50 Strange Buildings of the World
By Village Mayor • Sep 4th, 2008 • Category: Architecture, Latest Post, The Best of Village of JoyThis is the original list of 50 strange buildings which has been and is being copied (stolen) by many bloggers.
If you wish to post it on your blog or website, feel free to use up to 20 buildings from this list and give a proper link to our website (http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange..) as the source article.
Ok, now enjoy this weird, odd, bizarre and incredible looking arcitechture!
After reading it, don’t forget to check Part II and Part III.
1. The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)
Construction of the building started in in January 2003 and in December 2003 it was finished. House architecture is based on Jan Marcin Szancer (famous Polish drawer and child books illustrator) and Per Dahlberg (Swedish painter living in Sopot) pictures and paintings.
Image via: brocha
2. Forest Spiral - Hundertwasser Building (Darmstadt, Germany)
The Hundertwasser house “Waldspirale” (”Forest Spiral”) was built in Darmstadt between 1998 and 2000. Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the famous Austrian architect and painter, is widely renowned for his revolutionary, colourful architectural designs which incorporate irregular, organic forms, e.g. onion-shaped domes.
The structure with 105 apartments wraps around a landscaped courtyard with a running stream. Up in the turret at the southeast corner, there is a restaurant, including a cocktail bar.
Image via: Kikos Dad
3. The Torre Galatea Figueras (Spain)
Image via: manuelfloresv
4. Ferdinand Cheval Palace a.k.a Ideal Palace (France)
Image via: Mélisande*
5. The Basket Building (Ohio, United States)
The Longaberger Basket Company building in Newark, Ohio might just be a strangest office building in the world. The 180,000-square-foot building, a replica of the company’s famous market basket, cost $30 million and took two years to complete. Many experts tried to persuade Dave Longaberger to alter his plans, but he wanted an exact replica of the real thing.
Image via: addicted Eyes
6. Kansas City Public Library (Missouri, United States)
This project, located in the heart of Kansas City, represents one of the pioneer projects behind the revitalization of downtown.
The people of Kansas City were asked to help pick highly influential books that represent Kansas City. Those titles were included as ‘bookbindings’ in the innovative design of the parking garage exterior, to inspire people to utilize the downtown Central Library.
Image via: jonathan_moreau
7. Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, TN, United States)
8. Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)
Expo 67, one of the world’s largest universal expositions was held in Montreal. Housing was one of the main themes of Expo 67.
The cube is the base, the mean and the finality of Habitat 67. In its material sense, the cube is a symbol of stability. As for its mystic meaning, the cube is symbol of wisdom, truth, moral perfection, at the origin itself of our civilization.
354 cubes of a magnificent grey-beige build up one on the other to form 146 residences nestled between sky and earth, between city and river, between greenery and light.
Image via: ken ratcliff
9. Cubic Houses (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
The original idea of these cubic houses came about in the 1970s. Piet Blom has developed a couple of these cubic houses that were built in Helmond.
The city of Rotterdam asked him to design housing on top of a pedestrian bridge and he decided to use the cubic houses idea. The concept behind these houses is that he tries to create a forest by each cube representing an abstract tree; therefore the whole village becomes a forest.
Image via: vpzone
10. Hang Nga Guesthouse a.k.a Crazy House (Vietnam)
The house is owned by the daughter of the ex-president of Vietnam, who studied architecture in Moscow.
It does not comply with any convention about house building, has unexpected twists and turns, roofs and rooms. It looks like a fairy tale castle, it has enormous “animals” like a giraffe and a spider, no window is rectangular or round, and it can be visited like a museum.
Image via: JonasPhoto
11. Chapel in the Rock (Arizona, United States)
Image via: santanartist
12. Dancing Building (Prague, Czech Republic)
Image via: jemil75
13. Calakmul building a.k.a La Lavadora a.k.a The Washing Mashine (Mexico, Mexico)
Image via: marj k
14. Kettle House (Texas, United States)
Image via: y luckyfukr
15. Manchester Civil Justice Centre (Manchester, UK)
Image via: tj.blackwell
16. Nakagin Capsule Tower (Tokyo, Japan)
Image via: pict_u_re
17. Mind House (Barcelona, Spain)
Image via: angelocesare
18. Stone House (Guimarães, Portugal)
image via: Jsome1
19. Shoe House (Pennsylvania, United States)
Image via: James Gordon
20. Weird House in Alps
Image via: nicolasnova
21. The Ufo House (Sanjhih, Taiwan)
Image via: cypherone @ Taiwan
22. The Hole House (Texas, United States)
Image via: melinnis
23. Ryugyong Hotel (Pyongyang, North Korea)
Image via: Pricey
24. The National Library (Minsk, Belarus)
Image via: ledsmagazine.com
25. Grand Lisboa (Macao)
Image via: Michael McDonough
26. Wall House (Groningen, Netherlands)
Image via: Liao Yusheng
27. Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain)
Image via: disgustipado
28. Bahá’í House of Worship a.k.a Lotus Temple (Delhi, India)
Image via: MACSURAK
29. Container City (London, UK)
Image via: y Fin Fahey
30. Erwin Wurm: House Attack (Viena, Austria)
Image via: Dom Dada
31. Wooden Gagster House (Archangelsk, Russia)
Image via: deputy-dog.com
32. Air Force Academy Chapel (Colorado, United States)
Image via: dbking
33. Solar Furnace (Odeillo, France)
Image via: f2g2
34. Dome House (Florida, United States)
Image via: easement
35. Beijing National Stadium (Beijing, China)
Image via: littlemalt
36. Fashion Show Mall (Las Vegas, United States)
Image via: b2tse
37. Luxor Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, United States)
Image via: wallyg
38. Zenith Europe (Strasbourg, France)
Image via: Edouard55
39. Civic Center (Santa Monica)
Image via: karenchu121
40. Mammy’s Cupboard (Natchez, MS, United States)
Image via: Live Simply
41. Pickle Barrel House (Grand Marais, Michigan, United States)
Image via: the naked fauxtographer
42. The Egg (Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York, United States)
Image via: iessi
43. Gherkin Building (London, UK)
Image via: Lawrie Cate
44. Nord LB building (Hannover, Germany)
Image via: iterby
45. Lloyd’s building (London, UK)
Image via: ryanfb
46. “Druzhba Holiday Center Hall (Yalta, Ukraine)
Image via: Argenberg
47. Fuji television building (Tokyo, Japan)
Image via: kamoda
48. UCSD Geisel Library (San Diego, California, United States)
Image via: ewen and donabel
49. Ripley’s Building (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)
Image via: Bekah267
50. The Bank of Asia a.k.a Robot Building (Bangkok, Thailand)
Image via: hewy
P.S. currently new comments are not being approved, because there are just too much of them, but don’t be afraid, we see them, and when we install a proper plugin for comment management, they will all appear here.
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June 29th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
To Jon Hash and his deeply erroneous comment about #34:
heheh, I’m sorry but WHAT mountains? The house in question is indeed in Florida and is on the barrier island in Pensacola Beach. It’s had stories on the news about it and is also quite clearly visible in Google Earth/Maps and Street View. Do a Google map search on “1056 Ariola Dr, Pensacola , FL” and voila, there it is.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
The maker doesent know anything about weird architecture! ever heard of the Winchester house in San Jose, California? Sarah Winchester, a millionare, who built it with 5 millon dollars. It should claim the strangest house of all time. It has doors and windows that open to walls, doors that open to nowhere, stairs that lead to nowhere, and one that goes straight in the ceilng. Theres a room with no furniture, that has one entrance, and three exits, and a secret door, that opens 8 feet above the kitchen below. The building was 7 floors tall before the earthquake in 1906. Now its just 4 storys tall. Its opened every day exept in christmas.
The real list should start: Winchester mansion, Nord LB building, Forest Spiral, Habitat 67, Cubic Houses, Russian Gangster House…. and so on.
June 11th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Great list! Thank you for compiling such list :).
June 11th, 2009 at 1:14 am
What about the art museum in Graz, Austria? That is a bizarre building, nicknamed “The Friendly Alien”
http://www.contemporist.com/photos/graz_art_museum_mar16.jpg
June 8th, 2009 at 10:37 am
They are all absolutely fascinating but the most beautiful is the #28, the Baha’i House of Worship, Lotus Blossom. That took outstanding skill building!
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Extraordinarily strange, but extraordinarily beautiful. What a treat! I took a better photograph of the UCSD Library.
May 19th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Who designed them? If you added the architects names it would be soooo much better!!!!
May 17th, 2009 at 7:22 am
excellent
May 16th, 2009 at 3:52 am
Ripleys Believe or Not Building is not in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
May 14th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
what up call me my # is 4502182
May 14th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Awesome Buildings….Wish i could visit every building….
May 9th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
The interesting thing about Ideal Palace is not its design.
The interesting thing about Ideal Palace is its creator.
It was built by a single man, a simple retired French postman wth little or no knowledge in architecture and design, who had always dreamt about building his own palace. And he did it.
I think it sould be written below the photo.
May 6th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
This is a super cool blog. Thanks for compiling these all together. I really enjoyed looking at them
May 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Ohhh my goodness those buildings are so beautiful but some of them look weird….
May 5th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
these are photoshopped, i can tell by the pixes.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
This buildings are rocking. I heard about them alot before that they looked funny but never knew the were popping out of the screen too! LOL
April 29th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Hey Anonymoose, when I zoom in to 2,600,000% I can see god in the atoms of internet ether and he said you don’t know JACK about the odd buildings of the world! All real my friend! And to John Hash, look at the picture BELOW the caption, not ABOVE! You’re looking at the Solar Furnace not the Dome House in Fla.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I have actually been to Pigeon Forge in Tennessee and saw wonderworks (the upside down building) it’s super cool. One of the coolest buildings i have seen in my life close up!
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:58 am
I have lost words to describe. One never knows how much 3 pounds of superb brain cells could do. Man’s deeds? God’s deeds? Or we human beings are simply fulfilling and are part of God’s deeds in the Universe!!!The feelings are so good that, again, it is beyond words!!!
April 19th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
wow these r awesome releee i loved it ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
April 18th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
#32………Air Force Academy Chapel, Colorado, United States……………….Beautiful structure…………a must see…………
April 17th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
THESE BUILDINGS ARE VERY WIERD
April 15th, 2009 at 3:11 am
# 41 is actually in Grand Rapids, MI; not Grand Marais. =) I’m from there.
April 12th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Your missing one building in Sacramento, California. It is a store that has the whole bottom half of the corner of it comes apart and it is where you enter the builing and then at night it slides back into itself with no entrance at all.
take a look it’s really funny too.
Thanks
April 12th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Wow amazing, lol ud think the civil engineer would look at the design and be thinking “Please physics tell me thats impossible” lol
Nah we would be excited we love buildings
April 8th, 2009 at 5:59 am
I love all the buildings . It seems just like my dream buildings because i am just 13 years old.
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:40 am
I found each of the building totally totally amazing.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
[...] looking at this magical collection of buildings, don’t forget to check Part III (and also Part I if you haven’t seen it yet) of this very popular architecture post [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 4:32 am
This is a brilliant compilation that celebrates the wonders of architecture - well some are quirky beyond words but I suppose one man’s meat is another’s poison. Love the guggenheim design.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:34 am
i would bet my life all of these are 100% real and not photo shopped. I admire architectural talent like this and would consider myself an aficionado of the art. I have been to a lot of these places. The The National Library in Belarus is my favorite.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:30 am
This list is really great. I’ve been to the Guggenheim. It’s beautiful.
Good job.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I like number 7.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:31 am
I like number 40. too lovely.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Library house
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 am
I like the library house
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Falta a casa da Musica… lol
March 21st, 2009 at 10:07 pm
#34 Florida huh??? Never knew they had big mountains there. Nice photoshop picture there.
March 17th, 2009 at 7:09 am
45==> been there, seen that:)
March 16th, 2009 at 5:29 am
I just love this collection..
Well done!
March 14th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
21. The Ufo House (Sanjhih, Taiwan)
It will be removed soon
because that is a group of buildings not finished
and already so many years left unused
so our government thinks that destroys view
March 11th, 2009 at 3:10 am
Gile tuh orang yang bikin…ck ck ck
March 10th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
#40 looks like my mom
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Wow…the #1 is damned right…does something like that really exist? I can’t believe it…
March 1st, 2009 at 1:39 am
I’ve seen the “gherkin” building in London…don’t remember who owns it, but it’s right across the Thames from the Tower of London. There’s another really neat building near it, it’s not really egg-shaped, sort of hard to describe…
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not in Branson, Missouri, looks identical to the one in Canada. I imagine they’re probably all the same.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
mai avem si casa poporului din Romania
Toate sunt suberbe si unice in lume
Exceptional
February 25th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
i like the crooked house and the dancing building those were really cool and awesome. i wish i could see them in real life
and goinside it and play
February 24th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Muito obrigada
It`s amaising everthing, Thaks for show we
February 24th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
24. The National Library (Minsk, Belarus)
i live near it =))) & it is really natoinal =)) because it was build on national money =)))
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Amasing…those who engineered…must be deeply grateful to engineers!
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Excellent writeup! Sorry to read its being stolen, it obviously took you a lot of effort. Great work