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10 Strangest Buildings in the World

12:35 PM Architecture , Civil Engineering

Architects around the world have no doubt designed some superb buildings but here we take a look at 10 of the most bizarre buildings from around the globe. We have chosen some of the strangest looking, most colourful, and those that make their cities stand out as one of the places that you simply have to visit.

10. Lloyds Building in London, England

The Lloyds building is situated in the heart of the financial district in London and is home to an insurance company. It has been called the inside out building due to the fact that the ducts and elevators along with other building services were designed on the outside of the building to free up space inside. The architect behind this bizarre building is Richard Rogers and it would look at home on the set of a science fiction movie.

9. Fuji Television Building In Tokyo, Japan

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

One of the strangest buildings found in Japan is the Fuji TV building with its futuristic looks and a silver ball of 32 meters diameter which seems to be suspended among the structure. Architect Kenzon Tange designed the building to be earthquake proof, with the ball being home to an observation tower.

8. Ripleys Believe It Or Not at Niagara Falls, Canada

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

The Ripleys Believe It Or Not building is very bizarre as it looks as though the building was fallen onto its side. It takes on the look of the Empire State Building with King Kong on top and it is the second oldest of the Ripley buildings in the world.

7. Kansas City Public Library in Missouri, USA

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

The Kansas City Public Library has the name of the Community Bookshelf and has a wall mural that was painted in 2004 which shows the spines of 22 books. The work of art measures 9 feet by 25 feet. The spines of the books were chosen from classics in the library such as Catch 22, To Kill A Mockingbird and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

6. Crazy House in Da Lat, Vietnam

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The Crazy House, aka the Hang Nga guesthouse, is one of the most visited buildings thanks to its weird and wonderful look. The guesthouse was a special project of architect Dang Viet Nga, with the building ending up looking like something that might come from Salvador Dali and Disney if they had worked together on a design.

5. Wonderworks in Tennessee USA

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

Wonderworks is a building that looks as though it has been taken off the ground, turned around and then planted back on the ground upside down. Wonderworks is an indoor amusement park and the fun starts even before you enter with its strange and wonderful looks.

4. Sanzhi UFO Houses in Taipei City, Taiwan

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

Before being demolished, the Sanzhi UFO Houses were a group of buildings designed in pod shapes as a vacation resort for officers in the US Military who were posted in East Asia. The project was abandoned in the 80s after unfortunate and what were said to be controversial circumstances involving suicides and accidental deaths during the construction.

3. Grand Lisboa in Macau, China

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

The Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau China is very flashy indeed and is the tallest in the city at 865 feet. It holds treasures inside that are just as flashy as the exterior design including The Star of Stanley Ho, a diamond of 218.08 carat which is the biggest cushion cut D coloured diamond in the world.

2. St. Basils Cathedral In Moscow, Russia

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

St. Basils Cathedral is known as the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed and is Russia’s most notable landmark. It is one of the most colourful and remarkable designs in the Red Square and looks as though it would be at home in a fairytale.

1. The Cleveland Clinic in Nevada, USA

[Image Courtesy of Shutterstock]

The Cleveland Clinic in Nevada has to withstand the heat of the desert and by the look of the building it doesn’t seem as though it’s coping all well. But of course, the melting effect is purely intentional.

Amazing bricks to keep your house cool

6:06 PM Architecture , Civil Engineering , Environmental Design & Construction

Amazing bricks to keep your house cool (engineersdaily.com)

All of us have seen heat sinks in one form or another, from the ones used in old desktop computers to the high-end specially engineered ones in power plants. Their purpose is to use Heat transfer through convection to help cool a certain high-temperature part or piece of equipment. What if these heat sinks could be used to solve an age-old problem of cooling homes? This is exactly what Miguel Nino and Johanna Navarro from Colombia aim to achieve. Their company named Smart Design and Architecture SAS has made several amazing designs to help cool the house with the help of bricks designed like heat sinks.

Amazing bricks to keep your house cool (engineersdaily.com)

The BT – Bloque Termodisipador Heatsink Brick as they are calling it is a clay brick designed with an irregular cross-section on the inside and a long angular face from the outside. The face makes it possible to deflect as much solar radiation as possible as it is the primary source of heat transfer from the Sun. The internal vent-type arrangement allows the brick to get rid of any kind of radiation converted into heat through natural convection. Additionally, the porous structure of these bricks allows the wind to pass through these bricks and create a cooling effect by helping in the dissipation of heat from the wall. They can also muffle sounds from the outside by deflecting and breaking up sound waves coming from the outside. So, it could work really well in an urban environment.

Amazing bricks to keep your house cool (engineersdaily.com)

But, what I can think right now is that this kind of building will also create a strong cooling effect in winters. We know that in tropical areas and even in deserts, winters can become very cold. Would a structure made of these bricks continue to dissipate heat in the winters or do these Navarro and Nino have some counter measure for winters? I guess only they can answer that! Nevertheless, it is a great design that will help the thermodynamics of the house in hot countries and reduce needless power consumption that is associated with modern housing.

Amazing bricks to keep your house cool (engineersdaily.com)

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

11:00 AM Architecture , Civil Engineering

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

The British architect Laura Clark made a grand renovation on a property by transforming an abandoned public restroom into an incredible private home. The 600m² site is located underneath the Crystal Palace Parade in London. What used to be a simple bathroom has now become a practical London home with living room, bedroom, kitchen, and small patio.

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Clark became aware of the public restroom in 2005. Young and recently graduated from Glasgow School of Art, the architect had just moved to London when she decided to take up the project. “For me that’s about saving sites with an interesting history, but which have been abandoned and forgotten.” she told the Telegraph.

First a bit on the site history, the restrooms were built in the lates 20’s and served their main purpose until the 80’s. Clark decided to transform the site into a one bedroom apartment since the property was not available for commercial use. After countless meetings with Lambeth Council’s regeneration department, the architect finally bought the place in 2011.

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Corridor

The property then evolved from old restrooms to a bright and comfortable home. The end result of all the years of hard work put in by Clark is a cozy and light-filled one-bedroom apartment she now calls home. The kitchen tiles and a mirror in the living room were restored from the original structure as a reminder of the building’s origins. The luxurious bathroom counts with a gold-leaf wall which she added herself to add a touch of glamour to it. The apartment even count with a cute subterranean garden that gives it a fresh and homely feel.

Clark even left a small public health poster warning of the perils of VD in the kitchen to lighten up the mood.

The entire project for this luxurious little apartment cost Clark a total of £65,000 and a whole lot of creativity and energy.

Laura Clark is the founder of Lamp Architects, a firm specialized in residential architecture. The bathroom transformation can also be seen through Clark’s blog.

These are some shots of this marvelous project.

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Initial devastated condition

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Initial devastated condition

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Initial devastated condition

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Complete bathroom

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Bedroom complete

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Living room complete

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Kitchen through to living room

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

Kitchen through to bedroom

How a British architect transformed public bathroom into an amazing home?

House garden

Source and images: Lamp Architects and Crystal Palace Toilets

Magazine: Azure (Design, Architecture & Interiors) July, August 2014

9:32 PM Architecture , Magazines

Magazine: Azure (Design, Architecture & Interiors) July, August 2014

Azure magazine has been an inspiration equally for designers, architects and exterior & interior decorators. With its amazing and inspirational stuff, it has been a trend setter for years.

Amid a crowded field, the AZ Awards have continued to grow in stature and numbers. This year, 652 entries poured in from 36 countries, from as far away as El Salvador and Lebanon. In part, the increased global reach reflects what this year’s jurors told us, as others have in the past: that peer recognition is vital to attaining professional excellence, and it can be difficult to achieve. At no other time can a group of experts step outside of their own practices and honour the great work of others.

Below can be downloaded the July, August 2014 volume of this superb magazine. Please do not forget to like us and comment below if you like it.

Principles of Architecture

11:30 PM Architecture , General

Sociological changes, new technology in industry and commerce, new building codes, other new laws and regulations, inflationary economies of nations, and advances in building technology place an ever-increasing burden on building designers and constructors. They need more and more knowledge and skill to cope with the demands placed on them.

Principles of Architecture

The public continually demands more complex buildings than in the past. They must serve more purposes, last longer, and require less maintenance and repair. As in the past, they must look attractive. Yet, both building construction and operating costs must be kept within acceptable limits or new construction will cease.

To meet this challenge successfully, continual improvements in building design and construction must be made. Building designers and constructors should be alert to these advances and learn how to apply them skillfully.

One advance of note to building design is the adaptation of operations research, or systems design, developed around the middle of the twentieth century and originally applied with noteworthy results to design of machines and electronic equipment. In the past, design of a new building was mainly an imitation of the design of an existing building. Innovations were often developed fortuitously and by intuition and were rare occurrences. In contrast, systems design encourages innovation. It is a precise procedure that guides creativity toward the best decisions. As a result, it can play a significant role in meeting the challenges posed by increasing building complexity and costs.

A building is an assemblage that is firmly attached to the ground and that provides total or nearly total shelter for machines, processing equipment, performance of human activities, storage of human possessions, or any combination of these.

Building design is the process of providing all information necessary for construction of a building that will meet its owner’s requirements and also satisfy public health, welfare, and safety requirements. Architecture is the art and science of building design. Building construction is the process of assembling materials to form a building.

Building design may be legally executed only by persons deemed competent to do so by the state in which the building is to be constructed. Competency is determined on the basis of education, experience, and ability to pass a written test of design skills.

Architects are persons legally permitted to practice architecture. Engineers are experts in specific scientific disciplines and are legally permitted to design parts of buildings; in some cases, complete buildings. In some states, persons licensed as building designers are permitted to design certain types of buildings. Building construction is generally performed by laborers and craftspeople engaged for the purpose by an individual or organization, called a contractor. The contractor signs an agreement, or contract, with the building owner under which the contractor agrees to construct a specific building on a specified site and the owner agrees to pay for the materials and services provided.

In the design of a building, architects should be guided by the following principles:

1. The building should be constructed to serve purposes specified by the client.
2. The design should be constructable by known techniques and with available labor and equipment, within an acceptable time.
3. The building should be capable of withstanding the elements and normal usage for a period of time specified by the client.
4. Both inside and outside, the building should be visually pleasing.
5. No part of the building should pose a hazard to the safety or health of its occupants under normal usage, and the building should provide for safe evacuation or refuge in emergencies.
6. The building should provide the degree of shelter from the elements and of control of the interior environment—air, temperature, humidity, light, and acoustics specified by the client and not less than the minimums required for safety and health of the occupants.
7. The building should be constructed to minimize adverse impact on the environment.
8. Operation of the building should consume a minimum of energy while permitting the structure to serve its purposes.
9. The sum of costs of construction, operation, maintenance, repair, and anticipated future alterations should be kept within the limit specified by the client.

The ultimate objective of design is to provide all the information necessary for the construction of a building. This objective is achieved by the production of drawings, or plans, showing what is to be constructed, specifications stating what materials and equipment are to be incorporated in the building, and a construction contract between the client and a contractor. Designers also should observe construction of the building while it is in process. This should be done not only to assist the client in ensuring that the building is being constructed in accordance with plans and specifications but also to obtain information that will be useful in design of future buildings.

Review of 20th Century Architecture in the U.S

4:44 PM Architecture , General

Rockefeller Center in New York City

Rockefeller Center in New York City

The architecture of the United States in the twentieth century can be traced to several nineteenth-century roots. One was the advent of new forms of structural and other materials so strikingly displayed in the building technology of the American skyscraper. This has allowed greater scope of aesthetic expression and innovation in architectural practice. Another was the development of expressive new idioms of form and space. The development of metal trusses made it possible to roof column-free interior spaces easily and economically. Such roofs were used for railroad stations, market halls, exhibition palaces, and domes.

The nineteenth century was one of the most technically inventive centuries. It witnessed the application of new techniques and of new mechanical means in virtually every human activity. It became clear in time that the innovation in architecture would come from those who grasped the possibilities of the new materials and techniques. Revolutionary methods of building with wood were developed in the 1830s to meet the demands for speedy construction and to overcome the shortage of skilled labor. Cast iron was developed into a building material lighter and more adaptable than masonry, and combined with other inventions, notably the elevator, paved the way for tall buildings unprecedented not only for height but ease of construction.

In Chicago during the later part of the nineteenth century, a school of architects of whom Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright were the most famous members, originated a new American style of domestic architecture. Their designs, primarily houses, were long, informal, and organic. Their ideas were ignored for more than a decade in America, but were taken up abroad and developed into the so-called International Style. The International Style was also influenced by the German Bauhaus school, founded by W alter Adolf Gropius, and by the abstract artists interested in using pure forms for buildings. This style was the architectural response to the machine age. Simplicity meant elegance derived from "pure" forms. Display of the structural muscle beyond the tightly stretched curtain wall was widely accepted as the "in thing." Structures designed in this era incorporated three distinct elements of the new style: (1) a new vocabulary of forms borrowed largely from abstract art, consisting of planes, lines, and rectangles without ornaments or mouldings; (2) the representation of interior space and exterior facade as a cohesive unit; and (3) the use of new structural materials such as steel and concrete.

The new style, with its angular forms, plane surfaces, and lack of conventional ornament, met with some resistance from the public, which tended to regard it as bare and inhuman. But by the middle of the twentieth century the style had become dominant across the country. Bold use of modern construction methods and structural materials became common. Noteworthy among the latter are glass tinted to reduce glare; glass brick designed to admit additional light while preventing glare and furnishing effective insulation against heat, cold, and noise; artificial stone; plastics; chromium, aluminum, and other metals; and above all steel and concrete.

World Trade Center in New York City,

World Trade Center in New York City

The early stages of American architecture lacked truly monumental structures. The monumental idea was gradually added to American architectural forms, reaching its apex with the construction of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The center represented a new concept of building a city within a city, containing a towering 60-story structure surrounded by a number of smaller high-rise office buildings and recreational facilities. This complex of skyscrapers has exercised increased influence since 1931, the year work on the center was started. The building represents a departure in architectural thinking from a single-use, single-building concept to multiuse, multicomplex structures on a community scale. Because of that practical example, American architects have responded more and more creatively to such demands of contemporary American life-style as rapid intercommunication and integration of city and surrounding region. Another recent example of multibuilding planning is the World Trade Center in New York City, consisting of twin 110-story towers and four smaller buildings grouped around a plaza.

Whitney Museum

Whitney Museum in New York City

During the period of 1950 to the mid-1960s, the International Style of architecture was embraced by prominent American architects and resulted in sleek boxlike glass and steel high rises which integrated the concept of purity of design into the architecture of the structure. Notable examples are the Seagram Building (1950) and the Whitney Museum (1966), both in New York City, and the John Hancock Center (1968) in Chicago.

During the mid-1960s a reaction developed to the International Style that emphasized greater freedom of design. Figuratively speaking, the concept of glass box was beginning to shatter. It was no longer a misdeed to hide a structure behind a more aesthetic exterior. The building and construction industry saw the advent of new forms of structural and other materials which allowed greater scope for aesthetic expression and innovation. Within the last decade many major cities have had imaginative new shapes thrusting above their sky lines using plan shapes that are other than prismatic. American corporations have built a new generation of flamboyant headquarters buildings that are altering the urban skyline and bringing new vigor to cities. Many are spectacle buildings-giant architectural logos that draw enormous public attention and increased revenues to the companies that build them. They are going up in cities and suburbs across the United States. These grand new buildings are emerging as good investments, serving not only as advertising symbols and marketing tools but also as sources of above-market rents for excess office space.

Seagram Building in New York

Seagram Building in New York

The distinguishing architectural features for this new generation of buildings are sculptural shapes at their tops and elaborate detailing at their bases. The buildings generally divide into two types: modern, dramatically shaped masses, and postmodern structures with a romantic recollection of historical styles.

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