Royal Festival Hall

London's Royal Festival Hall has never looked—or sounded—better. The home of the London Philharmonic, built in 1951 for the Festival of Britain, has reopened June of 2007 after a two-year, $184 million overhaul that's part of the revitalization of the Southbank Centre, which also includes Queen Elizabeth Hall. British architects Allies and Morrison re-created the original carpet patterns, uncovered the 1950's Bauhaus-inspired paint scheme, and added sleek new glass elevators. American acousticians Kirkegaard Associates enriched the hall's dry acoustics, which should now do justice to the world's leading orchestras.