Which icon should win architecture's most coveted trophy?

30 ST MONICA AXE by Sir Steven Berkoff and Partners.

To some, its shape is reminiscent of a cigar - larger than a slim panatella, yet small enough to fit inside a White House intern. To others, it is the the Extruded Easter Egg, the Quarrelsome Cock or the Dum Dum. Whatever it is called, one thing is certain. The iconic presence on the London skyline of 'The Lewinsky' has redefined our perceptions of 'icon', 'presence' and 'London skyline'. Of course, it has many other nicknames: the Tumescent Pickle, the Woppit, the Lipstick, the Glistening Bolus, the Dark Capsule, the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the Stripey Heave, the Comfit and the Suppository. But in the end names are not important - architects are.

vote st. monica

DAS BOOT by Flanagan and Allen

This striking addition to the historic town of Graz in Austria is not simply an icon. It is also what the Austrians call 'a shoe for art' or 'the inside-out poem of a living landmark of the place-soul'. It flatters local inhabitants just by being there; they are enchanted and grateful. The unusual form deliberately sets up linguistic tensions: 'boot, 'boat', 'kunst', 'architects', etc. Flanagan and Allen are perhaps best remembered for their experimental work in the 1960s. Now they have gone from 'iconoclastic' to 'iconotastic', and have updated their psychedelic scheme for a Walking City, adding a giant Walking Stick at the front.

vote boot

MUSEUM OF DEATH by Studio Jacob Kinderegg

Unlike other urban icons designed by Kinderegg - which have tended to be jagged explosions of geometric shards - this one is in Manchester. It at once evokes the tragic history of conflict and bitterness at Ground Zero, and the heroism of ordinary people who in the past have silently queued to enter museums of remembrance. This project has been widely acclaimed for its fragmented form - Kinderegg famously sought inspiration for its design by smashing up a masterplan with his cowboy boot, stamping off in a sulk, coming back again to retrieve his cowboy boot, then leaving again in a sulk.

vote death

TAMWORTH REVISITED by Lachrymose Bushmills Troy

This is the first time an urban rebadging project has made the Gurning shortlist. In the past, only major lumps of architecture (or 'icons') have been considered. As the Tamworth Revisited scheme incorporates several small icons, however, it's eligible. The brief was to take a run-down area and redefine it in the heads of those who pass through - using strategically-placed art pieces, modern lighting techniques, hypnosis and local unemployed people dressed as superheroes. The urban landscape was interviewed before and after the rebadging exercise by psychogeographers and said it was feeling '100% better'. As urban landscapes cannot lie, this was money well spent.

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SKILL PLACE by Sir Steven Berkoff and Partners.

The second Berkoff icon in the shortlist. The Skill Place is situated between London and the rest of England and is what used to be known as a 'learn centre' or, before the Labour Government was in power, a 'school'. Its cool ethos of 'unfinished business environment meets hip-hop refectory' is credited with a remarkable  improvement in exam results. The original building wasn't an icon, and some skill-seekers would disrupt proceedings with foul language and gunfire. Now, those same pupils have been completely turned around and taken in vans to a youth detention centre, allowing the power of architecture to prevail.

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THE POINT by Ritch Irony Architects

What is The Point? The inclusion of this project on the Gurning shortlist was controversial, and some comfortable questions are now being asked. For example - is it architecture? You certainly can't inhabit it, and there's no toilet. These matters become irrelevant, however, when you consider that it is an icon, and at least seven times the height of the nearby General Post Office. Nobody yet has been foolhardy enough to climb to the top although it is only a matter of time, as people can't smoke anywhere else in Dublin these days.

vote point