Three British engineering triumphs, the Shard, Battersea Power Station and the Channel Tunnel, have made it onto a global “top ten” list of the most significant buildings and structures of the modern era on social media.
The survey, commissioned by study commissioned by the organisation behind the Tomorrow.Building World Congress in Barcelona, measured the number of times iconic new buildings and piece of infrastrucuture, ranging from skyscrapers to airports, were the subject of Google searches and Instagram mentions during September.
It said these were buildings constructed or recreated in the last 50 years that “transcend their original function, becoming works of art that attract global attention.”
The top ranked building was the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, which had more than 8 million mentions on Instagram, and around two million Google searches.
Second placed was DXB Airport, also in Dubai, which is the world’s busiest international hub with 87 million passengers a year.
Highest ranked in Europe was the revived Battersea Power Station in seventh place. It had 190,000 Instagram mentions and 673,000 Google searches.
It was followed in ninth place by London, and western Europe’s, tallest skyscraper The Shard with 883,000 Instagram mentions and 450,000 Google searches.
In tenth spot was the Channel Tunnel linking England and France for Eurotunnel shuttle services, and London with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam through high speed Eurostar trains. It had 48,000 Instagram mentions and and 450,000 Google searches.
The UK was the only country with three buildings in a top ten that also included the CN Tower in Toronto, the New Administrative Capital in Egypt; the Mass Transit Railway in Hong Kong; the Gardens by the Bay park in Singapore, and the The Lotus Temple in Baháʼí House of Worship in New Delhi.