The "Golden Global Pagoda" has never made it into my architecture news feed and yet, it is arguably humanity's greatest architectural accomplishment, And I'm not surprised by this because it is not very photogenic, yet! It may take a thousand years before this building gains its gravitas and the patina that will finally make it popular.

Here's why this building is a wonder of the world.

• 2.5 times the size of St. Peter's in Rome, which is the second largest dome of cut stone–no mortar.
• It sports a gilded, arcane facade and a stark, nearly empty interior because unlike Buddhist architecture, this pagoda is functional on the inside. Vipassana is an art, not a religion.
• The purpose of architecture is to shelter beautifully. Shelter is for the innocent. Beauty is for the wise. And the goal of architecture is to become as timelessly integral to life as mountains and rivers. The Great Pyramid was a start. The Parthenon was a great second. The Golden Global Pagoda is more durable than the Parthenon and it has a secular purpose, like band-camp. Vipassana is a correlative art and as such, unites a pluralistic world.