As part of the commemoration of the organization’s 150th anniversary in 2007, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the list of the 150 highest-ranked structures as “America’s Favorite Architecture”. It was based upon a study by Harris Interactive over the course of two years polling a sample of the AIA membership and later polling a sample of the public. The public’s preferences were ranked using a “likeability” scale developed for the study. AIA president R.K. Stewart acknowledged that the rankings did not represent architects’ professional judgments, but instead reflected people’s “emotional connections” to buildings. As a result, many buildings that architects consider highly significant did not make the list.
New York City is the location of 32 structures on the list, more than any other place. Of the 10 top-ranked structures, 6 are in Washington, DC, which is the location of 17 of the 150 structures on the complete list.Chicago has 16 structures on the list. Over the course of this and the next nine issues, we will show them all to you. Here are the top fifteen.
