Art and design are among the most significant values that humanity has produced. There are ideas whose originality, story, and way of handling the subject are so inspiring that it’s impossible not to be amazed. Here are ten extraordinary architectural structures worldwide, each with interesting stories and designs…
Dancing House – Prague, Czech Republic
Inspired by Prague’s immortal dance duo and nicknamed Fred and Ginger, the Dancing House might seem a bit out of place in Prague’s heavily historical atmosphere, but it symbolizes its recent past. The history of this fascinating building dates back to World War II. After the Velvet Revolution, which ended the communist era lasting until 1989, and the subsequent presidency of dissident writer Václav Havel, one of the leading actors of the revolution, there was a desire to construct a building on this partially destroyed site during WWII that would symbolize the arrival of democracy and offer hope to the people. Havel tasked Yugoslav architect Vlado Milunić with this project, but a Dutch company owning the land also got involved.
Eventually, a competition was organized, and Canadian postmodernist architect Frank Gehry was invited to collaborate with Milunić, creating the Dancing House. This unique building is a reinforced concrete structure with 99 differently shaped adjoining facade panels in the deconstructivist style. The facade consists of two towers resembling a dancing couple, with a dome named Medusa. The nine-story building has asymmetric rooms, with the top floor hosting a restaurant and bar, while the remaining parts are used as offices.
La Casa Milà – Barcelona, Spain
One of Spain’s must-see buildings, La Casa Milà , was constructed between 1906 and 1912. Designed by the modernist architect Antoni Gaudà as his last private residence, this intriguing building is also known as La Pedrera, meaning the quarry, due to its unconventional facade. GaudÃ, inspired by nature, continued this inspiration in La Pedrera, using designs from trees, snails, honeycombs, and other natural forms. Instead of creating space with a single straight line, Gaudà crafted an architectural masterpiece with supporting walls woven over columns and arches of varying heights.
The building’s facade, reminiscent of sea-eroded stone surfaces, was not well-received. Each balcony and niche in the building was planned with a unique style, with the balcony ironworks improvised by another Catalan architect, Josep Maria Jujol. Though it may resemble a cave from the outside, the organic architectural approach ensures that all spaces receive perfect lighting. The building’s roof is one of its most exciting parts, with chimneys designed in sculptural forms and uneven exploration paths creating a delightful area. It’s worth mentioning that La Casa Milà is considered architecturally unique and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1984 for its artistic and heritage value. If you are in Barcelona, don’t miss visiting this fascinating building!
Krzywy Domek / Crooked House – Sopot, Poland
Regarding interesting buildings, we can’t skip the Krzywy Domek – Crooked House, which seems inspired by Tim Burton’s twisted style. Located in Sopot, Poland, this building looks as if it’s been trapped inside a magic mirror. With its warped structure instantly drawing one into its fairy tale, the Crooked House appears to speak directly to our emotions.
Inspired by the fairy tale illustrations of Jan Marcin Szancer (1902-1973) and the works of Swedish artist Per Dahlberg living in Sopot, this building was created by the architecture firm Szotynscy & Zaleski, known for their signature on many exciting structures. Opened in 2004, the award-winning Crooked House covers an area of 4000m2. Its roof is covered in blue-green enamel to give the impression of a dragon, with curved walls and windows being its most striking features. The interior is as fun as the exterior, housing shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, and cafes open to all visitors.
Jewish Museum – Berlin, Germany
More than just one of the world’s most fascinating structures, the Jewish Museum offers a close look at one of humanity’s most sorrowful stories. A competition for the museum’s establishment was held in 1989, with Daniel Libeskind’s “Between The Lines” design selected as the winner, laying the foundation for the museum. The museum narrates the Holocaust, or rather, it makes visitors experience it through emotionally designed architecture. Some see it as symbolizing King David’s broken star, while others see it resembling a lightning bolt.
The Jewish Museum gives all visitors the same feelings of insecurity, disorientation, sorrow, and hope against all odds. With its cold titanium-zinc alloy facade, zigzag paths, and underground axes, the museum articulates loss and helplessness in architectural language. Visitors enter through an underground corridor, and this entrance, continuing through three different routes, brings forward the feelings of hiding anxiety and losing one’s way. The interior of the building, entirely made of concrete, is also aided by lighting that supports emotional guidance.
The building’s most powerful part is the void extending to the entrance. The cold and thin lighting from above, combined with concrete walls and the floor’s 10,000 face-shaped plates, pulls visitors into the great tragedy. The Jewish Museum’s building design is a brilliant demonstration of how emotions can be shaped, making it a significant contribution to architectural and human history.
Waldspirale – Darmstadt, Germany
Considered one of the world’s most fascinating structures, the Waldspirale is located in Europe. This building, a residential complex in Darmstadt, Germany, was a project designed by Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser in the 1990s. The design, meaning “Forest Spiral” in German, carries the features of its name in its architectural appearance, with its U-shaped plan and a roof covered in grass, shrubs, and trees.
The Waldspirale’s other exciting aspect is that its story began on a napkin. Architect Hundertwasser sketched his design on a napkin during a business dinner with his client. The beauty of it is that the actual project was similar to the initial sketch. Sadly, the architect passed away a few months before the completion of his work, never seeing the final version of the project he pursued with great belief.
The Waldspirale consists of 150 buildings. Besides the trees on its roof, the building’s most peculiar aspect is its facade, which features curved lines and a disorderly arrangement of floors and windows. Each of the more than 1,000 windows in the building is unique, as are the door and window handles. The natural landscaping approach also finds its place in the building design, with sedimentary rock layers on the ground reflected in the facade’s ceramic tiles and colored plasters.
The 12-story structure’s roof comprises gardens of beech, maple, and medlar trees. The building’s spiraling roof structure allows access from all floors to the roof without stairs or elevators.
Cube Houses / Kubuswoningen – Rotterdam, Netherlands
A symbol of Rotterdam, Holland’s most fantastic city, and among the world’s most fascinating architectural structures, the Cube Houses (original name Kubuswoningen) are a testament to modern architecture that adds practicality to life.
After Rotterdam was heavily bombed and rebuilt in a more modern style during World War II, these cube houses were designed by architect Piet Blom as part of a new approach to providing “high-density housing with sufficient space on the ground and optimizing the inner space.” Initially planned as 55 units, the project was completed with 40, including 38 small and two super cubes.
Positioned at a 45-degree angle, the Cube Houses rise on hexagonal columns. The living space within each house is designed across three levels: the living room on the triangular ground floor, the bedroom and bathroom on the middle floor, and a spacious room with a stunning city view on the top floor.
The column part has been used as storage, a staircase, or a shop. Situated over a pedestrian bridge with a highway passing underneath, these houses, designed with the idea of a village within the city, represent a single tree individually and a forest collectively.
The main idea of the design is to implement the best use of space both in the general area and within the residences, inspiring in this regard.
WonderWorks – Orlando, USA
This happens when artists look at the world from a different angle! Located in Orlando, Florida, WonderWorks is a fine arts museum that flips the idea of looking from a different perspective on its head. Designed by architect Michael Ussery, the building looks as though it has been uprooted by one of America’s famous tornadoes and landed upside down.
The interior is as topsy-turvy as the exterior, with everything that should be on the floor hanging from the ceiling. Essentially, you’re walking on the roof. Originally showcasing old magic artifacts, WonderWorks is primarily a family-friendly entertainment center offering unique and exciting experiences.
Spanning 35,000 square meters, the complex combines learning and fun, presenting over 100 mind-boggling and imagination-stimulating activities. The fun starts with this story: A highly secretive laboratory located in the Bermuda Triangle is swept away by a powerful tornado to Orlando, where it lands upside down. Fortunately, everything inside remained intact; now it’s time to explore them.
Basket Building / Sepet Bina – Ohio, USA
Dave Longaberger, founder of a handmade maple basket manufacturer, once said, “If we’re making baskets, then our building should look like one.” Initially laughed at by his employees, they work inside a natural basket. Designed as a 7-story building, it is one of modern architecture’s most exciting examples and has won several awards.
Piano House – Huainan, China
One of the world’s most interesting, elegant, and romantic architectural designs is the Piano House in Huainan, China. The project, which turned a violin and piano into an architectural structure 50 times their size, was a collaboration with Hefei University of Technology. Designed for music students to practice and to serve music lovers, this unique modern structure also hosts a city planning exhibition, contributing to regional development. The exhibition showcases city planning samples, development plans, and many projects worked on for the region’s improvement. Inspired by two elegant and powerful instruments, the violin and piano, the building’s interior offers an extraordinary design experience. Visitors enter through the violin, which houses stairs leading to the main area, the piano’s interior.
Torre Galatea – Figueres, Spain
Imagine a house decorated with eggs and bread… No, we’re not talking about Hansel and Gretel, but about the crazy painter Dali’s house. Upon seeing this unusual structure, one might initially think, “Are those eggs?” and then dismiss the idea as too far-fetched. But yes, those are indeed eggs.
He was also known as Torre Gorgot; Torre Galatea now serves as a museum and is the final resting place of the surrealist painter Salvador Dali. Originally part of the city’s surrounding wall, the tower was later converted into a water reservoir for municipal use.
The tower’s current appearance dates back to 1931, when it was restored by a French architect who thinned its walls. In 1983, following initiatives by the City Council, the tower was incorporated into the adjacent Dali Museum. With its geodesic dome, the building is one of Figueres’s most significant structures, but Dali didn’t stop there.
He painted its walls strikingly and added bread pieces, topping the tower with giant eggs symbolizing fertility. He also named the building after his wife, Galatea, resulting in one of the city’s and the world’s most essential and exciting architectural structures touched by Salvador Dali’s hand.
