Vanga Kalyani:
One of the reasons why urban surroundings are so fascinating is their architecture. Shaggy, old, dull surroundings or a weary construction or an important place could be made to look exquisite with just a little touch of excellent architecture. Architects and constructors nowadays are planning and designing buildings in a way that they not only look better but also symbolize the future. Here are a few bizarre yet fascinating buildings which are the masterpieces of modern world architecture.
1. Container City
A huge amount of under- utilised shipping containers could be found anywhere in the docks. These can be acquired for a sum. The strength and durability of these containers provide an ideal material for constructing structures. Construction of buildings, workplaces and offices can be done with these containers. The advantage of such a construction is that it does not require much land. It can be built for at cost smaller than regular construction. The construction of structures using these containers takes far less time than constructing ordinary buildings. The most interesting feature of this building is that it can be transported easily by just unbolting it and relocating in an other place.
2. Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney concert hall, the gift to the people of Los Angeles and a tribute to Walt Disney was designed by an excellent and innovative architect Frank Gehry. This is one of the masterpieces of architecture where the exteriors are flourished with stainless steel material with sparkly curves which not only make it look marvellous but also supports the best visual and aural cognizance. With hardwood- paneled acoustics inside the main auditorium, it gained its place as one of the finest concert halls in the world.
3. Kansas City Public Library
The Kansas city public library is one of the most intelligent and creative ideas for construction of a library. Kansas city public library is one of the best ideas to attract readers all over. This construction's foreground has the shape of stacked books in a row with names of famous books and their authors. The construction is not the entrance for the library but it is the foreground of the parking lot.
4. The Basket Building
The Basket Building located in Ohio houses the main office of the Longabeger basket company. This is constructed to resemble an ordinary shopping basket or a picnic basket, with handles held together. In the winter, these handles are constantly heated to avoid snow and frost deposits on them.
5. Ray and Maria Stata Center
The Ray and Maria Stata center in Cambridge was designed by one famous and creative architect, Frank Gehry. The funds for this construction were raised by Ray and Maria Stata including many famous people. The building houses laboratories for various research departments and offices of many great scientists. After reaching the fourth floor, the building is divided into two streams. They are Gates tower and the Dreyfoos tower. They are usually called as 'G-tower' or 'D-tower'.
6. Crooked House
The Krzywy Domek also known as the Crooked House was designed by Szotynscy Zalesk. It is situated in Sopot, Poland. This construction is based on the reference of a children's story book which makes it interesting and comic too. It houses a few restaurants, bars, shops, a mall etcetera. It is a three storey building with green shades covering the metal on the roof curves. Its bizarre shape is a tourist attraction too.
7. Basque Health Department Building
The Basque Health department building is yet an another masterpiece, designed by architect Juan Carlos Coll Barreu. It is situated in Bilbao, Spain. This structure has the unique property of appearing different from various points of view. The glass made of improvised techniques is used to cover this building. This glass acts like a prism. The look of the building changes constantly from day till night following the light changes in the surroundings. The architect was so keen in designing that he even took care of the various safety measures at the interiors and exteriors perfectly.
8. Upside Down House
The Upside Down house was designed by architect Daniel Czapiewski in a little village Szymbark, Poland. Almost any structure could have been accomplished by the czapiewski's team in just three weeks but this structure took them 114 days as the workmen weren't sure of the bizarre angles of the construction. This also serves as a best tourist attraction where it gathers almost thousands of tourists on a regular basis.
9. Cubic Houses
The Cubic Houses were designed by architect Piet Blom. This construction is situated in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The concept behind creating such a structure is that the architect Piet Blom wanted to create a housing complex in the form of an 'urban forest' where each building takes the form of an abstract tree and the cubes act like the upper portion of the trees. The house comprises of three floors. The cube mostly accommodates the living rooms. The advantage of such a construction is that it occupies less area on the ground that regular construction.
10. Art Museum, Austria
The Graz Art museum in Austria was designed by the architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier. This structure has shimmering, translucent, blue acrylic glass exterior. This structure houses two large exhibition rooms under it. The nozzles present on the exteriors of the structure are made to project lighting to the interiors which gives it an optimal natural look. The glassed windows in the exteriors allows the visitors to look out and the particularly constructed projecting glass structure called 'needle' gives a fabulous view of the Graz town
