More than 4 billion people live in urban areas globally. It’s now projected that by 2050, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas. So no wonder we pay more importance to the buildings and structures around us.
And among countless poorly executed, dysfunctional, and aesthetically nauseating architecture examples (take a look at our previous post with architecture so bad it got shamed by people), some gems landed on this list.
From vertical gardens to incredible brickwork and anything that combines function, creativity, and skill and beautifully complements the surrounding area, there’s a real feast for your eyes. Please scroll down the examples of architects outdoing themselves, and upvote your favorite ones! Psst! Part 1 of this post awaits right here. (H/T)
01. This Vertical Garden Is Located In Madrid, Spain
02. Entrance Gate Of The St. Petersburg Mosque, Russia. Designed By Architect Nikolai Vasilyev
03. Apartment Building In Turin Holds 150 Trees
When you think of architectural wonders, you think of the beautiful Sydney Opera House, the Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris (partially destroyed by a colossal fire accident in 2019), The Guggenheim, New York City, or La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona. These architectural icons deservedly land on t-shirts and coffee mugs that tourists bring home with their great memories.
In many cases, however, such iconic examples that shaped modern architecture and gave new meanings to how generations of the past century saw the spaces they lived and spent time in are relatively rare. In reality, mass urbanization is exploding worldwide, meaning that around 50% of the 7-plus billion people on this planet have moved to cities. And this number will almost certainly increase to about 80% by 2050.
04. Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto, Japan, Late 16th Century
05. Eltz Castle Is Located In Wierschem, Germany, And Has Been Owned And Occupied By The Same Family For Over 850 Years…
06. Mont Saint Michel In France
And many threats come with urbanization, from pollution and uncollected waste to social inequality and greater poverty, with local governments unable to provide services for all people. Since there are so many more people living in urban areas, the housing problem is another critical problem in big cities where real estate prices are affordable for the tiny fraction of society with higher than average income.
No wonder, these days, cities are packed with practical apartment slabs with unrelieved gridded façades, infill condo housing that looks like it’s been trucked in from the suburbs, and a grim precast concrete retirement home that takes up a whole block. You wish nobody had built them. Dystopian architecture has captivated people’s imagination, making them fear a scenario where modernism went wrong. What if it already has?
07. The 17th Century Shah Jahan Mosque In Pakistan, Notable For Its Geometric Brick Work
08. Sumela Monastery, A Greek Orthodox Monastery Originally Established Around Ad 386, Nestled In A Steep Cliff At An Altitude Of 1200 Meters, Trabzon Province, Turkey
09. Fort Bourtange, Netherlands
We spoke with Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech, who said that the dystopian and brutal architecture we often see in megacities captivates our imagination because it reminds us of the images of dystopian science fiction cities that we’ve seen in the big screen for a century.
“The cities featured in movies such as Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), George Lucas’s THX-II38 (1971), Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One (2018) all have a very distinctive look,” Lisa said.
The professor explained that such architectural dystopias have a very distinctive look. They are vertical dystopias rendered in dull, industrial-colored palettes (the colors of concrete, steel, rust, and smoke, with an occasional shot of neon); they are marked by either the total absence or total contamination of nature; and they are entirely out of scale to the humans who live in them.”
10. Gloucester Cathedral
11. This Café In The Czech Republic
12. Arnavutköy, A Neighborhood Away From Istanbul’s Touristic Hustle
Moreover, Lisa added that “the scale of science fiction dystopias reminds us of the gap between rich and poor, with the rich literally at the top of skyscrapers while the poor huddle underground or at street level, trying not to be crushed under the weight of the dystopian city and its crumbling infrastructure,” she explained. It makes you wonder whether we already live a fictional science dream.
13. From The Middle Kingdom
14. Writer’s Museum, Edinburgh, In The Fog
15. This 325-Year-Old Tree Was Utilized In The Building Design When Authorities In Turkey Would Not Allow For Its Removal
16. Buildings By Freddy Mamani In El Alto, Bolivia
17. Spitzhäuschen, A Narrow Half-Timbered House Built In 1416 Located In Bernkastel-Kues, Germany
18. The Burnt Farm Cottage Was Built With Red Brick In The 1840s, Borough Of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, Southern England
19. The Interior Of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família, Designed By Antoni Gaudí. Construction Began In 1882- And It’s Still Not Finished. It’s Expected To Be Completed By 2026, Just In Time For The 100th Anniversary Of Gaudí’s Death.
20. Shah-I-Zinda Necropolis In Samarkand, Uzbekistan
21. Ryazan, Russia
22. Art Nouveau Architecture Of A House Built In The 1880s In Brussels, Belgium
23. Front Of House, Back Of House. Dubbed “The Mullet House”
24. 19th Century Victorian Gothic Cottage Framed By The Arch Of The Gatehouse At Holly Village, Highgate, North London, UK
25. The Zip Building, Milan
26. The Ark Of Bukhara Is A Fortress Located In Uzbekistan
27. Egypt
28. Capt. James Taylor House, A 1892 Queen Anne Victorian In Marine City, St. Clair County, Michigan
29. Fisherman’s Bastion, Budapest, Hungary
30. Edinburgh Castle And Its Half Moon Battery Seen From The Vennel Steps In The Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland
31. Ribbon Chapel In Onomichi, Japan
32. Burg Hochosterwitz, A Castle Built On A Limestone Rock, Was First Mentioned In A Text In 860 And Continuously Fortified Until The 16th Century. Still Owned By The Noble Khevenhüller Family After The Acquisition In 1571. Carinthia, Austria
33. Ljubljana, Slovenia
34. Sun Rays Through The Double Lancet Windows Of Westminster Abbey, City Of Westminster, London, UK
35. Azadi Tower, Tehran, Iran
36. Galtaji Hindu Temple Is Located In Aravalli Hills In Jaipur Of, India. Temple Complex Have Many Natural Freshwater Springs
37. Children Standing In Front Of One Of The Main Doors Of Casablanca Mosque
38. Venice, Italy
39. Oslo Opera House Was Designed In 1999 By Snøhetta And Finished In 2007
40. 15th Century Castle Of Coca In Central Spain
41. 140 Meters High Ruyi Bridge In China
42. The Waves, Vejle, Denmark
43. Mahkama Du Pacha – Casablanca, Morocco
44. Cubic Windows
45. Cologne Cathedral. Masterpiece Of Gothic Architecture. Years Build: 1248 – 1880
46. Dating Back To The 15th Century, Plaza Mayor Is A Major Public Space In The Heart Of Madrid, The Capital Of Spain
47. The Iwan Ceiling Of Fatima Masumeh Shrine In Iran
48. Villa Farnese, A 16th Century Pentagonal Renaissance Mansion Built On The Fortress Foundations In The Town Of Caprarola, Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy
49. A Rooftop Restaurant/Café In Chongqing, China
50. Habitat 67 In Montreal
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