From Babylon to Millau: Jonathan Glancey picks his favourite buildings – in pictures

Jonathan Glancey: 'At Samarra, in northern Iraq, I climbed to the top of the wondrous spiral minaret of what was once the town's Great Mosque. How the sun shone that day. When I got to the top, there was nothing to hang on to' Photograph: Reuters

'I thought the Millennium Experience (the talk of the day) decidedly dimwitted … New Labour, meanwhile, promised it would do things for architecture and urban design that Roman emperors and Renaissance princes could only have dreamed of' Photograph: David Levene for The Guardian

'There have been buildings and structures that have stopped me in my tracks because of their beauty or audacity, and sometimes both. I think of watching the Eiffel Tower-high pylons of Le Viaduc de Millau, by Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster' Photograph: Jean-Phillipe Arles / Reuters

'I visited the Beijing National Stadium, the Bird's Nest by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, on a day of relentless rain; it was worth getting drenched to see this dazzling interplay of art, architecture and engineering' Photograph: How Hwee Young / EPA

'Foster's restaurant and bar at the top of 30 St Mary Axe, or the Gherkin, in the City of London, which also opened in 2004, resembles the nose-cone of some fabulous airship; it is one of the most spectacular of all modern rooms' Photograph: Dan Chung for The Guardian

A view of the Burj Dubai … 'Soon after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, I was asked to write a 2,000 word article on whether or not the skyscraper had a future, and could have answered in a single word: yes' Photograph: Ali Haider / EPA

'The inspiring reinvention of St Pancras station by Alastair Lansley and fellow architects' Photograph: Cate Gillon / Getty Images

'I have been moved by Charles Barclay's timber Kielder Observatory, where I spent a night in 2008 watching stars hanging above the Northumbrian forest' Photograph: Christopher Thomond

'I have been enchanted by Blur, a truly sensational pavilion by Diller + Scofidio set on a steel jetty overlooking Lake Neuchatel at Yverdon-les-Bains' Photograph: Diller Scofidio And Renfro

The Contemporary Art Museum by Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil … 'I can't help feeling, [that it's] harder to create great buildings now than it was in the past' Photograph: Marcelo Sayao / EPA

The ramp of Brasilia's National Museum, by Oscar Niemeyer … 'Architecture is also the stuff of construction, engineering, maths and science' Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Lloyd's Building, City of London … 'Have things improved since I started here, in 1997? It is too short a time span to tell. Good architecture is still being created' Photograph: Arcaid Images / Alamy