Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, 2001, by Snøhetta This huge library and cultural centre was intended to reinvigorate Alexandria as a place of learning, recalling its heyday when it was home to one of the most important libraries of the ancient world. A giant disc tilts towards the Mediterranean, its angled roof providing glare-free northern light to the seven-tiered reading room – the largest in the world – which accommodates 2,000 readers. The project was beset by criticism on completion; some argued that more had been spent on the building than on the collection itself.

Photograph: Gerald Zugmann