John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, United States —
When I.M. Pei met John F Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, in 1964, he explained that as a relatively young architect, he did not have experience of working on monumental projects. Nonetheless, Kennedy thought Pei was so filled with promise and imagination, that she chose him -- from a list that included American's best-known architects -- to design her late husband's library. The library, which was finished in 1979, consists of a stark white, nine-story tower, with a contiguous, geometric, light-filled, glass-and-steel pavilion.