New 7 Wonders of the World

The former Director-General of UNESCO, Spain’s Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza, has been appointed president of the panel.
The job of the panel was an extremely difficult one. At the end of 2005, they had to choose just 21 potential wonders from among the 77 sites which attracted the most votes throughout the campaign. The choice of the international experts was based on the architectural and cultural importance, as well as the beauty of the monuments and structures.

The first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, the Iraqi-British architect has designed buildings all over the world, and is considered one of the most gifted professionals working in the field today. Consistently pushing the boundaries of architecture and urban design, Hadid, who once said she does not create “nice buildings”, is famous for sinuous and curving forms such as those of the Aquatics Centre for the 2012 London Olympics. Other notable Hadid projects include the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, the MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome and the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi.

Yung Ho Chang, one of China’s most accomplished contemporary architects and the founding director of the Graduate Center of Architecture at Peking University, was appointed head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Architecture in July 2005..

Tadao Ando was also awarded the Prizker Prize, in 1995. His love of architecture was inspired by the designer Le Corbusier and he is renowned across the world for his unique, artistic way of combining East and West in his work. One of his most acclaimed projects is the Church of the Light in Osaka, Japan..

Argentine-born American Cesar Pelli, architect of the Battery Park buildings in New York, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Canary Wharf in the UK and the second tower of the new Hong Kong Financial Centre, is also a panellist.

Harry Seidler was one of Australia’s finest architects, responsible for the design of numerous prestigious buildings in Sydney as well as further afield, both at home and abroad. The Vienna-born architect is the author of “The Grand Tour,” a respected guide to the most beautiful buildings in the world.

Sadly we have to acknowledge that Harry Seidler (born 1923) has passed away on March 9th, 2006. The world has lost a great master and a true enthusiast of architecture in the real sense of the word. He is survived by his wife, Penelope Evatt, a fellow architect whom he married in 1958, and by their son and daughter. We will always remain grateful for Harry’s support for the New7Wonders campaign, and will remember him throughout.

As the first non-white architect, Aziz Tayob graduated from University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa in 1969. Since then he creates buildings that are honest, functional, though provoking and innovative. He aims to achieve the best design for the very limited resources and space available to the underpriviledged communities of South Africa.