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World's 30 most unusual buildings
These are the modern architectural wonders of the world. Corporate offices, museums, stadiums, libraries, shopping malls -- these buildings reflect the new wave in modern architecture. We take you through some of the most unusual and creative buildings across the globe.
The Basket Building (Ohio, United States)
This is certainly the world's largest basket. The seven-storey corporate headquarters of the Longaberger Basket Company is an amazing 180,000-square-foot building, a replica of the company's famous market basket.
Built at a cost of $30 million, it was completed in two years.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Kansas City Public Library (Missouri)
The Kansas City Public Library stands out with its unique semblance to books. Kansas City has many architectural wonders.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, TN, United States)
WonderWorks is an amusement park for the mind combining education and entertainment with over 100 hands-on exhibits.
The most striking aspect is how the building looks as if it has landed upside-down.
The inversion tunnel has been designed to realign orientation so that you can defy gravity and play with all the exhibits and experiments.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
The Crooked House (Poland)
The Krzywy Domek (Crooked House) is an irregularly-shaped building in Sopot, Poland. Built in 2004, it is part of the Rezydent shopping centre.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Forest Spiral- Hundertwasser Building (Germany)
Designed by the famous Austrian architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the splendid Forest Spiral is located in Darmstadt, Germany.
The structure with 12 floors has 105 apartments. The rooftop garden has beech, maple, and lime trees and a restaurant. Hundertwasser died in February 2000, before the building was completed.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Dancing Building (Prague, Czech Republic)
Designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunic, the Dancing Building was completed in 1996.
It has a roof-top restaurant and the several multinational firms.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
The Torre Galatea Figueras (Spain)
The giant egg sculptures are the biggest attraction here.
The Salvador Dali Theatre Museum in Figuerasis is named after Dali's wife. Dali lived there till his death in 1989.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Ferdinand Cheval Palace (France)
An amazing architectural wonder, it was built by a postman, Ferdinand Cheval.
The French postman spent thirty-three years building this ideal palace. It is said that he tripped on a stone and was inspired by its shape. He returned to the same spot and started collecting stones for the building.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Cubic Houses (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Kubuswoningen, or cube houses, are a set of innovative houses built in Rotterdam and Helmond in The Netherlands.
Designed by architect Piet Blom in 1984, he tilted the cube of a conventional house to 45 degrees, and placed it on a hexagon-shaped pylon.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
10. Hang Nga Guesthouse (Vietnam)
Known as the 'Crazy House' it is an unconventional building designed and constructed by Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga.
The building's overall design resembles a giant tree, with a sculptured design element representing natural forms such as animals, mushrooms, spider webs and caves.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Chapel in the Rock (Arizona, United States)
Designed by Marguerite Brunswig Staude, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Chapel of the Holy Cross.
The Chapel of the Holy Cross is built into a red rock roost that offers beautiful views of the majestic Cathedral Rock
Completed in 1956, it attracts a large number of tourists.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)
Habitat 67 is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada.
Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, it is based on his master's thesis at McGill University.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Manchester Civil Justice Centre (Manchester, UK)
The Manchester Civil Justice Centre is a building houses the Manchester County Court and the Manchester District Registry of the High Court, as well as Manchester City Magistrates' Family Courts, the District Probate Registry and the Regional and Area Offices of the Court Service.
It was designed by Australian architects Denton Corker Marshall with engineers Mott MacDonald.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Calakmul building (Mexico)
The building resembles a washing machine. Santa Fe in Mexico stands out with its extraordinary architecture developed in the early 1990's.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Nakagin Capsule Tower (Tokyo, Japan)
The Nakagin Capsule Tower houses both residential and office designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa and located in Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan.
This exceptional capsule architecture was completed in 1972.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Mind House (Barcelona, Spain)
A fairytale building, it is considered to be in the list of the top 10 creative buildings of the world. The house has three floors and an attic.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Kettle House (Texas, United States)
The Kettle House is a unique structure. It was built in the 1950′s.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Stone House (Guimaraes, Portugal)
This stunning house, inspired by the Flintstones cartoons, was constructed between two giant stones on the hillside of Fafe mountains in Portugal.
Its unusual design attracts many tourists from all over the world.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Shoe House (Pennsylvania, United States)
The Haines Shoe House is a shoe-shaped house in Hallam, Pennsylvania.
Built by shoe salesman Mahlon Haines in 1948 as a form of advertisement, the house, which is 25 feet tall has five storeys.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
The Ufo House (Sanjhih, Taiwan)
This bizarre looking building in Sanjhih is actually an abandoned resort project. The extra-terrestrial design makes it an attractive sight.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Ryugyong Hotel (Pyongyang, North Korea)
The Ryugyong Hotel is a 105-storey skyscraper in North Korea. The pyramid-shaped building has a 75-degree slope.
At a height of 330 metres (1,080 ft), it is most prominent feature of Pyongyang's skyline.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Grand Lisboa (Macao)
The tallest building in Macau has been designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man.
This is a 58-floor, 856 feet-tall hotel in Macau.
The casino and restaurants within Grand Lisboa were opened on February 11, 2007, while the hotel was opened in December 2008.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Weird House in Alps
This weird house in the Alps looks strangely like a hospital bedpan.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
The National Library (Minsk, Belarus)
The National Library has a stunning led display that shines at night. The 23-storey library is designed in the form of a rhombicuboctahedron (diamond).
Designed by architects Victor Kramarenko and Michael Vinogradov, the building is covered with glass panels. During the day, all 24 sides glitter like a diamond.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
The Hole House (Texas, United States)
The Hole House in Texas is an exceptional art work.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Olympic Stadium (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
A multi-purpose stadium in Montreal, Canada was built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Designed by French architect Roger Taillibert, it has a retractable roof, which is to be opened and closed by a huge 175-metre (574 ft) tower - the tallest inclined structure in the world.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Lotus Temple (New Delhi, India)
This temple situated in India's capital city is amongst the most visited buildings in the world.
Known as the Lotus Temple for its flowery petal shaped architectural design, it is also holy place for the Bahai community. This Bahai house of worship in Delhi was completed 25 years ago
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Lloyd's building (London, UK)
The Lloyd's building also known as the 'Inside-Out' building is the headquarters of insurance company, Lloyd's of London.
Designed by architect Richard Rogers, it was built between 1978 and 1986.
The building is unique with services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside, making the interiors uncluttered.
The twelve glass lifts were the first of their kind in the United Kingdom.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Fuji Television building (Japan)
The impressive Fuji Television building in Odaiba, Minato was designed by Kenzo Tange.
Fuji TV moved from their old headquarters in Kawadacho, Shinjuku, into the new building in March 1997.
It took three years to build this is earthquake-proof building.
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World's 30 most unusual buildings
Turning Torso (Malmo, Sweden)
Turning Torso is the tallest skyscraper in Sweden and the Nordic countries. Designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, it opened in August 2005.
The tower's height is an impressive 190 metres (623 feet) with 54 storeys. It is second tallest residential building in Europe.