1900s vs 2000s Trivia Quiz

The Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, was constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in collaboration with Chinese architect Li Xinggang, the project broke ground in December 2003 and was completed in June 2008.

The stadium's distinctive interwoven steel structure, inspired by Chinese ceramics, gives it both strength and an open-air appearance. To accommodate the games, it was built with a capacity of 91,000, though seating was later reduced.

The design originally included a retractable roof, but it was removed to save costs and improve earthquake resistance.

The Sydney Opera House was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon after he won an international design competition in 1957. Construction began in 1959 and, despite numerous delays and budget overruns, the building was finally completed in 1973. Its distinctive shell-like roof structures were originally considered impossible to build, and engineers had to develop innovative construction techniques to make them a reality. Utzon resigned from the project in 1966 due to political and financial disputes, and the Opera House was completed by a team of Australian architects. Though he never returned to Australia to see it finished, Utzon was later honored for his work, and the building was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

The Burj Khalifa was designed by American architect Adrian Smith while he was working for the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Construction began in 2004 and was completed in 2010, with the official opening on January 4 of that year. Standing at 2,717 feet (828 meters), the skyscraper was designed to withstand extreme desert temperatures and strong winds, using a Y-shaped floor plan to provide stability. During peak construction, around 12,000 workers were on-site each day.

The tower's spire was constructed inside the building itself and later jacked into place, reducing the need for high-altitude assembly.

The Amazon Spheres, a trio of glass domes at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, were designed by the architecture firm NBBJ to create a unique workspace filled with nature. Construction began in 2015 and was completed in 2018. The largest sphere stands 90 feet (27 meters) tall and 130 feet (39.6 meters) in diameter, with a steel frame supporting over 2,600 panes of glass.

Inside, the structure houses more than 40,000 plants from around the world, including a 55-foot (16.7-meter) tall fig tree that had to be transported in one piece and lifted into place by a crane.

The CN Tower was built in Toronto, Canada, by the Canadian National Railway to improve telecommunications in the city. It was designed by the architectural firm WZMH Architects, and construction began in February 1973, having been completed in June 1976. Standing at 1,815 feet (553.3 meters), the tower was built using a slipform method, where concrete was continuously poured into a mold that moved upward as the structure rose.

At its peak, workers poured concrete around the clock, advancing the tower by about 20 feet (6 meters) per day.

The final piece, a 335-foot (102-meter) antenna, was lifted into place by a specially modified Sikorsky helicopter, which had to make multiple precise trips to assemble it section by section.

One World Trade Center was built in Lower Manhattan to replace the original World Trade Center towers destroyed on September 11, 2001. Designed by architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, construction began on April 27, 2006, and was completed in 2013, with the official opening in November 2014.

The tower stands 1,776 feet (541 meters) tall, a height chosen to symbolize the year of American independence. To ensure stability and security, its base is reinforced with thick concrete walls, and the glass façade was specially designed to withstand extreme conditions.

The final piece of the spire was installed on May 10, 2013.

The Petronas Towers were built in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to serve as the headquarters for the national oil company, Petronas. Designed by Argentine architect César Pelli, construction began in 1993 and was completed in 1998. Each tower stands 1,483 feet (452 meters) tall and features a distinctive postmodern design inspired by Islamic geometry. To support the massive structures on the city's soft limestone bedrock, engineers used the world's deepest foundation at the time, with concrete piles extending more than 394 feet (120 meters) underground.

The towers were built by two competing construction teams--one for each tower--to accelerate the process, with the South Korean team finishing Tower 2 slightly ahead of the Japanese team working on Tower 1.

The Lotus Temple, a Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi, India, was designed by Iranian-Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba. Construction began in 1980 and was completed in 1986. The temple's unique design features 27 free-standing marble-clad "petals" arranged in clusters of three to form a lotus flower, a symbol of purity in many religions.

The structure was built using white marble from Greece, the same type used in the Parthenon. Unlike many religious buildings, the temple lacks altars, statues, or inscriptions, reflecting the Bahá'í faith's focus on universal worship and spiritual equality. To manage the large number of visitors, the complex includes an underground cooling system that relies on pools of water surrounding the temple rather than traditional air conditioning.

The Millau Viaduct was built to improve traffic flow through southern France by spanning the Tarn Valley. Designed by British architect Norman Foster and French engineer Michel Virlogeux, construction began in October 2001 and was completed in December 2004.

The cable-stayed bridge stretches 8,071 feet (2,460 meters) in length, with its tallest pillar reaching 1,125 feet (343 meters), making it higher than the Eiffel Tower. To ensure stability on the valley's soft soil, engineers used deep foundations, with some pylons extending more than 50 feet (15 meters) underground.

The roadway was assembled on land and then pushed out over the valley in increments, reducing the need for risky high-altitude construction.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. Construction began in 1993 and was completed in 1997, transforming the industrial city of Bilbao, Spain, into a major cultural destination. The museum's flowing, organic form was created using titanium panels, limestone, and glass, with a design so complex that computer modelling software originally developed for the aerospace industry was needed to construct it.

Its titanium exterior, made of 33,000 thin panels, was chosen because it reflects light differently throughout the day, giving the building a constantly shifting appearance.

The museum's success sparked a wave of urban renewal, a phenomenon later referred to as the "Bilbao Effect."

Tokyo Tower, a communications and observation tower in Japan's capital, was designed by architect Tachu Naito and built to support the country's expanding television networks. Construction began in June 1957 and was completed in December 1958. Standing 1,092 feet (333 meters) tall, it was the tallest structure in Japan until 2012. Modelled after the Eiffel Tower but painted in white and international orange to meet air safety regulations, the tower was built using a significant amount of scrap metal, including steel from damaged U.S. military tanks left over from the Korean War.

The Shard was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and built in London as a mixed-use skyscraper. Construction began in March 2009 and was completed in July 2012, with the official opening in 2013. Standing 1,016 feet (310 meters) tall, the glass-clad tower was inspired by the shape of a shard of glass, with its tapering design intended to blend into the city's skyline.

The Shard's exterior consists of 11,000 glass panels angled in a way that reflects the changing sky, giving the building a constantly shifting appearance. To minimize disruption in the densely built area, engineers used top-down construction, building underground sections while the tower rose above.