We live in a changing world. Buildings change with time. So do the notions of beauty because society, individuals, speed, duty, morals, and culture change. New and unconventional buildings as new ideas always make people ask questions: "What is new? What caused the change? New technology? New lifestyle requiring a new functional response by the building? New way to express the spirit of the times or simply a better and more creative way of solving old problems?" There are literally thousands of forces that shape buildings. When new ideas, resulting in a new form, appear upon the scene, the public is usually shocked. Buildings are like people-some are very physical, some are overemotional and some are deeply intellectual. Buildings that fascinate and catch the public's imagination and that people find worthy of reflection are usually the ones that are less predictable and more dynamic. Such buildings surprise you and at the same time stimulate your imagination. What is the feature then that makes them so unique and quite different? It should be an idea, readable by everyone or almost everyone. The search for an answer of the question "why are some designs more interesting than others?" represents the author's own interest in designs that fascinate and inspire. What is the place, if any, of "Sense and Sensibility" in design? It may be argued that an architectural design based on a sound sense will yield a reasonable but trivial result while a design based on sensibility will be fascinating and inspiring. Then why do some architects use a sound sense while for others sensibility is the guiding notion? Is it because for some this is simply an everyday routine and for others this is a creed and a way of life? The focus of this research paper will be on iconic buildings as they embody in a more explicit way the architect's quest for the unconventional, the poetic and the original in design. Identifying diverse sources of inspiration in the fuzzy front end of the design process deviating from common and standard practices (the actual site with its idiosyncrasies or similar existing buildings) proves to be the creative approach to design mastered by the great minds in architecture. The case study research method as described by Bums (1994) has been applied to this study. Three case studies representative of iconic buildings have been used in this discourse as they exemplify a unique approach to design and provide valuable insights-Renzo Piano's Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Noumea, New Caledonia, Toyo Ito's Mediatheque in Sendai, Japan and Jasmax's Te Papa, Museum of New Zeal-and in Wellington. Architecture inspired by nature and tradition that searches for poetry and lyricism in buildings is what unites the work of Piano, Ito and Jasmax. Tjibaou Cultural Centre-the "building that sings" (Architectural Record 200 1), inspired by the traditional Kanak hut, the "lyrical grace of the Sendai Mediatheque" (Bognar 1997), inspired by the image of a floating seaweed and the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa-"a statement of national identity" (Hunt 1998) illustrate the diverse and unconventional sources of inspiration that have informed these designs. Two techniques pertinent to the "case study" research method have been used-document analysis (articles about these three buildings) and non-participant observation (the author's own site visits).
