San Francisco - Hyatt Regency Hotel

Although the architecture of the skyscrapers is conventional, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, opened in 1973, never ceases to provoke comment. The N side, almost triangular in outline, inclines at an angle of 45 degrees; the rooms enjoy a fine view out over the Bay.

The hotel foyer is even more sensational: over 300ft/91m long it is 190ft/57m high, reaching up to the seventeenth story. Around it are grouped the restaurant, bars and shops. The center-piece of this unique space is a four story-high sphere sculpted from gilded aluminum tubing by the American sculptor Charles Perry.