The world has its share of beautiful, unique, and ugly buildings. In the middle, there are ordinary and dull ones. And then, in a category entirely of their own, are the truly bizarre ones—the kind you need to see to believe.
When architects have complete freedom in their designs, things can get weird. Just like how we used to create crazy buildings with LEGO bricks as kids, the r/bizarrebuildings subreddit features architects bringing their wildest dreams to life. We’ve chosen some of our new favorite posts from the Reddit community to show you these unique designs and to bring about light-hearted amusement or strong opinions.
01. Netherlands Beauty
The Reddit group has 158k members who share unique, bizarre, and stunning buildings. Have you ever considered living in a crooked house or taking your children to a kindergarten shaped like a cat? It might be fascinating until monotony sets in or the discomfort becomes overwhelming.
02. Brick Expressionism In Frankfurt, Germany
03. Furniture Shop In Colombia
Architecture is about designing buildings of all sizes and shapes, from small sheds to tall skyscrapers. Blending form and function is essential to ensuring that buildings are attractive, fit their purpose, and are safe.
04. Whale Museum That Looks Like A Whale In Norway
05. Mid-Century House Built Over A River In New Canaan, Connecticut
06. This Looks Like Candy
A building’s appearance is shaped by its purpose, architectural style, and available materials and technology. Different types of buildings, like homes, offices, and religious structures, vary in size, shape, and design to fulfill their unique functions.
07. Residential Neighborhood Near Zurich, Switzerland
08. Azadi (Freedom) Tower, Tehran, Iran
09. This Church In Reykjavik
Recent times have seen the creation of diverse buildings, spanning from the merely odd to the truly unique. This shift in architectural style is attributed mainly to architects’ creative visions, backed by technological advancements. The once-restricting factors of precise measurements have been transformed with innovations like Virtual Reality (VR), which visualizes complex designs and streamlines construction processes.
10. The Round House Wilton – 1968
11. Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain
12. Alpine Refuge From World War I Located At 2760 Meters, Monte Cristallo, Italy
Technology in architecture comes in different forms, and smartphones are a prime example of this evolution. Architects now rely on apps throughout the project, from start to finish, which helps them better serve their clients.
13. Colin’s Barn, Chedglow, England
14. There’s A Huge Open Market In The Netherlands With Apartments Inside
15. Beckham Creek Cave Lodge, Arkansas
In the United Arab Emirates and China, companies show the potential of robotics, collaborative robotics, and large-scale 3D printing in architecture. Autodesk, a software company, is also working on making design-to-fabrication more accessible and enabling the creation of complex structures with less energy.
16. Duck House, UK
17. Modern Cabin For Rent In Norway
18. Casa Torta, Brazil
Urban design is more than looks. Studies suggest that growing up in a city doubles the chances of developing schizophrenia and increases the risk of other mental disorders like depression and chronic anxiety. According to the BBC, “The main trigger appears to be what researchers call ‘social stress’ – the lack of social bonding and cohesion in neighborhoods. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg at the University of Heidelberg has shown that urban living can change brain biology in some people, resulting in reduced gray matter in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, two areas where changes have previously been linked to early-life stressful experiences.”
19. It’s All One House!
20. Building Loading… 89%
21. Super Tree Grove, Singapore
Psychology studies help us understand the urban places people enjoy and find exciting. Studies found that how buildings look and having access to green areas can affect how we feel emotionally. Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our buildings, and afterward, our buildings shape us.”
22. Hole House Or Villa Vals, Switzerland
23. This Building In The Philippines That Looks Like A Ship And Has A Korean Restaurant And A Cafe “Onboard”
24. The Steel House, Lubbock, Texas
Talking and spending time with others is essential for keeping your mind healthy. The same goes for urban design: “Social interaction is often achieved by concentrating groups of people in a single node or landmark so that it is suggested they interact with each other. Strategies for urban design to accommodate this can include higher density development so that more people are concentrated in an area,” shares Jonathan Monfries in his research paper, ‘The Psychological Effects of Urban Design.’
25. Kring Kumho Culture Complex
26. Robert Downey Jr.’s Inflatable Malibu Bungalow
27. Forcing This Road To Surround Their House
Making sure someone is physically healthy often helps their mental health, too. Having enough public spaces in cities makes it easy for people to find places to be active. A study by Roe (2016) backs this up by showing that having green spaces in cities is suitable for people with mental health issues like stress, anxiety, and depression. Adding more trees, small parks, and even outdoor exercise equipment, especially in the city center, can help improve how people feel and act and their overall mental well-being.
28. Brick Facade For A Bookstore In Korea
29. Transcendence, Keith Jellum (1998). Public Art Installation In Portland, Oregon
30. Building Shaped Like A Bulldozer; Turlock, CA
How we feel and act daily can affect how we travel around the city. It can shape our mood and behavior when we go to work and return home. The things around us always have an impact on our thoughts. Making sure a city has good transportation and ways to connect is helpful. This can make traveling to work, especially on public transit, less stressful and more accessible to reach places and services. When transportation works well, it can lower stress and anxiety, which makes living in the city much smoother.
31. A Smart Passive House With Green Roof In Moscow, Russia, By Snegiri Architects
32. The Juilliard School For Music In New York City
33. Built In The 18th Century, This Is One Of The Oldest Buildings In Hattfjelldal Municipality In Norland, Norway
We hope this gave you some food for thought and showed how buildings can connect with human psychology. Keep scrolling to see more exciting pictures of unusual buildings. If you’re curious, look at our earlier post here.
34. Japan
35. Building In Germany, This Is Just A Painting, The Walls Are Straight. Perfect Illusion
36. Architecture Of Barcelona. One Of The Unique Buildings
37. Wencheng Hotel In Yantai City
38. Beer Museum, Qingdao, China
39. Lyon Airport Train Station, Lyon, France
40. This Is The Grasshopper Cafe In South Korea, Made Out Of Train Cars
41. Snake Shaped Temple In India Dedicated To Lord Krishna
42. Stunning Abandoned House In Isère, France
43. Kindergarten “Die Katze” In Karlsruhe, Germany, By Artist Tomi Ungerer And Architect Ayla-Suzan Yndel, 2011
44. Holocaust Memorial In Kaunas
45. When Your Neighbor Has An Evil Lair
46. Cambodian Homestead
47. Half Of The National Gallery Of Denmark Is Grafted On To The Original 1889 Building. All Of This Is Indoors
48. East Meets West In A Hybrid Building In An Unfinished Theme Park In Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
49. Happy House By Dan Witz In Brooklyn
50. Taipei Performing Arts Center
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