...will be announced in Lisbon on Saturday.
Here are the 21 finalists.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_...3860-1,00.html
What do you think. Anything they missed?
Haha! Nice agency in this description:
That's a tough choice: those are all pretty humbling.The Alhambra in Spain is a palace and fortress perched above the city of Granada.
It was once the residence of the Muslim rulers who governed southern Spain until it became a Christian court in 1492.
I'd think maybe the Panama or Suez canal might deserve mention.
The Panama Canal is already a modern wonder, so it's not a candidate as best I can tell.Originally Posted by Mark Asher
When they're complete, both the Al Burj and the Bank of America Tower would make decent candidates.
Neuschwanstein and the Sydney opera? You've got to be kidding me.
I'd say the Pyramids and the Great Wall are shoe-ins. Other than that, they're all pretty impressive. Maybe the Golden Gate or some other impressive bridge should be on there?
Mark's got a point about the canals, though. I guess most of the truly great feats of engineering these days tend to be for mundane things. Heck, the Big Dig is one of the biggest construction projects in history, but it's hardly very "wondrous."
It occured to me that the Golden Gate Bridge should be in there but that's probably just local bias.
That picture of Angkor Wat does it zero justice.
Oh, please. If you want to go modern how about the super-bridge in Japan?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi-Kaikyo_Bridge
Is Petra where they filmed the last Indiana Jones movie?
I'm a bit disappointed that the standing Buddhas of Bamyan didn't get a post-humous award. They certainly deserve it more than the Sydney opera house or the Christ figure in Brazil.
Last edited by Kunikos; 07-06-2007 at 10:04 AM.
I'd put stonehenge, both sets of pyramids, Alhambra, Easter Island, the Colosseum and Jordan's former capital (Petra)... though The Great Wall, the Incan Empre and a couple of others could easily replace some of those
It's not just about what's currently the biggest or the longest ("that's what SHE said... WOOOOOOO!") object of its type, though. I mean, Stonehenge isn't particularly wonderous by modern standards--a couple of guys with a backhoe could probably set that sucker up in a day. It's still pretty wonderous, though, because we know that the people who made it didn't have backhoes (probably).
The Sydney opera house was sort of a "meh" choice, I thought. I can see Neuschwanstein, though it's definitely a "B-list" pick. That list is missing some fairly obvious choices, though, such as the Sistine Chapel, The Sears Tower, and The Delta Works (in the Netherlands).
Whatever list you end up with, there is no way that you could leave off the Great Wall.
I don't think any of the large skyscrapers built in the last century should make the list - the Sears Tower was a bit taller than the ones that came before it, and the ones that came after it are a bit taller still, but there's none that really jump out as being either spectacular to look at, or truly unique, IMO.
The Sydney Opera House seems like it doesn't belong with the others - cool, but not worthy of being one of the seven.
With both the statue of Christ the Redeemer and the Statue of Liberty having been built in France and shipped to the new world, it seems like they should have another category of "The Seven Wondrous Giant Statues Made in France and Shipped Overseas in Parts" that would free up some room on the other wonder list.
But what about the Argonath?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TheArgonath.jpg
Sky News also claims that the Hagia Sophia was built in 537 BC in Constantinople talk about being ahead of the game. I thought only us Americans made mistakes like that?
In the name of love, before you break my heart
I would have a hard time qualifying most of those as wonders. I am not saying they arn't, but I do not have enough information from just pictures to make any kind of informed decisions.
To me, a wonder has to be something that represents a herculean effort by a civilization that represents some kind of pinnacle, such as in engineering, architecture and so-forth.
The pyramids are an engineering wonder. Hoover dam is an engineering wonder. The great wall of china is a logistical wonder and/or engineering wonder. The hanging gardens of Babylon were an architectural wonder as well as the temple of Zeus.
Stone henge *might* be a technological wonder considering its accuracy as an astronomical tool, but there are many others like it all over the world. Angkor wat should qualify before stone henge does.
The Eiffel tower? Its is a very nice structure and quite innovative. Is it enough to qualify? It didn't require any kind of significant effort by any civilization to build. It only took about 2 years to make with about 300 workers. Compare that to the pyramids. Or Hoover dam. Or maybe even the continental railroad connecting the US east and west coasts. Just to put it into perspective...
I really want to know what they are using as qualifications. To me it seems that it is merely a silly popularity contest of the importance as People magazine's most sexually attractive celebrity awards.
You always, always make me smile, DeepT.
Because I used the wrong word that sounds right but is wrong? Or because you think the statement is ludicrous?
Neither, mate. Your viewpoint and phrasing is always uniquely you. Like, you know how Frank Sinatra maybe wasn't that great of a singer, but boy, he had great phrasing and timing. You can always tell Frank singing, even if you don't dig his stuff :)
My picks from that list...
Hagia Sophia Cathedral
Great Wall of China
Machu Picchu
Pyramids
Taj Mahal
Easter Island
Colosseum
However, the ones that were left out that I think should be there...
The Panama Canal
The Suez Canal
The Palm Island of Dubai
The Chunnel
Oh yeah. The Chunnel is probably a good one.
It'd be a lot easier to pick if they listed the stat bonuses for the building civilizations.
It's all about the stats...
The Manhattan Project would be a good addition, if there were some artifact that was easy to point to.
NeoTokyo?
No good. It's about to EXPLODE.
I don't think the Eiffel Tower should be in that list.
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my Seven Wonders of the World to remain ancient. Anything built in the last couple of centuries is too recent, IMHO. It isn't just their size and artistry which makes them special, it's also the fact they were assembled without the benefit of modern-ish construction equipment and techniques.
If they have stonehenge and the piramids at Giza, they ought to include the Panama Canal.
Fixed that for ya.
My picks:
Stone Henge
Angkor
Chichen Itza pyramid
Colosseum
Great Wall of China
Hagia Sophia
Machu Picchu
Taj Mahal
For no particular reason though.. my favorites I would say are the Colosseum since pretty much all football stadiums are sort of based off it, and the Stone Henge, cause people always wonder what the heck the point of it was.
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