Creating exotic and unusual forms of buildings can be difficult but certainly not impossible. This is how many marvelous architectural works have been created for centuries that never fail to dazzle travelers with their uniqueness and beauty.
Basket (Newark, Ohio)
Covering 25 acres and weighting 8,000-9,000 tons Basket, the Basket – a seven-story office block in Newark, Ohio, is a truly impressive example of Mimetic Architecture that exactly looks like a basket. The Basket Building is the headquarters of the American Longaberger Company that manufactures handcrafted maple wood baskets. The story goes that in a meeting with local architects, Dave placed one of his company’s products, the Longaberger Medium Market Basket, saying that he desired the Longaberger Home Office Building to resemble the basket. When experts were trying to persuade Dave Longaberger to alter his plans, he refused believing that such an unusual design would draw attention to the company. The construction took 2 years and many were still astonished when they moved into their new Home Office on December 17, 1997.
Dancing Building (Prague, Czech Republic)
Occupying a fine position by the Vltava River, the Dancing House is a stunning building, constructed in Prague between 1992 and 1996. With its uneven windows and curvaceous lines, the amazing Dancing house is the marvelous creation of famed architects Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry. The building is home to several business offices and has a French Restaurant on the roof, which is proud to offer diners magnificent panoramic views of Prague Castle, the river and its ornate bridges.
iPad Tower (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Inspired by none other than Apple’s iPod, Omniyat Properties decided to construct a 23-story luxury tower as if the Burj Al-Arab wasn’t enough. The iPad Tower in Dubai – one of the strangest and unique buildings in the world, is totally a Cyber-based structure, a completely modernized digital Oasis of high standard technology. The iPad residential tower was designed by Hong Kong-based architect James Law, the Chairman of James Law Cybertecture and has 231 apartments (iAmbience rooms, iRotation rooms, iReality rooms). The building is located along the Creek in Business Bay, boasting views of Burj Dubai. The mega project cost 3 billion Dirhams ($800 million).
Giant Shoe (Pennsylvania)
Situated in the county York, Pennsylvania this shoe-shaped house is one of the most bizarre houses in the world, built in 1948. It is a wood frame structure that is covered with wire lath and coated with cement stucco. Colonel Mahlon M. Haines — the owner of forty shoe stores in Maryland and Pennsylvania, once went to an architect, handed him and old work boot, saying: ‘Build me a house like this.’ Every window in the odd house is decorated with a stained-glass shoe. On the front door you’ll see the frame of a stained-glass portrait of the Colonel holding shoes.
Stone House or Casa Do Penedo (Guimarães Portugal)
If you happen to visit the Fafe Mountains in Guimarães Portugal, you’ll see a crazy stone house built between two giants. Originally, it was built as a mountain retreat around 1974 by an engineer from nearby Guminarães who was inspired by the natural space provided by four enormous boulders, but later the house was rumored to be inspired by the popular American Flintstones cartoon. The interior is larger than might be expected, furnished with wooden bench-style table and balconies.
