KEW GARDENS' Palm House could be considered the first futuristic building and one of the best 10 pieces of architecture ever built. It was designed by the great (and forgotten) Decimus Burton for the great (and remembered) Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The Palm House was finished in 1848; still there, in a mint condition, it holds the Tropical Collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens, developed by the mother of George III with the assistance of Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820, renown botanist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific). Every time I see the Palm House I face amazing discoveries, and endless surprise for my soul; reflecting the sky and the atmosphere, it always looks different... it is not a building: it is a perfect organism. (you can visit it briefly for free half an hour before closing time: a British courtesy) Picture: Palm House, (Decimus Burton, 1844-48) Kew Gardens, Richmond, London. Photo by Pouchulu, 1998.