The most unusual architects. The most unusual architectural structures in the world. Mary Ax skyscraper, London, UK

“This is a crazy, crazy world,” you will say when you see these strange and even shocking houses. The unusual buildings from all over the world collected in this publication are surprising because they are also buildings! Houses, hotels, museums, libraries, offices, apartments - all this takes place inside these unusual structures. The thing is that these buildings were designed by talented architects with limitless and sometimes crazy imagination, whose goal was to create, among millions of houses, one that would stand out not only across the country, but throughout the world.

House-grand piano with violin.Piano shaped building.Huainan city,China.
This "musical" house is located in the Chinese city of Huainan. A huge violin serves as the entrance to the building and there is an escalator in it to ascend to the “grand piano”. The structure is made of transparent and black glass. The building was built primarily as a landmark to distinguish the city from many other inconspicuous Chinese cities. The building itself houses an exhibition complex, which displays plans for streets and districts of the city.

Basket house. Longaberger Basket Building. Newark, USA
This is perhaps the strangest administrative building in the world. Basket and wickerwork company Longaberger built its headquarters in a replica of its actual product, a wicker basket. The building took 180 thousand square meters, two years of construction, and cost 30 million dollars. Experts have repeatedly dissuaded company owner Dave Longberger from changing the layout of the building, but apparently he made the right choice - thanks to this idea, his company became known throughout the world.

Upside Down House. Wonder works. Pigen Forge, USA
This is the main attraction in the provincial town of Pigeon Forge. The legend of its creation is interesting. On one of the distant islands in the Bermuda Triangle, in a top-secret laboratory, under the leadership of Professor Wonder, a process was being developed for creating artificial tornadoes and using the resulting energy. During this experiment, something went wrong and the force of a tornado hit the laboratory itself. This created a swirling vortex that was strong enough to tear down the laboratory along with its foundation. She was carried thousands of miles and landed upside down in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Kansas Central Library. Kansas City Public Library. State of Missouri, USA.
Do you think the library is a boring place? Check out the Kansas Central Library! Probably, if all libraries were built in such a design, then they would not have a shortage of readers. By building the Central Library in the form of a shelf of books, the city authorities of Kansas City in the USA not only beautified the business center of the city, but also supported the reading spirit of the citizens. The building's façade is designed to resemble the spines of Kansas's most influential and popular books.

The Crooked House. Sopot, Poland.
The translation from Polish sounds differently: “Crooked”, “Humpbacked” or even “Dancing”. It was built by Polish architect Szotynscy Zaleski in 2004 in Sopot. The architect was inspired by illustrations to fairy tales by artist Jan Marcin Szancer. There is an unusual house on the main street of the city of Sopot, Monte Cassino. There is a shopping center in the house.

Upside down house. Szymbark, Poland
An unusual work by artist and architect Daniel Czapiewski was built in the village of Szymbark, Poland. The main unusual thing about the design is that it completely imitates an inverted house, right down to the “grass” and “ground” under (that is, above) the stone foundation. At the same time, the house is quite stable and fully adapted for living. Construction of the upside down house took 114 days. Local builders were very surprised by the strange project, but they completed it without errors. Now the house has become one of the most popular attractions in Poland; not only ordinary tourists, but also architects come here to learn from a talented colleague.

Dancing House.Prague Dancing House. Prague, Czech Republic.
This amazing building is located in the very center of Prague on the embankment of the Vltava River. The house that previously stood on the site of the Dancing House was destroyed in January 1945 during an American air raid. For half a century the place was vacant until Czech President Vaclav Havel intervened. Construction of the “drunken house” took place from 1994 to 1996. The main architectural idea of ​​the building was an analogy with the famous dance duet of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, known as “Ginger and Fred”. One of the two cylindrical parts, the one that expands at the top, symbolizes a male figure (Fred), and the second part of the building visually resembles a female figure with a thin waist and a fluttering skirt (Ginger).

Mobile home of Sheikh Hamad. Abu Dhabi. UAE
A member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Hamad designed the house to move around the desert. Sheikh is famous for his passion for motorhomes. There is a huge 21-foot Willys Jeep in the rich man's garage. Built a mobile home for desert travel in the shape of a globe and fits four floors of living space, 6 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms. Height – 12m. The size of the ball is one millionth the size of the Earth. This got him into the Guinness Book of Records.

Attacked house. House Attack. Vienna, Austria.
And this house, which “unsuccessfully fell” on the Vienna Museum of Modern Art, is uninhabited. This is a work of art by Austria's most important sculptor of the present time, Erwin Wurm. This work is Erwin’s protest against the dominance in modern architecture of “standard houses, faceless like shoeboxes!”

Montreal Biosphere.Montreal Biosphère. Canada
The Biosphere Museum of the Environment in Montreal, dedicated to the environment and water resources. Located in Parc Jean-Drapeau on St. Helena Island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. The museum is housed in the former American pavilion at the World's Fair, Expo 67, which was created by American engineer and architect Richard Buckminster Fuller and features one of the most famous geodesic domes that brought Fuller worldwide fame.

House-banknote. Kaunas, Lithuania
The project itself, according to which the banknote house was built in Lithuania, belongs to the young architect Rimas Adomaitis. In an instant, the famous specialist explains that this building should in no way symbolize the almighty power of money and universal admiration for it. Initially, the banknote house in Lithuania was conceived in this form in order to make this office center very respectable and prestigious. The facade of the building consists of 450 thousand pieces of glass of various colors. The builders had to manually assemble all these pieces so that the banknote house in Lithuania would eventually have such an unusual appearance. Due to the fact that the façade of the building is completely glass, there is no need to create windows in itself. The glass itself, produced in Europe, is coated with a special compound that does not allow it to deteriorate due to adverse weather conditions. On the facade of the building there is a 1000 lita banknote from 1926.

Forest Spiral. Darmstadt, Germany
An unusual house with the intriguing name “Forest Spiral” was built between 1998 and 2000. This building with 105 apartments, as if “wrapped” around the courtyard, among other things, has a comfortable restaurant with a cozy cocktail bar.

House with a glass in Moscow
A merchant Filatov lived in Moscow and he began to drink so much that he almost went bankrupt. Then he came to his senses, stopped drinking, and his affairs improved. And with the funds that appeared, in 1907-1909 he built an apartment building on Ostozhenka. The Art Nouveau house for the merchant Filatov is decorated with a corner turret with a roof in the shape of an inverted glass. So the merchant decided to show all of Moscow that he was done, and finally knocked over the glass. This glass is more than 3 meters in height.

Crazy House. Crazy House. Da Lat, Vietnam
This incredible building is a hotel in Da Lat, the signature hotel of Mrs. Dang Nga, the daughter of the ex-president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. At one time, this Vietnamese lady studied architecture in Moscow. The building does not comply with any of the generally accepted concepts of house building and looks like a fairy-tale castle, with a huge belly of a giraffe or a spider. The house is open to tourists.

Cybertexture Egg. Mumbai, India.
This highly intelligent business center was created in Mumbai in 2010. Designers from James Law Cybertecture International under the leadership of James Law are accustomed to surprising with their masterpieces. But the egg-shaped house amazes not only the inexperienced viewer, but also specialists. The scientific bureau is engaged in projects of architecture of the 22nd century and works not so much on the form as on the internal content of buildings. As a result, the new home is a cyber-architecture, which includes all the latest developments that fill human life with the highest comfort. Sensors built throughout monitor the state of human health and can measure blood pressure and body temperature at any time. The egg-shaped building itself protects employees from direct sunlight and also saves space. At the top of the egg, where the roof should be, there is a garden, which, in addition to the traditional one, has another task - to remove excess heat from the surface of the glass walls.

Stone house or Troll house.Stone house. Guimaraes, Portugal
A very colorful structure that looks entirely carved from stone. However, in fact, the Portuguese “Troll House” is simply “inscribed” between two huge boulders, and the outer walls are made of small stone of the same composition and color, so the structure fully justifies its name - Stone House. Even the roof of the building is a monolithic stone slab covered with tiles. The Stone House was built by Victor Rodriguez in 1973. The pool is carved directly into one boulder.

Lotus Temple. New Delhi, India
The Temple is a Baha'i House of Worship and is open to everyone, regardless of religion. There is not a single fresco or image inside the temple; visitors are greeted only by snow-white walls and only on the ceiling there is an inscription in Arabic - “God is above all,” so that every believer can turn specifically to his deity. Construction of the Lotus Temple took place from 1978 to December 1986. The project was led by an Iranian-Canadian architect, Fariborza Sahba.

Burj Al Arab Hotel. "Arab Tower". Dubai, UAE
The tallest hotel in the world - 56 floors, 321 m, built in the sea, 280 m from the shore on an artificial island with which a bridge connects it. The building has an unusual architecture, in the form of a mast with a sail, lined with double glass coated with Teflon. The Burj Al Arab is visible from almost anywhere in the city and is rightfully considered the symbol of Dubai.

Cube houses. Kubuswoning. Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Cube Houses or Cube Houses are a series of houses built in Rotterdam and Helmond according to the innovative design of the architect Piet Blom in 1984. Blom's radical solution was that he turned the parallelepiped of the house by 45 degrees and placed it at an angle on a hexagonal pylon. Some residents offer tours of their extraordinary homes. The walls and windows are inclined at an angle of 54.7 degrees in relation to the floor. The total area of ​​the apartment is about 100 square meters, but about a quarter of the space is unusable due to the walls, which are at an angle.

Walt Disney Concert Hall. Walt Disney Concert Hall. Los Angeles, California, USA.
This grand hall is the fruit of the efforts of the famous Frank Henry. It took 16 years to build - 1987-2003.

Upside down house. Matsumoto, Japan
In the Japanese city of Matsumoto, a house was built at an angle of 135 degrees. The roof of this upside-down house is bright pink, and the interior also has upside-down interiors. For example, in the interior the signs are upside down. There is a coffee shop inside the building, but the coffee is served in cups and is not spilled on guests.

Atomium. Brussels, Belgium
Built for the 1958 World's Fair, this model of the iron molecule, enlarged 165 billion times, is one of the attractions of Brussels. If you take the elevator to a height of 122 meters, you will have a panoramic view of Brussels.

Project "Eden". Eden project. Great Britain
This is a botanical garden located in Cornwall, Great Britain. It includes a greenhouse consisting of several unusual geodesic domes, with a total area of ​​22 thousand square meters. Under the “bumpy” domes of the greenhouse there is a unique collection of plants from all over the planet. Geodesic domes are assembled from several hundred hexagons, very similar to honeycombs, and several pentagons that connect the structure into a complete structure. The architect of the project was Nicholas Grimshaw, the idea belonged to Tim Smith, construction lasted three years, and the opening of the project took place in 2001.

Skyscraper "Cucumber". Gherkin building. London. England
Tower, 40 floors high. Construction of the building took place during 2001-2004, the project was designed by the famous architect Norman Foster. Construction costs exceeded $400 million. The Gherkin has become a decoration of the financial center of the capital of England; it houses the headquarters of Swiss Re, several restaurants, and the first floors are open to all visitors. The height of the “Cucumber” is 180 meters; “green” technologies were used during construction, thanks to which the building consumes 2 times less electricity than conventional skyscrapers.

An ideal palace. Le Palais Ideal. Hauterives, France
The Ideal Palace amazes travelers not only with its mixture of unusual styles from the Middle East, Algeria, China and notable imitation of Antoni Gaudi, but also with its history. The building was built by an ordinary French postman who had no special education. Ferdinand Chevale built his Ideal Palace for 33 years - from 1879 to 1912, using individual stones collected by him in the area where he lived. All the walls of the palace are decorated with inscriptions - sayings of Christ, Buddha, all kinds of figures, baskets, limestone carvings, rising into the air various decorations; the building looks especially impressive at night.

Concert hall Tenerife Auditorium. Canary Islands, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
The developer of another unusual project was Santiago Calatrava. Construction of the building began in 1997 and was completed in 2003; the unusual concert hall cost investors 72.3 million euros. The main highlight of the unusual building, which fit perfectly into the coastal landscape, was the “wing” that rises above the main building and is lined with ceramics. Thanks to this “decoration”, the concert hall looks like a giant sailboat, shell or spaceship. The building has two halls - for 1.6 thousand and 400 seats, it is possible to regulate the acoustics of the rooms for performances of opera singers, shops and cafes are located in the hall, and From the open terraces you can admire the sea.

Music Center. Experience music project. Seattle, USA

The house “you’ve never been to.” The Never Was Haul. Berkeley, California, USA

A house with a crack. Ontario, Canada

Modern Art Museum. Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Nice, France

National Theatre. National Theatre. Beijing, China

Sand and clay Mosque of Djenné. Mali, West Africa

Big pineapple. Hotel-Casino Grand Lisboa. Macau, China

Museum of Art. Graz Art Museum. Graz, Austria

Zucchini on a side. Kyiv, Ukraine

House of fashion and shopping. Fashion Show Mall. Las Vegas, USA

Quarry house. Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Cactus house. Cactus House. Rotterdam, Netherlands

Nautilus. Nautilus house. Mexico City

Panorama house. Edificio mirador. Madrid, Spain

Boot house. Pennsylvania, USA

Houseboat. House Boats. Kerala, India.

UFO house. The Ufo House. Sanzi, Taiwan

Gateway to Europe or Torres KIO office. Torres KIO. Madrid, Spain.

Apartments. Wozoko Apartments. Amsterdam, Holland

Torre Galatea Figueres. The Torre Galatea Figueras. Spain.

Esplanade Theaters Hotel. Singapore

Department for problems of production and supply of natural gas. Gas Natural headquarters. Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Modern Art Museum. Niteroi, Brazil

Slim residential complex. London

Temple of Truth. Pattaya, Thailand
Made entirely of wood.

House-garden in Belgium

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas

Twisted house in Indianapolis, USA

Judging by these photographs, give the architect free rein and he will be able to design a building of any shape and size. We have collected 33 extraordinary houses to show you and for each you can see the position on the world map so that you can visit them live 😉. Join us!

1 Surreal House/Mind House (Barcelona, ​​Spain) map

Mind House is a building located at the entrance to Park Güell, designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

2 Crooked House/Krzywy Domek (Sopot, Poland) map

Located in the Polish city of Sopot, this building is a popular landmark for tourists and photographers. The inspiration for the unusual shape of the building came from the Polish fairytale illustrations of Jan Marcin Szanser and Per Dahlberg.

3 Stone House/Casa do Penedo (Portugal) map

The house got its name because it was built on the basis of four large boulders, which serve as its foundation, walls and ceiling. Construction began in 1972 and lasted about two years until 1974.

4 Lotus Temple (New Delhi, India) map

The main temple of the Bahai religion in India and neighboring countries, built in 1986. A huge building made of snow-white marble in the shape of a blooming lotus flower.

5 Cathedral/Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília (Brasilia, Brazil) map

Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Brasilia. Built in the modernist style according to the design of the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. When designing, Oscar Niemeyer was inspired by Liverpool Cathedral. The building itself consists of 16 hyperboloid columns, symbolizing hands raised to the sky.

6 Casa Mila/La Pedrera (Barcelona, ​​Spain) map

The residential building, built in 1906-1910 in Barcelona by the architect Antoni Gaudi for the Mila family, is one of the attractions of the Catalan capital. The design of this Gaudi building was innovative for its time: a well-thought-out natural ventilation system makes it possible to avoid air conditioning, interior partitions in each of the apartments of the house can be moved at your discretion, and there is an underground garage.

7 Atomium (Brussels, Belgium) map

One of the main attractions and symbol of Brussels. The Atomium was designed for the opening of the 1958 World's Fair by architect Andre Waterkein as a symbol of the atomic age and the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

8 Museum of Contemporary Art (Niteroi, Brazil) map

The famous architectural creation of Oscar Niemeyer in the modernist style. The building took five years to construct and was completed in 1996. The sixteen-meter-tall concrete smooth cylindrical structure on a thin leg with a glass belt simultaneously looks like both a UFO and an exotic plant growing on the edge of a cliff.

9 Kansas City Central Library (Missouri, USA) map

For a time, the façade of the Kansas City Central Library was designed as a bookshelf composed of various books. It looked impressive)

10 “The Hobbit House” (Wales, UK) map

The house was built with maximum consideration for the environment and provided a unique opportunity to live closer to nature.

11 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, USA) map

The choice of site for the construction of the Guggenheim Museum was on a site adjacent to the huge green area of ​​Central Park between 88th and 89th streets on Fifth Avenue. When designing the building, architect Frank Lloyd Wright moved away from existing models and invited viewers to take the elevator to the top floor and go down in an internal continuous spiral, examining the exhibition along the way, both on the ramp itself and in the adjacent halls.

12 Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain) map

The museum building was designed by American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry and was opened to the public in 1997. The building is immediately recognized as one of the most spectacular deconstructivist buildings in the world. Architect Philip Johnson called it "the greatest building of our time"

Located on the embankment, the building embodies the abstract idea of ​​a futuristic ship, perhaps for interplanetary travel. He has also been compared to a bird, an airplane, Superman, an artichoke and a blooming rose.

13 Habitat 67/Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada) map

Residential complex in Montreal, which was designed by architect Moshe Safdie in 1966-1967. The complex was built for the start of Expo 67, one of the largest world exhibitions of that time, the theme of which was houses and residential construction.

The cube is the basis of this structure. 354 cubes stacked on top of each other made it possible to create this gray building with 146 apartments. Most apartments have a private rooftop garden for the neighbor below. The style of construction is brutalism.

14 House of Music/Casa da musica (Porto, Portugal) map

Designed by Rem Koolhaas, the concert hall in the historic center of Porto is home to the city's three orchestras. The construction of a building of an unusual shape required the implementation of new engineering solutions. It was carried out in 2001-2005. in connection with Porto's functions as the European Capital of Culture. The project proposed by Koolhaas received wide recognition in the architectural community. Thus, the architectural critic of The New York Times Nikolai Urusov called the House of Music “the most attractive” project of Koolhaas, comparing it with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

15 Olympic Stadium (Montreal, Canada) map

It was built as the main sports arena for the 1976 Summer Olympics. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. Canada's largest stadium by capacity.

16 Nautilus House (Mexico City, Mexico) map

The design of the house is very innovative, unusual and daring. Architect Javier Senosiein decided to bring marine forms into architecture and created a house in the shape of a shell.

17 National Library of Belarus/National Library of Belarus (Minsk, Belarus) map

The building is a rhombicuboctahedron, 73.6 m high (23 floors) and weighing 115,000 tons (not including books). Unusual is the lighting of the building, which is a giant multi-color screen based on LED clusters, which turns on every day at sunset and runs until midnight. The design and patterns on it are constantly changing.

18 National Center for the Performing Arts/国家大剧院 (Beijing, China) map

It is an ellipsoidal dome made of glass and titanium, rising in the middle of an artificial reservoir, across the road from Lake Zhongnanhai. The three main halls of the theater can accommodate at least 6,500 spectators.

The architect was the Frenchman Paul Andreux; construction lasted from December 2001 to December 2007. The construction of such a huge futuristic building in the historical center of the Chinese capital caused great controversy, both from the point of view of its incompatibility with the urban environment, and because of the exorbitant and constantly increasing costs during construction.

19 Conch Shell House (Isla Mujeres, Mexico) map

The house was designed by Octavio Ocampo, one of Mexico's most famous artists, and his brother. The house is a perfect manifestation of his surreal blend of summer house and unique underwater aesthetic.

20 House Attack (Vienna, Austria) map

Erwin Wurm is known for his unusual, sometimes humorous and sometimes mysterious works. He created such an intriguing installation that surprised passersby.

21 Library Alexandrina/ مكتبة الإسكندرية الجديدة ‎ (Alexandria, Egypt) map

The idea of ​​building a library on the site of the ancient Library of Alexandria arose in the early 1970s and belonged to a group of professors at the University of Alexandria. The complex has a very expressive architecture. The concept of the library building is based on the symbolism of the south. The building is like a solar disk, raised to the south and inclined to the north. The glass surfaces of the north-sloping roof allow northern light to flow down into the library.

22 Cube Houses/Kubuswoning (Rotterdam, Netherlands) map

A series of houses built in Rotterdam and Helmond to an innovative design by architect Piet Blom in 1984. Blom's radical solution was that he installed the parallelepiped of the house not on the edge, as usual, but on the top, and with this top it rests (visually) on the hexagonal pylon. In Rotterdam there are 38 such houses and 2 more super-cubes, and all the houses are articulated into a single structure. From a bird's eye view, the complex has an intricate appearance, reminiscent of an impossible triangle.

23 The ideal palace of the postman Cheval/Le Palais idéal (France) map

The creator of this most impressive monument of naive architecture is Joseph Ferdinand Cheval. From the age of 13 he worked as a baker's assistant, and in 1867 he received the position of rural postman. Delivering mail, he traveled 25 km every day, putting stones of unusual natural shapes into a wheelbarrow. Of these, for 33 years, alone, in his free time, day and night, in any weather, with the help of the most simple tools, he realized his dream - a palace beyond all imagination.

24 Hallgrímskirkja Church (Reykjavik, Iceland) map

The design of the church was developed in 1937 by the architect Gudjoun Samuelson. It took 38 years to build the church. The church is located in the center of Reykjavik, and is visible from any part of the city. It has become one of the main attractions of the city.

25 Eden project (Cornwall, UK) map

Botanical garden in Cornwall, UK. Includes a greenhouse consisting of several geodesic domes, under which plants from all over the world are collected. The area of ​​the greenhouses is 22,000 square meters. m. The domes are made of hundreds of hexagons and several pentagons connecting the entire structure. Each of the hexagons and pentagons is made of durable, translucent plastic. The first greenhouse features tropical vegetation, the second - Mediterranean vegetation.

26 The Museum of Play (Rochester, USA) map

Interesting architectural design of the National Museum of Play in Rochester. The museum provides a huge interactive collection of exhibits dedicated to the history and exploration of gaming. A resort complex on the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. The complex consists of two buildings and a bridge connecting them, which housed 1,539 rooms. Initially, the dome cells had acrylic inserts, but after the fire of 1976, only the metal frame remained. Now the Biosphere has become a recognizable symbol of the city. The house is in the neoclassical style, standing upside down. At WonderWorks you can have great food, laugh a lot, lie on a yoga bed, ride a virtual roller coaster, control a ball with your mind, find yourself in the desert or inside a soap bubble, and much more. In total, WonderWorks has about one hundred and fifty interactive activities. Longaberger's main office was built in the shape of one of the company's products - a wicker basket. The building has seven floors, huge handles weigh almost 150 tons. The museum is a gallery of contemporary art, opened as part of the European Capital of Culture program in 2003. The building concept was developed by London architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier. The unofficial name is Friendly Alien. The building was built in a blob style, sharply contrasting with the surrounding buildings. The base of the building is made of reinforced concrete, the outer shell is made of bluish plastic panels. The Kunsthaus looks decent despite the very low budget for similar cultural buildings in large cities. The interior decoration, according to Colin Fournier, should resemble a magician's black box. The facade is implemented as a programmable media installation. A residential complex in Darmstadt in the shape of a spiral, designed by the Austrian architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and characterized by the complete absence of rectangular shapes. Other names are “Wooden Skyscraper”, “Solombala Skyscraper”. A wooden 13-story house built in Solombala (north of Arkhangelsk) by businessman Nikolai Sutyagin. The house was partially dismantled in December 2008 by court decision as an unauthorized construction. On May 5, 2012, the remaining part of the wooden skyscraper was destroyed by fire. It was one of the tallest private wooden buildings in Russia, although inferior in height to some tiered wooden churches.

This publication will be of interest to those who love to travel around the world and discover amazing places. Unusual buildings and structures of the world, we decided to talk about this in this article! Amazing buildings, which defy the laws of physics, which evoke positive emotions, buildings that are created to surprise. The best architects designed these structures, but what was going on in their heads? What kind of boundless imagination do you need to have to place residential buildings, museums, hotels, libraries, offices within such building boundaries? The goal of these creators was one, to make millions of people look at their creation with their mouths open! and a description of these buildings.

The most unusual buildings from around the world!

This building was built in 2010. A highly intelligent business center located in Mumbai. This egg-shaped building surprises not only with its appearance, but also with its internal solutions. The project is cyber architecture; it is truly a “smart home”, which is literally crammed with a variety of devices and sensors. For example, any visitor to the building can measure their body temperature and blood pressure at any time.

The house was built as a landmark to attract tourists to the city. The structure is made of black and transparent glass. The entrance to the building passes through the violin, after which you can go up the escalator to the piano room. This “musical house” is informational in nature. In it you can learn about local attractions of the city and see a map of the streets of the area.

The wickerwork and basketry company Longaberger once decided to create an unusual-looking administrative building for itself. Their own basket came to their aid, based on the layout of which the architects created the company’s office. Thanks to this decision, the company became famous throughout the world!

How to attract readers to your library? Very simple! It is necessary to build a library in the form of books lying on a shelf, as the authorities of Kansas did.

This “dancing house” houses a shopping center, which is located in the city of Sopot on Monte Cassino Street. It was built in 2004, the architect was inspired by fairy tales.

This wonderful building is located in the very center of Prague. Before this “drunk house”, there was an ordinary house in this place, but in 1945 it was destroyed by American aircraft. After which they decided to build a structure in honor of the dance duet “Ginger and Fred”.

This lotus-shaped temple is a Baha'i House of Worship where anyone can come, regardless of religion. Guests of the temple are greeted only by white walls and the inscription on the ceiling - “God is above all.” The creators wanted to emphasize that a person with any faith can visit the temple and pray to his god.

Read also: Fantastic street art from around the planet

Modern architecture, over time, undergoes significant transformations. Of great importance here are professionals in their field who are not lacking in talent - architects and decorators who are not afraid to present something new and extraordinary in their work, despite criticism from the outside. Any architectural building that was a landmark was condemned by society, but after some time everything changed.

Now these buildings delight not only visitors, but also the residents of this area themselves. We present a selection of 10 original buildings that will make you look at the creations of architecture differently.

1. House-Basket

House-Basket is an office of a painting manufacturing company in Ohio, USA. The structure resembles an ordinary basket, the construction of which took more than two years. The basket is a genuine example of copycat architecture, where buildings are constructed in the specific form of the goods being promoted. The interior of the building is decorated with a glass ceiling, and the walls are filled with paintings by the founders of the company. Thanks to the glass design, company employees and guests can admire the daylight that penetrates all rooms.

2. Hallgrímur Church

Hallgrimur Church is the tallest and most unusual church in Iceland, located in the capital of Reykjavik. Scandinavian design was used as a basis for the construction of the church, which became the most exciting work of the architect Gudjoun Samuelsson. It took over 38 years to complete this sacred building, begun in 1945. The structure was named after the famous Icelandic poet Hallgrímur Petersson, who wrote many Lutheran prayer songs. The 80-meter concrete church has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in Iceland.

The main decoration of the church's interior is the 20-meter organ, and the bell tower offers views of the whole of Reykjavik. In front of the building is a statue of Leif Erikson (the Happy), the first European to visit North America. This is definitely one of the most unusual churches in the world.

3. Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Museum is located in the Spanish city of Bilbao. Its building was designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry and opened to the public in 1997. In fact, the Guggenheim Museum is a complex of several interconnected buildings. The entire building is covered in titanium, limestone and glass. This museum is located along the banks of the Nervion River, highlighting the beauty of the building. It houses some of the greatest works by many contemporary artists.

The collection of European and American paintings makes this museum one of the finest places to visit among Spanish attractions.

4. Kansas City Library

The Kansas City Library is one of them, located in Kansas City and founded in 1873. A stunning array of large bookshelves are the main attraction of one of the most beautiful libraries in the United States. The facade of the building is decorated with marble and mahogany, used in 20th century architecture.

The interior of the unusual building is decorated in concrete, with a massive 35-ton steel door. Each section of the library is designed for a specific type of reader, with a special collection of books from every possible field.

5. Atomium, Brussels

The extremely unusual Atomium building is located in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The 102-meter-tall atomium was designed by architect Andre Waterkein and is a many times enlarged model of a simple iron atom. The entire building was constructed from stainless steel, including 7 prefabricated columns with round spheres. The diameter of each sphere is 28 meters, and the total length of the pipes is 2298 meters. There are special escalators in hollow pipes for tourists. At the top of the Atomium there is a restaurant and an observation deck with beautiful views.

6. La Pedrera

The La Pedrera building is located in the city of Barcelona, ​​which is famous for its unusual architecture. It took 6 years to complete this strange project, which started in 1906. The Catalan architect was the main designer of La Pedrera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The quaint limestone facade and unusual balconies immediately attract attention, and La Pedrera's rooftop is decorated with photographs and postcards of Barcelona. The interior of the building is designed to maximize daylight penetration, and the roof offers magnificent views of Barcelona.

7. Lotus Temple

The flower-shaped Lotus Temple is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. This attraction is open to people of all religions. Inspired by the lotus flower, architect Fariborz Sahba designed this beautiful building, which opened to visitors in 1986. The entire temple was made of marble, dolomite and cement, and its main pride is the petals. The central hall of the Lotus Temple with 9 huge entrances can accommodate 2,500 people, and the surrounding ponds give the impression that the structure is floating in water, like a lotus flower.

8. Stone House

Stone house located in the mountains of Portugal. It was built in 1974, inspired by the Flintstones cartoon. The unusual house was built from two huge rocks connected with a concrete mixture. This gives it the feel of a prehistoric structure and makes it one of the most beautiful attractions in Portugal.

9. Crooked House

The Crooked House is actually a strange-looking part of a shopping complex in the Polish city of Sopot. The project was developed by Szotynscy and Zalesky in 2004 and is inspired by children's fairy tales. Over time, the curved house became one of the most photographed places in Poland. Visitors get the impression that the house is about to collapse, but in fact it is firmly supported by special beams. The crooked house has glass doors and blue-green rim lighting, making the structure especially attractive at night.

10. Surreal house

The surreal house is located on El Carmel hill in Barcelona. It took 14 years to complete this strange building, founded in 1900. The building is listed as a UNESCO historical heritage site. The complex actually contains 60 different buildings, a chapel, a park and a beautiful fountain in the center. Numerous statues also make this place more attractive. The house has become one of the main attractions in Spain, most popular among travelers.

Be interesting with

Whether you work as an illustrator or just love to draw, you probably need inspiration from time to time. There's nothing better than relaxing and feeling inspired by going somewhere you've never been before. When traveling, you definitely want to see the most famous buildings. Unusual buildings live their own lives, becoming part of the existence of countless people for hundreds of years after construction. Here are the most amazing buildings from around the world to inspire you.

Lotus Temple, New Delhi

This is the main temple of the Bahai religion, located in New Delhi. It consists of 27 structures resembling lotus petals, which flow into a central room with a ceiling of forty meters high. The building has nine sides and nine doors; it can accommodate two and a half thousand people. The surface is covered with white Greek marble, the same from which the Parthenon was built. The construction of the building was completed in 1986, and since then it has become one of the most visited in the world - one hundred million people come here every year.

Cologne Cathedral, Cologne

Cologne Cathedral is a Gothic basilica whose construction began in 1248 and stopped in 1473, but the building was never completed. Work was not resumed until the nineteenth century; the building was completed only in 1880. The builders followed the medieval plan in detail. This is a true Gothic masterpiece, containing many works of art and the tombs of twelve archbishops.

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

This masterpiece of Islamic architecture was built in the seventh century in Jerusalem. The octagonal building with a wooden dome references Byzantine design. Persian tiles on the outside and marble slabs on the inside were added by Suleiman the First in 1561. It is one of the oldest Islamic structures and has served as a model of architecture for thousands of years.

Casa Mila, Barcelona

On the streets of Barcelona there are unusual, beautiful buildings created by the famous architect Gaudi. His unique approach has resulted in the creation of some of the most creative buildings, and this house, nicknamed "La Pedrera" or "The Quarry" by locals, is no exception. It is more of a sculpture than a building. The facade is a pile of stone with wrought iron balconies.

World Trade Center, New York

The latest addition to New York's landscape is the World Trade Center, which is the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. Construction began in April 2006, and the last component was installed in 2013. The symbolic height of 1,776 feet, or five hundred and forty-one meters, is a reference to the year of the Declaration of Independence. This tall glass tower rises from a cubic platform before transforming into an elegant trihedron.

St Paul's Cathedral, London

One of the most legendary buildings in London is St. Paul's Cathedral. Its dome is one of the largest and rises 112 meters in height. Construction here began as early as 604 AD, but the modern church was begun in the seventeenth century, after a fire. Since then, the cathedral has been a vital part of London life, dominating the landscape and attracting tourists and pilgrims alike.

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur

Rising 170 meters, the towers were the tallest in the world from 1998 to 2004. They are a recognizable landmark and were created by architects Cesar Pelli and Ahmad Murdijat.

White House, Washington

Irish architect James Hoban is the man behind the creation of the White House. In 1792, he proposed a plan for the presidential house and received permission to build it. Construction began in 1793 and was completed in 1801.

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most amazing buildings in Europe. It is known for its tilt, which was caused by soft soil that was unable to support the weight of the structure. Construction began in 1173 and ended only three hundred years later.

Kaaba, Mecca

The Kaaba is a cubic building in Saudi Arabia, the most sacred to Muslims. The building is decorated with silk and cotton. Pilgrims go here every year. The modest structure rises only 13 meters in height.

The Shard, London

This building is called "shard of glass". The 87-storey skyscraper is located in central London. Construction began in 2009 and was completed in 2012. The outside of the building is completely covered in glass.

St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow

This cathedral is the most visited attraction in Moscow. The famous building is shaped like a flame rising to the sky, it is located near the Kremlin and marks the center of the city. The cathedral was built from 1554 to 1560, little is known about its architect.

Empire State Building, New York

This skyscraper is one of the tallest in the world. Construction began in 1930 and lasted only 410 days. The building was designed by William Lamb and became one of the most famous in New York.

Lloyds Building, London

This futuristic building looks like something out of a science fiction movie. It is one of the most recognizable in London. Richard Rogers is the architect who created this unique design.

Colosseum, Rome

This amphitheater is considered one of the greatest architectural creations of the ancient Romans. The stadium could accommodate 50 thousand spectators, and gladiator games were held here. Constructed of concrete and stone, the building was completed in 80 AD and continues to attract thousands of people to this day.

Taj Mahal, India

This building is often considered a palace, but in fact it is a tomb for the imperial wife. The building combines Persian, Turkish and Indian styles; construction was completed in 1648.

Chrysler Building, New York

At the beginning of the twentieth century, people constantly tried to build buildings as tall as possible - this is one example. This skyscraper was commissioned by car manufacturer Chrysler, which explains the name.

Opera House, Sydney

It is one of the greatest buildings of the twentieth century, built by Jörn Utzon. The building is a combination of three groups of shells housing performance spaces and a restaurant.

Space Needle, Seattle

The futuristic building was built for the World's Fair in 1962. The famous landmark rises 184 meters and is 42 meters wide at its widest point.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

This building was formerly a church and is now a museum. It is a fine example of Byzantine architecture and is considered one of the most interesting places in the world.

Buckingham Palace, London

Numerous architects worked on this building to give it the look we know today. It is one of the few royal palaces still in use.

Fallingwater, USA

This building was created by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1934. The unique design allows the house to appear to float above a waterfall.

Pantheon, Rome

Rome has many amazing buildings, and the Pantheon is no exception. The Pantheon was destroyed and rebuilt twice. He has been inspiring architects for two thousand years.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

This is one of the most striking examples of modern architecture built in the twentieth century.

Flatiron Building, New York

This building was built in 1902. The distinctive triangular shape allows the building to occupy the narrow gap between Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

Villa Savoy, France

The building created by Le Corbusier is an ideal example of the style of the early twentieth century - in 1965 it received the status of a historical monument.

Burj Khalifa, Dubai

The tallest building in the world is located in Dubai and rises 828 meters in height. The building was started in 2004 and completed in 2010.