Weird & Unusual Buildings

 Bridge House - PONTE VECCHIO - ITALY

In the city of Firenze (Florence) Italy is a remarkable bridge.  Known as the Ponte Vecchio, or the “old Bridge” in English, it spans the river Arno.  The bridge seen in the photograph was originally constructed in 1345AD after two of its predecessors had been destroyed by flood waters.  What makes it unusual is that it is one of the few surviving bridges to have tenanted shops built along its span.  Originally these were almost exclusively butchers, perhaps because of the direct access to the waters of the river and the ease of disposing offal and the like.  In 1593 butchers were forbidden to sell on the bridge and the shops and houses were quickly taken over by gold and jewel merchants – a tradition that persists to this day.

 Dog Park Inn

A hotel dog lovers will particularly enjoy, the Dog Bark Park Inn is a hotel located in Cottonwood, Idaho, in the shape of a beagle. Guests enter the body of the beagle from a private 2nd story deck. Some of the decorations and furniture inside the hotel are made by an artist to fit in with the hotel’s theme.

 The Hanging Monastery

XUANKONG SI - CHINA

There are five Most-Sacred mountains in China and Mt. Heng (Heng shan) located in Shanxi province is one of them.  Close to its base and overlooking the wooded Golden Dragon River (Jinlong he), is Xuankong Si, which literally translates as the Monastery in Mid Air.  It is more often called the Hanging Monastery.  Built in 491AD it still clings to the side of the cliff using engineering techniques that are still of significant interest to modern architects.  Horizontal shafts were first cut into the side of the mountain to serve as the anchor points. Strong lengths of hard wood cut from single trees were then driven into the holes.  The depth of the holes and the hardness of the rock provided a strong base. There are sufficient supports to ensure that if the crossbeams ever need to be replaced then one can be removed at a time without impacting on the structural integrity of the monastery.  It may be the first recorded instance of deliberate over engineering.

Twisting Torso, Malmö, Sweden

This building, based off the twisting torso of a human being does look a bit like a giant looming over the city of Malmo, and at 623ft is Sweden’s tallest building.

 The Basket Building

Located in Newark, Ohio the Basket Building is the home office of The Longaberger Basket Company. Founder Dave Longaberger decided he wanted the corporate home office in a giant basket.

 

 Dancing House

Office building located in Prague, Czech Republic and designed by architects Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry.  Because the building somewhat resembles a pair of dancers it was orginially named Fred and Ginger, after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  

 Later it was nicknamed the Dancing House.

Palacio de las Artes – Palace of the Arts

Located in Valencia, Spain, the building is the opera house and is one of the buildings within the City of Arts and Sciences.

Thin House

Though there are quite a few thin houses exist around the globe, this particular Thin House is located in London, UK.