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Out Of This World: 30 Times Architects Outdid Themselves With These Alien-Like Buildings
Whether you’re walking the streets of a city you know like the palm of your hand or someplace completely unfamiliar, some buildings might make you stop dead in your tracks. It’s because some architectural gems are so astonishing, they never cease to impress the passersby or catch their attention, be it for all the right or wrong reasons.
A little bit of both can be found on today’s list dedicated to unique architecture. While the majority of edifices presented here today are some of the most impressive architectural wonders there are, some might seem bizarre at best, but that just makes one appreciate the former even more. Scroll down to find the pictures of the architectural gems below and enjoy.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interviews with an Architectural Psychologist and Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Dak Kopec, and Danish Kurani, who, back in 2021, Fast Company named one of the world’s Most Innovative Architects.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
National Carpet Museum, Baku, Azerbaijan
Winnie the Moo 2 years ago
I love it when the architect incorporates the inside meaning with the outside!
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#2
Ribbon Wedding Chapel In Hiroshima, Japan
#3
Science And Technology Museum, Wuhan
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
I like it. To me, it looks like the hands of learning holding Earth.
#4
Geisel Library - 1970
#5
No Clue What This. Wenzhou, China
#6
I Dont Think Balcony Is The Word For These Pod Things
Nitka Tsar 2 years ago
Ooooh I see what they are supposed to be! They should have painted them green and the rest pink and blue
#7
Port Authority, Antwerp, Belgium (2016)
#8
Um... What Is This?
#9
This Is The New Greek Orthodox Church In Lower Manhattan Designed By Santiago Calatrava
#10
Shoreditch Hotel In London
#11
The Halgrims Church Is A Fine Example Of Brutalist Expressionism
#12
The Central Mosque - Cologne, Germany
Serial pacifist 2 years ago
As a Muslim - I don’t like it. I understand it is a matter of taste, but it just seems deprived of any symbolism and has no “warmth” to it. I also don’t like the grandiosity of new religious construction opposed to tasteful, humble incorporation of the temple in the environment. Muslim after all means humble among other things.
#13
Luma Arles. Often Called An Architectural Folly. Or A Crushed Soda Can By The Locals. I Like It. Arles, France
#14
Kunsthaus (Art House) Graz Art Museum (Aka The "Friendly Alien"), Graz, Austria - 2003. Designed By Colin Fournier And Sir Peter Cook
#15
"The Wave" Residential Building In Vejle, Denmark
#16
The “Toilet Bowl Building” Was Voted Virginia’s Ugliest Building By Business Insider Readers
#17
Us Embassy In London, UK
#18
It’s Actually A Real House. It Was Featured On Netflix’s World’s Most Extraordinary Homes
#19
Meanwhile In Canada
#20
Found Elsewhere On The Interwebs
#21
Grand Shopping Center, Facts Emporia, Malmo, Sweden
#22
A Good Friend Of Mine Discovered This In Florida. I Wonder What Would Oscar Niemeyer Say About It?
#23
What’s The Inside Like?
Amanda Rose 2 years ago
Didn't realize that some alien species traveled through the universe in onion bulbs.
#24
Louis Vuitton’s Flagship Ginza (Japan) Store
#25
As Kids, Whenever We Passed This Building, We’d Laugh And Laugh, As If We Were The Only Ones Who Saw It
#26
Baby Borg Cube. Decorative, Not Functional
#27
Mi’costa Hotel Residences, Cesme, Izmir Peninsula Of Turkey (2013) By Uras X Dilekci Architects
#28
The De Young Centre For Performing Arts
#29
Not In The Western Hemisphere
#30
Diamond Building At The University Of Sheffield, United Kingdom
#31
The Binoculars Building In Venice Beach
#32
What Is This? Soda Experiment Gone Wrong? Architect Parent And Their Toddler Do Project Together?
#33
Who Wants Some Chinese Gothic Style Apartments?
The Original Bruno 2 years ago
In all honesty, for a billion-unit apartment building with presumably reasonable cost constraints....it's great!
#34
This Is An Exercise In How To Make This Much Square Footage Feel Absolutely Claustrophobic
#35
Not Sure What It Is, But I'm Pretty Sure It's Malignant
#36
Less Is A Bore
#37
This One May Not Seem Strange But There Is A Glass Bottomed Pool Suspended 200 Ft Off The Ground
#38
Los Angeles
#39
Talk About A Building That Fits In With Its Neighbors! Woohoo! But, Who's Going To Clean Those Windows?
#40
Apartment Building In Poland
#41
Located In Mississauga, Ontario
#42
Orange Julep In Montréal
Stephen Wild 2 years ago
That has been there for a very long time... I had my first ice cream there in 1957 according to my mother, and the structure was far from new even then...
#43
But Can It Blow Up A Planet?
#44
Casa De Napoli - Aldo Lori Rossi
#46
I Present To You This Building Built Around 1990 Which Was To Be A Place For Art Exhibitions, Built By A Parisian Art Gallery Owner
#48
Mirador Building, Madrid
#49
A Lot Going On Here (None Of It Good)
#50
Can Someone Explain What This Is?
#51
New Apartment Building In St Louis Missouri
#52
Tower Near Obere Augartenstrasse
#53
Anyone Know About This In Detroit?
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What do you think ?
Verena 2 years ago
Being a civil engineer myself, I pity all those poor colleagues and their teams who had to realize these things. Their names are never known, only the one who made the drawings and then left, only to return at the opening, to be praised. The hissy fits the architecs throw when confronted with "physics on earth are not cooperating with that design" are never made public.
Jessica Bertram 2 years ago
Architects design dreams. Engineers make dreams realistic.
Load More Replies... 
Michael MacKinnon 2 years ago
I'm surprised that the Ontario College of Art and Design didn't make the list (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/ontario-college-of-art-and-design-university--405605510176329544/).
Verena 2 years ago
Being a civil engineer myself, I pity all those poor colleagues and their teams who had to realize these things. Their names are never known, only the one who made the drawings and then left, only to return at the opening, to be praised. The hissy fits the architecs throw when confronted with "physics on earth are not cooperating with that design" are never made public.
Jessica Bertram 2 years ago
Architects design dreams. Engineers make dreams realistic.
Load More Replies... Michael MacKinnon 2 years ago
I'm surprised that the Ontario College of Art and Design didn't make the list (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/ontario-college-of-art-and-design-university--405605510176329544/).
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