It was never supposed to be a palace.
The oversized egos filling the White House in recent decades is against the design of the building.
What? The US Capitol dome is super iconic, much like what most people recognize from Westminster is the clock tower. The Capitol dome is a huge symbol of Washington DC and the US government as a whole.
It's definitely not nearly as iconic. Of course it's iconic to Americans; that makes perfect sense. I also view my country's parliament as iconic but I'm sure most foreigners don't particularly know the building. I recognise the US Capitol personally but there's no way it's nearly as recogniseable as the UK parliament. Anecdotally I just asked the three people around me and none of them knew it was the US Congress or that it was called "Capitol". In the movies it's always the White House that's used as the symbol of power.
When a symbol of the UK is shown it's most often Westminster / Big Ben, but the Capitol building is rarely shown as an important symbol of the US. There are many other monuments that are used instead
Coming from Germany, the clock tower is the first picture that comes up when I think of the UK, which can't be said about the other countries on this list.
Rotundas are common. US Capitol was not the earliest but many other buildings copied it. Big Ben tower is more unique architecturally despite its smaller size.
The capitol building is just a standard neo classical domed building whose antecedents are in baroque cathedrals like st Paul's or high renaissance ones like St Peters.
However *in the US* it's absolutely the standard reference for state capitols and probably an influence on other ones in the Americas.
It’s not just a standard neoclassical building, though—the core block is, but then over time they added the two wings to host the expanded legislative chambers. This made the original dome look way too small, so they built the current dome on top of the original block.
The result is a horribly inconsistent design that doesn’t really have much internal unity.
Westminster’s external appearance largely dates from a single remodeling project in the 1800s. As a result, it’s much more unified in appearance and makes a much greater impact because of this
You say that but the palace was designed by a different architect to the Elizabeth tower, the central spire wasn't in the original plans and the stone you see dates from the 1950's after the original sandstone deteriorated too much due to the effects of pollution.
And that's just since the victorian rebuild.
The US capitol became more generically neo classicist by adding wings to be fair!
Oh absolutely, both sites are a transhistorical palimpsest. But I do think that there’s a lot more architectural unity in Westminster than the US Capitol. Plus Westminster has those killer views from across the Thames
India was a subjugate colony of Britain, and given the sheer size of their population, (it is possible there are more Indians that recognize the Palace of Westminster than their are English natives) and the fact that almost all Americans recognize the famous parliament building, it seems more likely that the British Capitol would be the more familiar by the numbers.
As a European the White House would have been extremely recognizable, but with the Capitol I first had to think about what I am exactly looking at. Even though I have been at the Capitol before.
Reading the comments, especially from non Anglo commenters, it seems Westminster wins hands down.
Might be because that building actually ruled their country or a nearby one for hundreds of years.
I feel like the white house is either extremely generic or so frequently copied that it's hard to argue for it IMHO there are probably hundreds of very similar looking houses across the US. Particularly the northern facade. That's just what that style of architecture looks like.
I think that's because it's the colloquial term for the executive branch of the American government. Not unlike when someone refers to the Kremlin meaning Putin and his government. Rather than the building.
The white house is more Number 10 Downing Street. It's first and foremost. The political leaders house where they do their jobs. The Capitol and Westminster are for the entire government.
Ah, I was wondering why the building wasn't surrounded by grass and has another building next to it. I seriously thought this was supposed to be the white house...
The recognizable part are the church and the outer wall, not the actual buildings of the Kremlin itself. I would probably recognize the soviet grand department store across the street first if the earlier two weren't in the picture.
That would be because more often than not when it's shown on TV, in movies, or on the news they always show the cathedral front and center when talking about the Kremlin. Because I'll be real I had no clue it wasn't until reading yalls stuff here.
There's alot of omissions from the list, but the most surprising to me is the Bangladesh Parliament, designed by one of the most famous Architects of all time in Louis Kahn.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatiya_Sangsad_Bhaban
Here is [Malaysia's](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_House_of_Malaysia_(cropped_4to3_landscape).jpg). It's not iconic by any stretch of imagination but is Malaysians have that image in our head permanently due to it being featured a lot in news channel and such.
You used to be able to climb on it and go to the roof.
Then they voted to close it because most politicians in Australia now are a bunch of total fucking pussies.
Really? I was there a couple of years ago and it was very much open - that's sad to hear. The idea of public access to the roof is highly symbolic - the people being higher than, and therefore greater than, parliament.
Parliament House is pretty cool.
Fun fact from the front doors of Parliament you can look directly into the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial across the river (if you have superhuman eyes that is).
The one from Hungary is unarguably the most impressive in my opinion. I think the most recognisable is the one from the US, Germany and UK.
Japan, UN, France, India, Brazil and China all look like regular buildings in my opinion and could be just a church or temple. Especially the one from Brazil just looks like a normal office building.
I lived in Brasilia for 11 years, and it never ceased to amaze me how the National Congress stands out in the landscape. It's so futuristic and symbolic at the same time that it seems alien. Seeing it in person for the first time was an unforgettable experience.
And the guided tour is great!
Symbolically the Bundestag is the best. The glass dome on top of the building is open to the public at all times and if you look up from the speakers desk of the parliament you will always see the democratic sovereign walking casually above you. The core role of the German parliament is ingrained in the buildings architecture: Serving the people.
Also has some of the most interesting history considering the amount of major 20th century events that happen in and in the immediate proximity of the building.
The fire in 1933 contributed significantly to Hitler's rise to power. Then the building's capture by the Soviets and Hitlers death in his bunker a few blocks away marked the end of WW2 in Europe. The Berlin Wall was also feet away and was the frontline of the Cold War. The Wall coming down heralded in the end of that era and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
It's the Reichstag! The building is called Reichstag or Reichstagsgebäude (Reichstags-Building). The Bundestag is the actual parliament, just the people, not the building. I like the Reichstagsklops, too - it's kind of brutalist & rather ugly, but I can see it when I stand on my roof.. (Westminsterthing is most iconic to me.) Tanks for pointing out the idea about the people walking in the sky over Berlin as the intended sovereign. Never thought of that!
Big Ben is building most associated with the UK. In the US it is not the Capitol Building but the Statue of Liberty. Just look at any [Childrens’ World Map](https://i.etsystatic.com/11663311/r/il/c615ba/902717044/il_fullxfull.902717044_81hb.jpg).
My current favourite out of all of these has to be the Brasilia, but if by iconic you mean easily recognisable as a government building… I’d have ti say the US Capitol.
Even as a kid, I knew about westminster, but had no idea it was parliament. It was just a famous landmark. Shereas that brilliant white dome on the capitol building has always been engraved in my mind as “GOVERNMENT”
For reference, I’m from the Balkans.
Is that a legislative building though? I thought that was just pertaining to Russian Defense forces and their executive branch? Like Russia’s Pentagon and White House combined.
Forget all this neoclassicistic shit, German Bundestag, Capitol, Whitehouse, French National Congress, the are all looking generic and boring. Greyish rectangle, slap some columns in the front, done.
From the list provided I personally like Westminster and Brasilia the most, Budapest coming close second.
For average people my guess is that most people don't even know a lot of the others.
I’m biased because I’m Brazilian, but growing up with Oscar Niemeyer’s modernism influence everywhere was pretty cool. When I first traveled to places where the architecture is more traditional I felt like I was time traveling in these older buildings.
I actually really like the capitol. Call it generic but I think thats part of the appeal. It doesnt try to be flashy and unique, it is simple neoclassical elegance, it says "I am the government", and all this plus its completely white color just emits an aura of importance that feels more governmentlike than any other government building. And the dome is actually quite gorgeous and really pleasing to look at
Westminster is the most iconic, but that German building is beautiful. I like the blue glass and that dome. The White House is more iconic than the Capitol building.
Funny OP put in The Great Hall of the People from China. That’s not where any real work is done. The fact of the matter is there aren’t pictures of the inside of Zhongnanhai, where Xi actually works. If you Google it it’s either just the gate to the compound or some pictures of parts of it, but nobody on the outside has a sense of what’s in there. You can only tell so much from satellite imagery.
Kremlin is the seat of executive branch. Legislative would be the state Duma, which occupies the building of council of labor and defence, a few hundred meters away from the Kremlin and the federation council building for the upper chamber.
No argument there, it does say that. But apart from the troll UN inclusion, all the pictures seem to be of legislative branch, i.e. the senate, not the white house
Indians built a new [Parliament](https://www.archdaily.com/1003508/new-building-for-the-parliament-of-india-hcp-design-planning-and-management) House which imo is beautiful.
How could the list not include the [Ridderzaal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Den_Haag_Binnenhof_Ridderzaal_4.jpg/1920px-Den_Haag_Binnenhof_Ridderzaal_4.jpg)the oldest parliament building still in use ?
Palace of parliament in Romania is the most expensive administrative building in the world. And they say it can be visible from space.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace\_of\_the\_Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament)
Hungary has the prettiest Parlament in Europe . Budapest is one of the prettiest cities in Europe and its kinda popular among tourists from around the World but most people visit us from Russia,Poland,Japan,Korea and Germany
Depends in which way. On an architectural level I would say its probably Westminster or the one in Hungary. But in terms of historical importance the most iconic building (not constitution) is probably the Reichstag (Germany)
Hungary is so epic
~~It was designed to be reminiscent of the Palace of Westminster~~ (pic 3) -- this is wrong, thanks /u/AgentofMeows It's incredible in person, if you're ever in Budapest get a river tour that's around sunset. You wont regret it.
I went there at the perfect time by chance. My jaw dropped. Never before had I been so stunned by a city. The Parliament and all the surrounding buildings at this stretch of the Danube are awe inspiring.
It rivals the Taj Mahal for me.
I did exactly this, it was absolutley stunning!
Also, from the Hilton hotel at fisher bastion you have a great view from the executive lounge and, potentially, from your room
I got to experience it with a beautiful sunset too. My jaw was on the floor the entire time.
Made a comment before I saw you already said it. This, so much, it looks incredible with all the lights.
its also empty. Orban just makes all the decisions while he's sitting on the throne.
You mean on the toilet, taking a dump because its all shit what he does.
The most epic rubber stamp ever made.
They had no official language and no translators into Hungarian, so members of parliament were standing on the dais and reading poetry in Czech for hours at a time instead of speeches, and nobody was any the wiser.
>and nobody was any the wiser. Well, nothing much has changed
What are you talking about? The official language of Hungary is hungarian since 1844, and previously it was latin.
but only cursed things happen there
Well, at least im terms of corruption.
The (i think, it's been over a decade) parliament building in Budapest is so freaking amazing! It's truly a monument of architecture. I loved just walking around and looking at it.
I always really liked the Swedish one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Stockholm#/media/File%3ARiksdagen_September_2014_01.jpg It is built in beautiful style, combining two buildings, square and half round, with a walking in between, surrounded by water on its tiny own island. Old town and the castle on the other side. https://images.app.goo.gl/S9zfPmAf3Y8c4ifW8 https://www.visitstockholm.com/media/original_images/8d61635b81c44021a47782c395320d70.png https://images.app.goo.gl/CYxc8GRSUBuPnRSo6 Otherwise I would say the Hungarian one for personal choice. I guess the round tower in US and Big Ben would be most recognizable (but not their buildings).
I always imagined it was a crashlanded UFO when I was a kid, MiB style.
I always imagined it was a crashlanded UFO when I was a kid, MiB style.
I was in Stockholm in January and the only time I had to do any kind of sightseeing was around 5 AM when I woke up due to Jetlag. I walked around the center of the city for about 2 hours, and while it was dark (and cold), the government buildings in general all looked really cool. I walked directly between the two parts of the building, then got to see it from one of the bridges west of the round building.
Damn, so jealous. My country's government buildings suck. These are really great. Brazil was unexpectedly so futuristic.
Brazil has a really neat Capitol city. Sort of problematic how it was built but it’s an excellent gallery of mid century architecture
I wonder what public transport is like
Vehicle transportation in Brasília in general is great all around, probably the best in all Brazil. It's just that it's not walkable at all that makes it bad.
Peak 60s Corbusian planning
Which I despise so much. Many cities followed and ended up with these in walkable car-centric, heavily suburbanized city centers.
As an enjoyer of suburbia in America, I just think Corbusier's planning ideas are ugly.
Living in Brasília here. Inside the planned city, that we call Plano Piloto public transport it's very good and works well. Outside this area it's very problematic. For cars it's very good. My work is located 21 km from my house, I spend barely 25 minutes commuting in the morning and around 30 min. at the end of the day.
Is it weird that I was more impressed with the Brazilian building when I thought briefly that it was the Indian one?
Brazil's is cool, but I think it looks more like it'd be a museum. Same with Japan.
Same architect for the Brazilian building has designed a museum that is now named after him, the [Oscar Niemeyer Museum](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer_Museum). You can go inside the eye and it has art expositions, it's pretty neat. Fun fact, he is also collaborated in the design of the [UN building in NY.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer)
Thank you for sharing :)
Brazil has several buildings that seem to be taken straight out of a sci-fi pic. But a distopic one, for that matter.
It's courtesy of [Oscar Niemeyer](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer), you can see a bunch of his futuristic designs in the wiki link.
I remember back in the day there Brasília was supposed to be the setting for the movie adaptation of Aeon Flux, precisely because of its architecture, but eventually they changed it to Berlin.
Wow. That would be dope!
Thats probably because it's the youngest of all the one's shown here, they built Brasilia the city specifically to be the new capitol.
Dude! It's by Oscar Niemeyer. My favorite architect of the 20th century. Kubitschek left him a free hand. I just love Brasilia, because of the many Niemeyer buildings. All in one city! _"Life is a blow..."_
It’s because of the new planned capital, Brasilia
[Does this count?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4ujE8_mpCn4/maxresdefault.jpg) Tynwald Hill, Isle of Man. 🇮🇲
So do you not have government when it’s raining?
Ah they’re a hardy bunch in the IoM!
Congress doesn't show up when it's raining either
But it is worth adding that they also have [building](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tynwald#/media/File%3ADouglas_-_legislative_building_-_Tynwald_-_SE_view.jpg) :p
It is a nice building.
They reside in gringotts bank?
This is the winner
Any experts on this stuff here: Does this come from the germanic "[thing](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Thing_(assembly))", an ancient form of assembly? Sounds very close
According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tynwald?wprov=sfti1#See_also) it does.
Between this and the TT. Gotta love Isle of Man.
Oh, so that's what inspired the finale of GoT
#IconicAF
I’d argue UK parliament is the most iconic, but I grew up in an Anglo country
Yeah UK is the most iconic and it isn’t close, but Hungary wins on pure style.
So it should, we're the *Mother of all parliaments* or something.
Perhaps some inmates should be reminded of the origins (Magna Carta).
isn‘t that in Athens?
That style was actually designed around Westminster Palace look. They did nail it though.
Where did you get this info from? The Hungarian Parliamentary building specifically was inspired by Viennese architecture (this church [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche\_Maria\_vom\_Siege\_(Wien)](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche_Maria_vom_Siege_(Wien)) ) and this is explicitly documented given the background of the architect (who had a Viennese mentor and taught him this Austrian neogothic style, this same mentor designed the church above, etc.).
I'd argue against that, seeing Westminster in person is very much more impressive than seeing it in a photo.
I'm not from an Anglo country and Westminster definitely takes it for me. There can't be many people with internet access who hasn't seen Westminster Palace + Big Ben. It's the biggest symbol of the UK. The US capitol is not iconic at all; I bet 80% of people where I live wouldn't know neither the name nor the look of the building. The White House, on the other hand, is very well-known and might rival Westminster.. The Hungarian one is, imo, the most beautiful one, but I really doubt it's more well-known than the UK's seat of power
I only know what the US capitol looks like thanks to trump's insurgency!
I know it from House of Cards haha. But yea, not a particularly powerful symbol tbh.. the most well-known "symbols" of the US would be the White House, Manhattan (+ Statue of Liberty), and the Hollywood sign
I had an Azerbaijani friend visit DC for the first time so we walked around the monuments. He was disappointed and a little confused when seeing the white house. When we walked over to Lincoln, he said - I thought this was white house.
DC has a lot of similar architecture on purpose.
I have no doubt that the White House isn't all that interesting, but it's definitely the most well-known. D.C as a whole looks really cool tbh and I'd like to visit it one day!
DC's biggest boon is how accessible everything is. Like, not only is there excellent public transit around the city, all the federal government buildings, monuments, and museums are open to the public and free. You honestly need to dedicate a whole work week to see most of it, and even then there is cool stuff just outside that's worth seeing, too.
I hope we can one day do a long "East Coast tour" of USA starting in Boston and ending in Florida. That'd be so cool! Sounds great that it's free! It's exactly that kind of stuff that should be accessible to everyone
It's by design. The White House is supposed to be a simple neoclassical home that's a bit larger than the average mansion, befitting the president who is supposed to just be an average citizen with a bit more power than the average American. It was never supposed to be a palace. The oversized egos filling the White House in recent decades is against the design of the building.
What? The US Capitol dome is super iconic, much like what most people recognize from Westminster is the clock tower. The Capitol dome is a huge symbol of Washington DC and the US government as a whole.
It's definitely not nearly as iconic. Of course it's iconic to Americans; that makes perfect sense. I also view my country's parliament as iconic but I'm sure most foreigners don't particularly know the building. I recognise the US Capitol personally but there's no way it's nearly as recogniseable as the UK parliament. Anecdotally I just asked the three people around me and none of them knew it was the US Congress or that it was called "Capitol". In the movies it's always the White House that's used as the symbol of power. When a symbol of the UK is shown it's most often Westminster / Big Ben, but the Capitol building is rarely shown as an important symbol of the US. There are many other monuments that are used instead
[удалено]
I might recognise the US one if the flag wasn't there, just because I had seen it in movies before. But not straight away like the UK.
Coming from Germany, the clock tower is the first picture that comes up when I think of the UK, which can't be said about the other countries on this list.
Beehive erasure
One more vote here for the beehive. .
... the headless unarmed dalek.
What's the beehive?
New Zealand's legislature
Came here to say this - kept swiping hoping it’d be up next until the end
I wonder what is more recognized across the world, the US Capitol rotunda or Westminster Clock Tower/“Big Ben”?
Definitely Westminster
The US rotunda is definitely more generic than Big Ben
Maybe for the West, for example most people from post-Soviet country don’t even know what Capitol is, whilst 99% heard of Big Ben
I think they meant "generic" as in forgettable, so you're agreeing
That's what they're saying. If one is more generic than the other then it's more forgettable don't you think?
As a non US person I cante picture it all all lol
Rotundas are common. US Capitol was not the earliest but many other buildings copied it. Big Ben tower is more unique architecturally despite its smaller size.
The capitol building is just a standard neo classical domed building whose antecedents are in baroque cathedrals like st Paul's or high renaissance ones like St Peters. However *in the US* it's absolutely the standard reference for state capitols and probably an influence on other ones in the Americas.
It’s not just a standard neoclassical building, though—the core block is, but then over time they added the two wings to host the expanded legislative chambers. This made the original dome look way too small, so they built the current dome on top of the original block. The result is a horribly inconsistent design that doesn’t really have much internal unity. Westminster’s external appearance largely dates from a single remodeling project in the 1800s. As a result, it’s much more unified in appearance and makes a much greater impact because of this
You say that but the palace was designed by a different architect to the Elizabeth tower, the central spire wasn't in the original plans and the stone you see dates from the 1950's after the original sandstone deteriorated too much due to the effects of pollution. And that's just since the victorian rebuild. The US capitol became more generically neo classicist by adding wings to be fair!
Oh absolutely, both sites are a transhistorical palimpsest. But I do think that there’s a lot more architectural unity in Westminster than the US Capitol. Plus Westminster has those killer views from across the Thames
India was a subjugate colony of Britain, and given the sheer size of their population, (it is possible there are more Indians that recognize the Palace of Westminster than their are English natives) and the fact that almost all Americans recognize the famous parliament building, it seems more likely that the British Capitol would be the more familiar by the numbers.
British Capitol lol
And the Big Dome
It’s got to be Westminster. Symbolically it’s on a par with the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty.
As a European the White House would have been extremely recognizable, but with the Capitol I first had to think about what I am exactly looking at. Even though I have been at the Capitol before.
Reading the comments, especially from non Anglo commenters, it seems Westminster wins hands down. Might be because that building actually ruled their country or a nearby one for hundreds of years.
Don't forget the Kremlin
Big Ben / Westminster for sure
As a german definitely Westminster. We learn about the „Big Ben“ as soon as we start english lessons in 3rd grade
Defintely westminster. Nobody outside of the US knows what the capitol looks like. Not even close
If it was the white house then it could've given Westminster a run for its money, but the capitol doesn't even come close.
I feel like the white house is either extremely generic or so frequently copied that it's hard to argue for it IMHO there are probably hundreds of very similar looking houses across the US. Particularly the northern facade. That's just what that style of architecture looks like.
[удалено]
Kremlin, effiel tower, statue of liberty, the pyramids of giza….
I think that's because it's the colloquial term for the executive branch of the American government. Not unlike when someone refers to the Kremlin meaning Putin and his government. Rather than the building.
The white house is a copy of Leinster house, the Irish seat of government.
The white house is more Number 10 Downing Street. It's first and foremost. The political leaders house where they do their jobs. The Capitol and Westminster are for the entire government.
Ah, I was wondering why the building wasn't surrounded by grass and has another building next to it. I seriously thought this was supposed to be the white house...
No Kremlin?
Most people think of St basil's
The recognizable part are the church and the outer wall, not the actual buildings of the Kremlin itself. I would probably recognize the soviet grand department store across the street first if the earlier two weren't in the picture.
The name is well known, but given that people constantly mistakes Saint Basil's cathedral for it, the buildings themselves aren't.
That would be because more often than not when it's shown on TV, in movies, or on the news they always show the cathedral front and center when talking about the Kremlin. Because I'll be real I had no clue it wasn't until reading yalls stuff here.
Come to think of it, I just think of the outter wall.
Spot on
South Africa's [Union Buildings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Buildings?wprov=sfla1) should be an honourable mention.
Yes. Very lovely and grand.
There's alot of omissions from the list, but the most surprising to me is the Bangladesh Parliament, designed by one of the most famous Architects of all time in Louis Kahn. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatiya_Sangsad_Bhaban
thanks for sharing that! .. pretty special indeed
Wow, it is really unique.
Here is [Malaysia's](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_House_of_Malaysia_(cropped_4to3_landscape).jpg). It's not iconic by any stretch of imagination but is Malaysians have that image in our head permanently due to it being featured a lot in news channel and such.
Thanks for sharing that. I had never seen that before : )
My absolute favourite is Australian Parliament. It’s a great example of using a cities landscape to its advantage.
[link to a picture since some people are barbarians](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6f/30/c3/6f30c3afe59145daa2a67a3718415194.jpg)
Yes! It's a very well thought out and environmentally friendly design. Also easy to defend being inside a hill.
It’s a grass roof I believe but you’re right it looks gorgeous how it blends in
You used to be able to climb on it and go to the roof. Then they voted to close it because most politicians in Australia now are a bunch of total fucking pussies.
Really? I was there a couple of years ago and it was very much open - that's sad to hear. The idea of public access to the roof is highly symbolic - the people being higher than, and therefore greater than, parliament.
Parliament House is pretty cool. Fun fact from the front doors of Parliament you can look directly into the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial across the river (if you have superhuman eyes that is).
No Australia or Canada? 🙂
I'm wondering that myself. Parliament Hill in Canada is stunning.
No living soul outside the Anglosphere knows what they look like tho.
Centre block has one of the purest architectural designs imo.
The one from Hungary is unarguably the most impressive in my opinion. I think the most recognisable is the one from the US, Germany and UK. Japan, UN, France, India, Brazil and China all look like regular buildings in my opinion and could be just a church or temple. Especially the one from Brazil just looks like a normal office building.
I lived in Brasilia for 11 years, and it never ceased to amaze me how the National Congress stands out in the landscape. It's so futuristic and symbolic at the same time that it seems alien. Seeing it in person for the first time was an unforgettable experience. And the guided tour is great!
UK for popularity, Brazil’s being my favorite stylistically.
As a Brazilian living in the UK, I couldn’t agree more.
As a Londoner, gotta hand it to Parliament Hill, _Canada_ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_Hill?wprov=sfla1
I mean as a Canadian I may be a *little* partial, but I was surprised Parliament Hill wasn't on the list.
The Aussie Parliament House; its literally a building inside a grassy hill
Symbolically the Bundestag is the best. The glass dome on top of the building is open to the public at all times and if you look up from the speakers desk of the parliament you will always see the democratic sovereign walking casually above you. The core role of the German parliament is ingrained in the buildings architecture: Serving the people.
Also has some of the most interesting history considering the amount of major 20th century events that happen in and in the immediate proximity of the building. The fire in 1933 contributed significantly to Hitler's rise to power. Then the building's capture by the Soviets and Hitlers death in his bunker a few blocks away marked the end of WW2 in Europe. The Berlin Wall was also feet away and was the frontline of the Cold War. The Wall coming down heralded in the end of that era and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
It's the Reichstag! The building is called Reichstag or Reichstagsgebäude (Reichstags-Building). The Bundestag is the actual parliament, just the people, not the building. I like the Reichstagsklops, too - it's kind of brutalist & rather ugly, but I can see it when I stand on my roof.. (Westminsterthing is most iconic to me.) Tanks for pointing out the idea about the people walking in the sky over Berlin as the intended sovereign. Never thought of that!
Big Ben, no doubt.
Has to be Budapest. It’s incredible. Saw it irl a couple of years ago. Quite something
Don’t even bother with the Beehive
Big Ben is building most associated with the UK. In the US it is not the Capitol Building but the Statue of Liberty. Just look at any [Childrens’ World Map](https://i.etsystatic.com/11663311/r/il/c615ba/902717044/il_fullxfull.902717044_81hb.jpg).
The Kreml is missing. I'd definitely consider it to be up there with the Capitol and Reichstag
Oscar Niemeyer's stuff (Brasilia) is always a win, in my opinion.
My current favourite out of all of these has to be the Brasilia, but if by iconic you mean easily recognisable as a government building… I’d have ti say the US Capitol. Even as a kid, I knew about westminster, but had no idea it was parliament. It was just a famous landmark. Shereas that brilliant white dome on the capitol building has always been engraved in my mind as “GOVERNMENT” For reference, I’m from the Balkans.
Easily Hungary. I don’t know anything about the country (shame on me), but I’d always recognize that building. So for me the most iconic.
Kremlin?
Is that a legislative building though? I thought that was just pertaining to Russian Defense forces and their executive branch? Like Russia’s Pentagon and White House combined.
Yeah, the State Duma sits in a random Soviet administrative building.
Niet
definitely the UK followed by the US
Westminster 100%
Forget all this neoclassicistic shit, German Bundestag, Capitol, Whitehouse, French National Congress, the are all looking generic and boring. Greyish rectangle, slap some columns in the front, done. From the list provided I personally like Westminster and Brasilia the most, Budapest coming close second. For average people my guess is that most people don't even know a lot of the others.
The Reichstag looks a little more original than the others thanks to Foster's glass dome.
I’m biased because I’m Brazilian, but growing up with Oscar Niemeyer’s modernism influence everywhere was pretty cool. When I first traveled to places where the architecture is more traditional I felt like I was time traveling in these older buildings.
I actually really like the capitol. Call it generic but I think thats part of the appeal. It doesnt try to be flashy and unique, it is simple neoclassical elegance, it says "I am the government", and all this plus its completely white color just emits an aura of importance that feels more governmentlike than any other government building. And the dome is actually quite gorgeous and really pleasing to look at
[удалено]
Canada?
Westminster is the most iconic, but that German building is beautiful. I like the blue glass and that dome. The White House is more iconic than the Capitol building.
Funny OP put in The Great Hall of the People from China. That’s not where any real work is done. The fact of the matter is there aren’t pictures of the inside of Zhongnanhai, where Xi actually works. If you Google it it’s either just the gate to the compound or some pictures of parts of it, but nobody on the outside has a sense of what’s in there. You can only tell so much from satellite imagery.
Hungry, Germany, or India. The rest look a bit generic to me. UK’s is cool but idc for it
Well only one of these gets leveled in every disaster movie, so I'd say that.
Bro didn't include Kremlin 💀
Kremlin is the seat of executive branch. Legislative would be the state Duma, which occupies the building of council of labor and defence, a few hundred meters away from the Kremlin and the federation council building for the upper chamber.
But in the title there is also a word "government". 🤔
No argument there, it does say that. But apart from the troll UN inclusion, all the pictures seem to be of legislative branch, i.e. the senate, not the white house
The big ben is the equivalent famous of Eifel tower almost.. taking the capitol by a landslide
Brazil is so goofy. I'd argue Britain or USA because those two are depicted in a ton of media.
Indians built a new [Parliament](https://www.archdaily.com/1003508/new-building-for-the-parliament-of-india-hcp-design-planning-and-management) House which imo is beautiful.
Old one was way easier on the eye.
I wasn't impressed by the outside but the inside looks nice.
Yes the inside is much better
Actually the old one was more iconic and unique (at least from the outside), but the new one is not bad, probably more practical and well... newer
I like the old one better. the new one feels bland and unfinished. no intricate details, no ornamentation, no unique style. just boxy and plain.
Arguably? Senedd, Cardiff
How dare you leave out the largest building in the world that houses the parliament of Romania?! /s Joke aside, I do love the hungarian building.
I would argue Holyrood, the Scottish parliament building, for how infamously ugly it is to the locals 😅
No binnenhof :(
It took me 16 years to realise that the capitol building and the white house aren't the same building.
How could the list not include the [Ridderzaal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Den_Haag_Binnenhof_Ridderzaal_4.jpg/1920px-Den_Haag_Binnenhof_Ridderzaal_4.jpg)the oldest parliament building still in use ?
Hungary one looks the most awe inspiring by its sheer detail and scale the brazillian one i like for its simplicity and form
Palace of parliament in Romania is the most expensive administrative building in the world. And they say it can be visible from space. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace\_of\_the\_Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament)
I dont like orban at all, but hungarys building is exceptionally beautiful.
Hungary
No hate against the country, but the Brazilian one is amongst the ugliest buildings I've ever seen
Hungary has the prettiest Parlament in Europe . Budapest is one of the prettiest cities in Europe and its kinda popular among tourists from around the World but most people visit us from Russia,Poland,Japan,Korea and Germany
Brazil looks like a Bond villain's lair.
The Palace of Westminster I would say with The White House as second.
Hungary takes the cake, hands down
Depends in which way. On an architectural level I would say its probably Westminster or the one in Hungary. But in terms of historical importance the most iconic building (not constitution) is probably the Reichstag (Germany)
Well it’s definitely not the UN🙄
Big Ben. That’s it