10 overlooked architectural masterpieces in the US

Dallas' Perot Museum of Nature and Science, designed by the architecture firm Morphosis, is one of the coolest buildings in America.(Philip Lange/Shutterstock)
Dallas' Perot Museum of Nature and Science, designed by the architecture firm Morphosis, is one of the coolest buildings in America.(Philip Lange/Shutterstock)

The United States is home to several iconic architectural landmarks — everyone knows the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty — but the country also has a great number of lesser championed masterpieces.

We have compiled a list of the coolest works of architecture in the country that often get overlooked.

These include old and new buildings and structures from museums to religious spaces, office buildings to train stations.

Here are 10 of the best buildings to see in America:

Just outside of Washington D.C., Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, is known for its sleek, curved main terminal, which was designed by the Finnish architect Eero Saarinen.

Image credit: Joe Ravi/Shutterstock

Image credit: Joe Ravi/Shutterstock

Designed by the architecture firm HOK, the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida houses an impressive collection of Salvador Dalí works. Its facade evokes the fluid shapes of the surrealist artist’s work, with its concrete walls interrupted by undulating glass structures.

Image credit: Jorg Hackemann/Shutterstock

Image credit: Jorg Hackemann/Shutterstock

The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles is another Frank Gehry masterpiece. The stainless steel structure isn’t just about aesthetics; the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the building was designed to boast excellent acoustics.

Image credit: City of Angels/Shutterstock

Image credit: City of Angels/Shutterstock

Ohio’s Cincinnati Union Terminal is a striking Art Deco train station that was completed by architects Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, along with Paul Phillippe Cret and Roland Wank, in 1933. The beauty of the station’s design rests in its details, from the fountain outside to the paintings lining the walls inside.

Image credit: Punk Toad/Flickr

Image credit: Punk Toad/Flickr

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The Seagram Building in New York City is a gleaming tower made out of glass and bronze. Designed by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with Philip Johnson, the tower is an example of modern architecture.

Image credit: london road/Flickr

Image credit: london road/Flickr

The New Building at New York City’s John Jay College was designed by the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with a distinctive cube shape and reflective facade. It won an award from the American Institute of Architecture in 2015.

7-the-new-building-at-new-york-citys

JZX422 / Wikimedia Commons

The grid-like pattern on Renzo Piano’s stunning New York Times building in midtown Manhattan cleverly reflects the format of the newspaper and city.

Image credit: Dmitry Brizhatyuk/Shutterstock

Image credit: Dmitry Brizhatyuk/Shutterstock

The sloping structure of New York City’s W. R. Grace Building — conceived by Gordon Bunshaft at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill — is a monochrome masterpiece. Its facade also reflects other buildings and the sky to create a mind-bending optical illusion.

Image credit: VIIIPhoto/Shutterstock

Image credit: VIIIPhoto/Shutterstock

The sharp angles and futuristic look of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, by the architecture firm Morphosis, in Dallas, Texas, makes it one of the most cutting-edge buildings in America.

Dallas' Perot Museum of Nature and Science, designed by the architecture firm Morphosis, is one of the coolest buildings in America.(Philip Lange/Shutterstock)

Dallas’ Perot Museum of Nature and Science, designed by the architecture firm Morphosis, is one of the coolest buildings in America.(Philip Lange/Shutterstock)

Commissioned by the sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude (a student of Frank Lloyd Wright’s), the architects Richard Hein and August K. Strotz built the award-winning Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, Arizona. While the chapel blends almost seamlessly into the red rocks surrounding it, it also offers those inside phenomenal views looking out over the valley.

Image credit: WhiteOceanPhotography/Shutterstock

Image credit: WhiteOceanPhotography/Shutterstock