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House. Everyone sees the same building in their own way. For some, a house is primarily a home, for others it is the purchase of a lifetime, for architects and builders it is a job. Each home is unique and no two are exactly alike. But there are buildings from which it is difficult to take your eyes off. These buildings attract and fascinate, are remembered and do not go out of your head, breaking all the usual stereotypes about architectural solutions. Yes, these are the ten most unusual houses in the world. Ready to learn a little story about each of them? Then let’s get started.
10 Stone House (Portugal)
Remember the tale of the three little pigs? So, a Portuguese craftsman named Victor Rodriguez put the Naf-Naf idea into practice and built himself a dwelling literally in stone. The man took two cobblestones as the basis of his mansion (they play the role of walls), while the rest (improvised door, windows and roof) was made by the master by hand. Rodriguez’s main argument in building such an extravagant house was privacy away from people. To be fair, it turned out perfect. However, unfortunately for the Portuguese, his home began to attract many tourists. There were so many curious people that the poor fellow Viktor had to move out – at the moment the house is empty.
9. Crooked House (Poland)
This unusual building is located in the Polish town of Sopot. In appearance, the house seems to be drunk: it barely holds on and is about to literally spread along the street. It was this effect that the architects of the extraordinary building sought to achieve, taking an optical illusion as the basis for construction. In fact, the house is more than stable, and you certainly should not be afraid of its collapse. The crooked house has been successfully existing for 14 years. It houses entertainment venues, a restaurant and retail shops. In addition, two studios of local radio stations were located here at once. Getting an office or a pavilion in such a house is a great marketing ploy. At least the client will definitely not make a mistake with the building.
8. House-planet of Sheikh Hamad (UAE)
No wonder they say that the rich have their own quirks. For example, Sheikh Hamad from the UAE owns seven cars in seven colors of the rainbow for each day of the week. However, this is not the most spectacular “trick” of Hamad. Sheikh is the owner of a very extraordinary housing. He has at his disposal a mobile home in the form of … Earth. Yes, yes, this giant globe has absolutely all the conditions for a comfortable stay. What can I say, if in this ball 12 meters high and 20 meters in diameter there are already 6 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms. The sheikh’s fantasy fruit was noticed by representatives of the Guinness Book of Records, and in 1993 the planetary house was recognized as the most extraordinary building in the world.
7. Sutyagin House (Russia)
Let’s say right away that it will no longer be possible to look at the world’s first wooden skyscraper with one’s own eyes. Despite the impressive height of the house at 38 meters (that’s about 13 floors), the fate of the building went downhill from the very beginning. First, its owner, businessman Nikolai Sutyagin, was arrested, and construction was frozen. And at the end of the construction of the failed record holder (the house could seriously claim to be a world achievement, since it was built without a single nail), the building was completely declared illegal. In 2008, by a court decision, the skyscraper was “shortened” to 4 floors, and 4 years later the rest of the house burned down. This is such a ridiculous story. However, the appearance of Sutyagin’s house can also be described with exactly the same epithet. Strange building, you will agree.
6. Crazy House (Vietnam)
No, no, this is not about a mental hospital (although it is that still unusual house). In 1990, Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga opened one of the most unusual hotels in the world. The building is made in the form of an ancient tree with decorations in the form of giant animals, mushrooms and caves. A huge artificial web adds to the effect. The first visitors were so impressed with Dang’s design solution that they opened their mouths and literally shouted out the phrase “madhouse”. The architect, in turn, was impressed by the reaction of the citizens, and since then the hotel has been called that. By the way, the Vietnamese themselves are quite skeptical about the building and often bypass it.
5. Upside down house Szymbark (Poland)
In general, the village of Szymbark, in Poland, is full of attractions. Residents have done their best to attract the attention of tourists to this area. The longest table-board in the world, a fishing pond and a historical museum – all this is great, but clearly inferior in showiness to the main feature of Szymbark. We are talking about a house turned upside down in the truest sense of the word. Both outside and inside, everything is turned 180 degrees: furniture is attached to the ceiling, lamps stick out of the floor, TVs are screwed the other way around, and even the windows are curtained upside down. It is noteworthy that in such a house orientation is instantly lost – visitors soon begin to feel dizzy. In order for people not to go crazy and keep themselves in good shape, glasses of water are placed all over the floor (or ceiling?).
4. Hole House (USA)
And here it is no longer up to illusions and optical illusions. Everything real is both a house and a hole. The history of this mesmerizing building dates back to 2005, when the Texas authorities ordered one of the houses to be demolished. Upon learning of this, two young artists without a second thought made an unusual tunnel inside the building. They planned to show the resulting art object to the public exactly as long as the house would last until demolition. To the surprise of the guys, the house-hole they created became popular, and so quickly that at the allotted X hour for the bulldozer to arrive, the building became a real asset for local residents and tourists. The authorities refused to demolish the house, and Texas is now famous for more than cowboy legends.
3. Flying saucer in Moscow (Russia)
Another building of an unusual configuration from Russia. The “flying saucer” is located in Moscow Tekstilshchiki and at one time was the building of the AZLK museum (Moskvich cars). It seems that I did not want to compare the “UFO” with the infamous Sutyagin’s house, but these buildings have too much in common. It is still unclear why the designers chose the “plate”, because the building does not look very impressive. During the functioning of the museum, absolutely unique exhibits of cars, preserved in a single copy, were exhibited here. However, fate decreed in such a way that today there is no longer a factory or a museum. The building is empty, and there are certainly talks in the offices about its possible demolition.
2. Ferdinand Cheval’s Ideal Palace (France)
Almost all the objects of our today’s interest were built by professional architects, engineers, or at least people who have a sufficient understanding of this matter. All but one. The so-called ideal palace was built by a simple postman named Ferdinand Cheval. The building impresses with its beauty and variety of styles: here you can find figures of people and animals, various towers and fountains, as well as columns and stairs. However, what is most striking is the fact that Ferdinand had nothing to do with architecture. The postman carefully collected stones during the execution of his main work. It took Cheval 33 years to build the miracle palace.
1. Bookshelf (USA)
Everything ingenious is simple. Most likely, it was this principle that guided the architects who worked on the construction of the library in Kansas City. After all, the idea of making the facade of the building in the form of books is extremely naive, but at the same time, damn it, it is a hit in the bull’s-eye! Visually, the front wall of the library is a giant shelf on which about two dozen books are located. Moreover, the “bindings” are drawn in such detail that for a moment you can feel like a midget who finds himself in a library. In general, such an original approach to the design of the reading room deservedly takes the leading position in our rating.