Upside-down house in Terfens, Austria
One sure way to pique people's curiosity is to
completely flip a house upside-down, which is what Polish
architects Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozhanski have done. The house
serves as a tourist attraction in the western Austrian village of
Terfens, where visitors can experience a head-spin - even the
interiors are done the wrong way!
Atomium in Brussels, Belgium
The Atomium may not look out of place today, but it was
groundbreaking back in 1958. The building, which is a replica
of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, was
designed by engineer André Waterkeyn.
Escalators and a lift allow access between the spheres. CNN may
have named it Europe's most bizarre building, but we think it's
pretty cool that such a building exists.
Grand Lisboa casino in Macau, China
The Grand Lisboa is as auspicious as one can get. The pineapple is
associated with money luck and good fortune, so we guess it makes
sense to build a casino in the shape of one (or at least try to)!
The 58-floor hotel and casino was designed by Hong Kong architects
Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man, and stands at 261 meters
Oscar Niemeyer's Museum in Brazil
This structure looks great as a
bigger-than-life art installation, but it is actually a visual
arts, design and architecture museum. It has also been
nicknamed the 'Museum of the Eye', as the annex resembles an
all-seeing beady, black eye. We're sure Big Brother would like
this museum very much.
Cubic houses in Rotterdam, Holland
The Kubuswoningen, or cube houses, was designed by architect
Piet Blom and based on the concept of 'living as an urban roof'.
We're not sure what that means, but the cubes are tilted at a 45
degree angle and set upon a hexagonal column. Furthermore,
each house is meant to represent a tree, and together in a cluster,
resemble a forest. It basically looks like a very abstract tree in
Blom's imagination. We'll take the conventional tree house,
thanks!
