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8 of the Most Bizarre Buildings in the World

It's been a while since I've had a guest post, but here's one I think you'll really like by Louise. 

Conventional architecture has taken the back seat to new and interesting building designs that integrate green living and simply unusual floorplans into their construction. The idea of unconventional design is not new though, and throughout history people have taken design into their own hands and minds, creating some of the world's most bizarre structures. From the multitude of buildings the world has to offer, here are 8 of the world's strangest.



1.Casa Batllo (Barcelona, Spain)
Located in Barcelona, Gaudi's Casa Batllo is famously known for its beautiful, though somewhat unsettling, organically inspired exterior, and is also known by the name Casa dels ossos (House of bones). The Barcelona townhouse was actually restored and remodeled by Gaudi for a family in the early 1900's, and contains colorful mosaics of broken ceramic, and a warped, almost reptilian, roof. There are aspects of Art Nouveau evident, such as the oval bottom-floor windows, but the building is decorated in a style uniquely its own.



2.Waldspirale (Darmstadt, Germany)
The Waldspirale, or Forest Spiral, is a residential building in Darmstadt, Germany which contains its own river and artificial lake. The building is quite literally “green” in that its roof is completely covered with plants, and a few windows have trees growing outwards. The building's side view is also quite curious as no two windows are alike, and the case is the same for the apartments' doorhandles. In addition to apartments, there is also a cafe and bar at the top of the spiral, and a playground around the lake. It was designed by Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and architect Heinz M. Springmann, and the construction began in the 1990's, completed by the Bauverein Darmstadt company in 2000.



3. Longaberger Company Building (Ohio, United States)
This building is actually an exact replica of The Longaberger Medium Market Basket (including heated handles and two gold leaf painted tags), and houses the Company's offices in Newark, Ohio. The office building was conceptualized by Dave Longaberger, founder of the Longaberger Company and constructed by NBBJ and Korda Nemeth Engineering. The 180,000-square-foot building has 500 employees, and is exactly 160 times wider, longer, and taller than the original basket.



4. Kansas City Public Library (Missouri, United States)
The Kansas City Public Library, located in the former First National Bank building in downtown Kansas City, has gone through many phases and locations in its history. Interestingly, the famous facade of this building, which includes the bindings from “Catch 22” to “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” is in fact its parking garage, but manages to grab the attention of any passersby.
The building project, which included completely restoring the old bank building, was completed in 2004.



5. Wonderworks (Tennessee,United States)
This upside-down building is an educational amusement park for children in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The attraction became so popular, that recently a new one opened up in Panama City Beach, FL, and there is one in Orlando, FL as well.



6. Ferdinand Cheval Palace:
The story behind this beautiful palace is almost as strange as the building itself. It is the work of one postman, Ferdinand Cheval, who began constructing his palais idéal in 1879. It took him 33 years to complete, stone by stone. He claimed to be inspired by a stone he tripped on or was hit by during his mail route, and continued to collect stones everyday eventually building his palace at that location. There is extraordinary detail in every aspect of the building, and influences of artwork from around the world can be found there.



7. Blur Building (Yverdon-les-Bainz, Switzerland)
The Blur building is a media pavilion created for the 2002 Swiss Expo, which is hidden behind a cloud of mist. To reach the building, visitors must walk across a lake on a long platform, into what appears to be a giant floating cloud. The “cloud” is simply filtered lake water shot through 13,000 nozzles which creates a fine mist, measuring 300 X 200 feet across and 65 feet high. The nozzles are controlled from the inside depending on wind speed, direction, and weather.



8. Nautilus House (Mexico)
This home in Mexico is completely inspired by the beauty in nature. The exterior resembles a Nautilus shell, and the interior is lavishly decorated with mosaics. It was built for a family in Mexico who decided to abandon conventional housing and build something unique and natural. The project was taken by Arquitectura Organica, who have completed many other naturally inspired buildings, and was finished in 2007. The floorplan manages to be free-flowing,while at the same time mimicking the internal organization of a Mollusk.

Louise Baker is a freelance writer and journalist. She currently writes about online degrees for Zen College Life. Her most recent article was on the top 10 nursing schools in the USA.

7 comments:
Melody206 said...

I love this kind of thing! I especially liked the library building. The Seattle public library downtown (main branch) has some strange overlapping angles, and it supposed to abstractly remind you of stacked books, not neatly stacked. Great guest post!
Melody

Tessa Zeng said...

Wow, what extraordinary feats of design & engineering! I am determined to visit all of these in-person someday. Thanks so much for the inspiration :)

Newark, Ohio Links said...

Newark, Ohio is proud of it's huge basket. It's starting to deteriorate and the company is laying off many of it's employees. It's a sad situation. I don't want to think about what a run-down giant basket looks like.

Anonymous said...

I think I saw Ferdinand Cheval's Palace on TV once.

Anavar said...

Wow very interesting and beautiful buildings. My favorite is Waldspirale. I'd definitely live there. Thanks for sharing and greetings.

dipakramavat said...

Wow! great work. Never saw such pictures. How do you get ideas to write such mesmerizing posts?
Keep up the good work.

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