For many years in the 19th century Teesside set the world price for iron and steel. The steel components of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) were engineered and fabricated by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough. Fittingly, the words MADE IN MIDDLESBROUGH are stamped on the Bridge.

Via a 1907 Act of Parliament the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company also built the great Transporter Bridge (1911) which spans the Tees itself between Middlesbrough and Port Clarence. At 850 feet (260 m) long and 225 feet (69 m) high, is one of the largest of its type in the world, and one of only two left in working order in Britain (the other being in Newport).It is, indeed, a Grade II* listed building. Another landmark, the Tees Newport Bridge opened further along the Tees in 1934.

The great steelworks, chemical plants, shipbuilding and offshore fabrication yards that followed the original Middlesbrough ironworks, have in the recent past contributed to Britain's prosperity in no small measure and still do to this day.

Even so, the urban centre remains home to a variety of architecture ranging from the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, opened in January 2007 to replace a number of former outlying galleries; and Centre North East, formerly Corporation House, which remains the tallest building in the North East of England, having initially opened in 1971. Inspired by Blade Runner (whose own industrial scenery was inspired by that of Teesside, by virtue in part of the experiences of its director, the South Shields-born Ridley Scott

Long-awaited flagship art gallery project, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art opened its doors in January 2007. It currently holds the second largest collection of Picassos in the United Kingdom. It also holds works of art by Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse and Damien Hirst among others. Its considerable arts and crafts collections span from 1900 to the present day.