Metropol Parasol, Seville

This incredible structure stands in, or more accurately, over, the Plaza de la Encarnacion, once a sadly neglected car park. The parasol was formally opened in March 2011 and is a beautiful undulating transparent structure in steel and timber, designed by the German architects J Mayer H.

You first spy it in the air as you round a gentle curve in the street, completely unprepared for it as it reveals its ever-changing form and play of light and shade. We saw it in daylight and at night, when it is even more dramatic. Under it stands a raised open platform with a restaurant and the parasol provides shade to a new public space that people of all ages were enjoying on the day we were there.

It has not been without controversy, as all imaginative public projects are, but as a symbol of confidence that Sevilanas feel about their wonderful city, it is an undoubted success.