AIA:150

To commemorate the 150-year anniversary of the American Institute of Architects, the organization polled "1,800 Americans naming their 150 favorite structures across the nation based on nominations from AIA member architects." At first glance the results are an odd bunch, ranging from obvious choices like the first place Empire State Building to perhaps the least obvious choice, the Apple Store in SoHo.

To approach the list from a unique perspective, I decided to break out the buildings built post-1984, an arbitrary dividing line between Modern and contemporary, encapsulating some -- but not all -- of Postmodernism.

022: Bellagio Hotel and Casino (1998)
033: Rose Center for Earth and Space (2000)
053: Apple Store Fifth Avenue (2006)
057: Denver International Airport (1995)
059: Milwaukee Art Museum, Quadracci Pavilion (2001)
068: New York Times Building (2006)
069: Salt Lake City Public Library (2003)
070: Dolphin and Swan Hotels, Walt Disney World (1990)
071: Hearst Tower (1927 - 2006)
079: Reagan Building and Int'l Trade Center (1998)
082: Sofitel Chicago Water Tower (2002)
085: Harold Washington Library Center (1991)
095: J. Paul Getty Center for the Arts (1997)
097: Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse (2000)
098: Humana Building (1986)
099: Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003)
101: Paul Brown Stadium (2000)
102: United Airlines Terminal, O'Hare (1988)
104: AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants Stadium) (2000)
105: Time Warner Center (2003)
108: Seattle Public Library (2004)
109: Museum of Modern Art (1995)
117: Walker Art Center (2005)
118: American Airlines Center (2001)
121: San Francisco International Terminal (2000)
122: Oriole Park at Camden Yards (1992)
124: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (1993)
129: Weisman Art Museum (1990)
133: Royalton Hotel (1988)
135: Safeco Field (1999)
141: Apple SoHo (2002)

Rather than trying to tackle the qualitative aspects of this 31-member list, which is all over the place, I'll let you draw your own conclusions from this quantitative breakdown:

Ranking:

1-25: 1
26-50: 1
51-75: 7
76-100: 7
101-125: 11
126-150: 4

Location:

East Coast: 11
West Coast: 9
In-between: 11

Use:

Civic/Institutional: 5
Commercial: 7
Cultural: 8
Hotel: 3
Sports: 5
Transport: 3

Architects (origin):

Africa: 0
Asia: 0
Australia: 0
Europe: 8
Latin America: 0
North America: 23

Architects (repeats):

2 - Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
2 - Frank Gehry
2 - Michael Graves
2 - Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum
2 - Richard Meier
2 - NBBJ
2 - Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
2 - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Architects (Pritzkers, in order of winning*):

Ieoh Ming Pei (079 & 124)
Richard Meier (095 & 097)
Frank Gehry (099 & 129)
Renzo Piano (068)
Norman Foster (071)
Rem Koolhaas (108)
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (117)
*22 Pritzker winners are not represented in the AIA list.

Update 02/09: I modified the list above after realizing that some of the dates on the AIA list main page are incorrect; two Meier buildings have been added.

Here's some commentaries on the AIA:150 list:

Chicago Tribune (Blair Kamin)
Wall Street Journal, including a great sortable table view of the list (Alex Frangos)
Time Magazine (Richard Lacayo)
Archinect