[Editor's note: For the next two Fridays, Flavorwire will be counting down our 20 most popular features of 2010. This post, which originally ran on August 9, 2010, comes in at position number 20.] A gray, concrete rectangle isn’t the only option available when it comes to designing buildings. The final shape and style of an edifice is limited only by an architect’s imagination. To showcase some other possibilities, we collected 10 buildings that resemble something else, including an elephant, picnic basket, pair of grazing armadillos, and much more. Click past the jump and let your structural creativity soar!
Located in Isla Mujeres, Mexico
In architect Octavio Ocampo’s seashell house, you can pretend to live under the sea while remaining above ground.
Comments (13)
I’ll add an 11th, just for fun. The proposed new Kazakhstan National library looks like a dream ring ter’angreal from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.
[...] that look like other things- Flavorwire Posted on August 9, 2010 by wecanchangetheworld 10 buildings that look like other things 11 buildings that look like other things (once I included the Kazakhstan National Library, that [...]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixeltickler/3642258975/
looks like a…
This is a terrible list. Why wasn’t the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station included?
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8962/sanonofre3785803sa0.jpg
The buildings in Singapore’s Esplanade are modeled after the popular South East Asian fruit, “Durian” – a popular odorous fruit often called the “King of Fruits” in Singapore and Malaysia. I believe Singaporians even refer to the buildings as “The Durians”.
How could you forget LUCY the ELEPHANT in Margate, NJ?
looks like fly eyes to me.
there was an old woman who lived in a shoe…
Or what about the CCTV that resembles giant pants?
I agree with “baobabs” and “me”. There are hundreds if not thousands of buildings that were designed to look like things – from high-profile architects like Frank Gehry and Santiago Caltrava; the CCTV “Big Pants” in China; the New York Guggenheim “Toilet”; the new Chicago Spire “ribbed for her pleasure”; down to every Crate and Barrel store “Crate and a Barrel”. The truly significant are highly visible structures that provoke public commentary. This list looks like a Cleveland Steamer to me.
[...] Buildings that look like other things – [...]
[...] 10 Buildings That Look Like Other Things – Flavorwire [...]
[...] nothing that gets our day going like a healthy dose of novelty architecture. What’s more fun than imagining life in a giant seashell, an oversized picnic basket or [...]
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