Sydney’s already iconic skyline has welcomed several new additions—most notably a glittering, silver 890-ft. skyscraper that is now the tallest in Australia’s most populous city. Crown Sydney (and its five-star hotel) opened in December, capping the multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the city’s former docklands, a precinct now known as Barangaroo, which includes apartments, restaurants and bars, and a waterfront path and nature reserve. Elsewhere, the University of Sydney opened the Chau Chak Wing Museum, a boxy concrete structure featuring exhibitions on art, science, history and ancient cultures. These new additions join some of Sydney’s more avant-garde architectural offerings, including Darling Square’s unique Exchange building, wrapped in circular softwood ribbons by architect Kengo Kuma, and Frank Gehry’s “crumpled paper bag”: a curvy brick university edifice that overlooks the Goods Line, a former rail line turned public greenway. —Katrina Lobley
World's Greatest Places 2021
