But it's no surprise that Americans are very proud of their architectural heritage, too. After all, as one cyclist - apparently randomly stopped and interviewed in the street - put it in the AIA Google Earth demo on YouTube, "your physical space has such a profound effect on how you feel and it even shapes the way you perceive the world around you".
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Google has teamed up with AIA to launch two great new layers that can be integrated into your own version of Google's popular virtual globe program, Google Earth.
The first of one lets you explore "America's Favourite Architecture". The collection contains 150 of the most popular structures in America in 3-D, incorporating buildings, bridges, monuments and memorials that were chosen in a public poll. Among them you can see the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the White House and many more.
The second layer is called "Blueprint for America"; and according to RK Stewart, president of the American Institute of Architects, its goal is "to engage the local community with the design community to create a vision for the future."
Blueprint for America is an ongoing community service effort funded by the AIA, aimed at developing new and exciting architectural projects. Local sections of the AIA give their community an opportunity to envision what their city could look like in the future and users will be able to track the progress of these projects on Google Earth as they unfold over the next year.
