There’s 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 better yet, a strawberry?

Stemming from a childhood obsession with Roald Dahl’s magical and macabre adventure tale, James and the Giant Peach, Old Mother Hubbard’s shoe, and the best ride in Fantasyland — the Mad Hatter’s spinning teacups — we admit that there’s a special place in our hearts for all things larger than life. From the historic orange juice stands of California’s Central Valley to a restaurant shaped like a pineapple to the cutest extra large strawberry we’ve ever seen, click through to check out our adult exploration of real world architecture shaped like giant pieces of fruit. Then, let us know in the comments if we missed your favorite jumbo fruit building.

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You know you’re a design legend when almost 50 years after your death, a really clever website hosts a collage competition in honor of an infamous nude photo of you defacing the pristine white villa of your friend and neighbor, Eileen Gray.

Born Charles-Édouard Jeannere-Gris in Switzerland, Le Corbusier is without question the greatest architect and design thinker of the last century. Summing up the supreme responsibility he felt as a designer, he famously said “You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: ‘This is beautiful.’ That is Architecture.”

Upon his death in 1965 — he drowned in the Mediterranean just off shore of his tiny summer cabin — Lyndon B. Johnson, then President of the United States, said: “His influence was universal and his works are invested with a permanent quality possessed by those of very few artists in our history”. The Soviet Union added, “Modern architecture has lost its greatest master.”

A comment on his puckish genius, Corbu would have been flattered by the remembrance of two world leaders, but we think he would have loved this homage even more.

A celebration of the great man’s naughty side, click through to check out the best and the worst of the first ever Cor(nudie)r Collage Competition. We can’t decide which we love more, the provocative entries or the judges’ award categories. We were so inspired, we couldn’t help but add a few accolades of our own.

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You know that we have a healthy addiction to tiny design. Small houses, micro libraries, miniature paper sculptures of abandoned buildings, and pint-sized recreations of artist studios have captured our imaginations and inspired endless satisfying Google searches.

Thanks to the clever folks at the Toledo Museum of Art, we now have the chance to win our very own micro dwelling, and we couldn’t be more excited.

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The last thing we want to do is perpetuate a fast food nation, but there is something fascinating in finding beauty in the grotesque. In this case, it’s unexpectedly interesting architecture housing the antithesis of the greatest Portlandia skit to date. A contradiction in every sense of the word, we’re not celebrating the evil All-American meal and the global health epidemic it’s played a large hand in creating, but only commenting on the power of design should franchised McArchitecture ever be abandoned entirely as a marketing strategy. Case in point: we might actually consider eating at a beautiful McDonald’s.

Call us aesthetic snobs, but subpar standardization permeates this food culture from top to bottom. We can’t help but wonder, what if it didn’t? The fast food of the past 60 years might have looked a lot more like Ferran Adrià’s latest Fast Good in Barcelona.

From a charming adaptive re-use of a Beaux-Arts train station to a lo-fi pop-up to design blog-worthy modernist buildings, click through to check out what fast food architecture could be. Now we just need to get them to revamp the food.

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Fiona Apple passionately advised us that we don’t sleep to dream. Well, we don’t. We peruse Airbnb. A self-proclaimed “community marketplace for unique spaces,” Airbnb is to globetrotting adventure seekers what Etsy is to diehard vintage treasure hunters.

Founded by three Rhode Island School of Design alumns, Airbnb’s story began in a San Francisco living room. Knowing that a prominent design conference was coming to town, but that all the nearby hotels had been booked solid, the design school grads decided to put their alma matter’s creed into action. “Living the belief that ‘creativity can solve problems’, they decided to offer up their place, along with a tasty breakfast and local hospitality, to a few friendly strangers attending the event.”

What began with three guys and airbeds has now evolved to become a unique collection of crash pads in over 16,000 cities and 186 countries around the world. From Frank Lloyd Wright’s LIFE Magazine Dream House to a mushroom cabin in a Redwood grove to your very own apartment-cum-art-gallery, click through to check out our picks of the best architecturally significant living experiences to try on for size.

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After such a great response to our first A-Z Design Guide, we thought we’d make it a regular fixture in the Flavorwire feed. This week’s post is inspired by one of our favorite Tumblr’s of the moment: Stiknord. An ongoing project started by the Kolding School of Design in Denmark, they wanted to build “a collection of texts and imagery dedicated to the aesthetics of the North to ease the often repetitive, time and money consuming process of constructing tactile inspirational material for each and every project.” Yup, that’s why we use Tumblr too.

From King Frederik’s trend-setting tattoo aesthetic to art pottery to the most stunning chairs ever made, click through to check out our offbeat guide to the original antler worshipping design culture.

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The Finnish architect Alvar Aalto famously said that “God made paper to draw architecture on it.” And apparently, cocktail napkins. Proof that design genius knows no boundaries, here is our roundup of impromptu sketches illustrating the many creative ideas that have originated in bars, lunchroom cafeterias and gem museums from the likes of Liz Diller, Andy Warhol, and Steve Martin’s character in Housesitter.

Should you suffer from a similar inability to effectively disengage and leave your creativity at the office, check out this helpful book to up your napkin sketching ante: Dan Moyer’s self-published Napkin Sketch Workbook. Let us know in the comments about the wackiest place you’ve ever been inspired!

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Recently, we scoured the globe (and the Internet) to bring you our picks for the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world. But of course, there are hundreds of gorgeous bookstores, and even more definitions of what makes a place beautiful, and so we asked you, our dear readers, to pitch in with your own favorites in the comments — and you all complied in force! There were so many great suggestions that we felt compelled to put together a second list, totally comprised of gorgeous bookstores recommended by our readers. Click through to see another roundup of some of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, from Slovakia to Brazil to West Chester, PA, and let us know which one is your own all-time favorite in the comments!

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If last night’s Oscars proved one thing, it’s that Old Hollywood has officially been resurrected, and we hope it’s here to stay. From Rooney Mara’s stunning homage to Audrey Hepburn to Brian Grazer’s decision to include live music in the Theatre-formerly-known-as-the-Kodak-Theatre’s parterre, everything about Hollywood’s golden night seemed to be a nod to gracious days gone by.

Jean Dujardin, our favorite sexy French 1920s throwback and the evening’s Best Actor winner, took us back in time with his nostalgic acceptance speech reminiscing that, “in 1929 it wasn’t Billy Crystal, but Douglas Fairbanks who hosted the first Oscar ceremony. Tickets cost five dollars and it lasted 15 minutes. Times have changed. Though thank you Douglas Fairbanks, your spirit and joie de vivre inspired me for this role.”

We celebrate this year’s Best Picture winner — and the only movie among the nine nominees filmed entirely in Los Angeles — by combining two of the Golden State’s greatest inventions: Hollywood Glamour and Google Maps. Sit back, relax and enjoy the design of a bygone era as we poke around the street views of The Artist’s architecture with our favorite virtual globetrotting tool.

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Dutch design team Demakersvan have created Lace Fence — a high-end, metal fabric used to transform your average, industrial chain-link fence into a beautiful work of art (that’s still functional!) It’s a unique meeting of industry and craft. The designs range from contemporary patterns to antique-inspired lacework — all creating a custom, decorated structure that adds to your environment and doesn’t detract from it. The company thinks outside the box when it comes to their work, too. They’ve made room dividers, ceilings, and entire building facades. We’ve shared a few of their amazing creations below. Visit their website for more information.

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