Most insane buildings

[Albatross Domain 2]

Looks directly out of the movie: 5th Element.

[Isterlan 3]

seeing these pics I'm so glad that NYC is recovering after decades of total architectural boredom, and takes her well-deserved place in contemporary architecture

[earwax_man 18]

Oh my GOD!

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

An energy saving device in a Sheffield Office Building. Saves on energy used by lift trips down to the lobby.

(I'm not kidding)

[Odainsaker 2,137]

It's brilliant...I want a spiral slide in my office building!  Let's put that atrium in the Burj Dubai to real use!

However, my new favorite "insane" building is now the Tower of the Sun ("Taiyou no Tou") in Osaka.  Taller than the Statue of Liberty, this bizarre piece of artwork by Okamoto Taro was the centerpiece of the popular Osaka Expo '70 World's Fair.  It was orginally set peeking out through the top of Kenzo Tange's vast "Big Roof" shed structure, making some to suggest references to a novel scene of a *ahem* male organ poking through a sliding paper shoji screen.  Yeah, everything about this building is warped.  Inside the 70m structure were moving stairs and elevators to the top observation floor, as well as an elaborate fragile sculpture called the "Tree of Life."

We can see the Tower of the Sun poking through its original housing.  It strikes me as an unfortunate captive trapped in some bad 1970s sci-fi prison:

Hey, he got more visitors and admiring onlookers than the Great Buddha!

Come one, come all, come see the Beast!  See King Kong!

Get your hotdogs and Ready the Sacrifice!

Prison...Sacrifice?  Kong?!  Hotdogs and poking shoji screens?!?  We are not amused.

FOOLISH HUMANS, FEEL MY WRATH!

LOOK UPON ME, YEA MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR!

BURN, OSAKA, BURN!  Bwahahahahahahaha!

I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds, the Final Angel of Evangelion!

Oh, Brave New World, that has such people in it, I bring upon you the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

But beware to anger me again, or I Shall Return, filled with a Terrible Resolve.

And the Tower of the Sun found freedom and peace from the cruel humans who had once held it captive.  Today, it can be seen frolicking amidst the trees and flowers of Expo Memorial Park, bathing in the green scenery and warm sunshine of Mother Nature.

Hehehe, I think there is a BAT on one of the Japanese SimCity websites of this funny tower.  When it was first uncovered by non-Japanese downloaders, I don't think many of us really understood what exactly we were looking at.

[MaxMan3 6]

Now what on earth possessed them to build that thing?

[MaxMan3 6]

*reads article again* oh..... right...... Lets hope he does burn Japan I would love to see those puny humans scream

[Legosim 14]

makes some of these buildings for simcity 4 would be awesome, like the walt disney concert hall, or well just all of them! haha

[Legosim 14]

and i love that spiral slide, talk about energy savings from using an elevator

[TV-VCR 15]

Heading to Sweden in 2011? This is what you'll probably see on the way there. Svenska Kraftnat (an electrical company there) has greenlit it.

They're essentially highly-artistic pylons.

[miguelkuk 111]

Interesting idea

[TekindusT 3,809]

What do you think about Spiralling Tower? It's designed to be the masterpiece of the new Catalonia Polytechnic University campus in Barcelona. It's going to feature an auditorium, classrooms, labs, workshops on its base; and offices in the upper part.

Is it insane enough?

[jayo 44]

Originally posted by: ILL Tonkso

An energy saving device in a Sheffield Office Building. Saves on energy used by lift trips down to the lobby.

(I'm not kidding)

quote>

Which building would that be?

[LKMarcus 3]

The Esplanade of Singapore.

Not really 'insane', more of...interesting.

[coconutislandboy 0]

COOL

[chris0101 8]

Are these buildings architecturally sound? Are they stable? What if one of them got hit in an earthquake?

I am intrigued when I see these structures, but I'd keep a far distance from them just in case. And I definitely would not want to live in a structure like that one. Disasters notwithstanding, imagine trying to get around in some of these buildings.

[DuskTrooper 316]

Pretty much anything by the holy trinity of deconstructivism; Coop Himmelblau, Rem Koolhaas/OMA, and Morphosis/Thom Mayne.

[1ajs 49]

canadian museum for human rights

curently they are putting in the piles

[TekindusT 3,809]

Originally posted by: chris0101

And I definitely would not want to live in a structure like that one. Disasters notwithstanding, imagine trying to get around in some of these buildings.quote>

Well, the most insane ones in this thread are not intended to be inhabited. They're part of universities, justice halls, etc.

[Evillions 552]

Originally posted by: 1ajs

canadian museum for human rights

curently they are putting in the piles

quote>

Is that a gaint hat?

[katamariguy 6]

Originally posted by: LKMarcus

The Esplanade of Singapore.

Not really 'insane', more of...interesting.

quote>

They are modeled after a (ahem) certain smelly fruit...

[LKMarcus 3]

Haha, yes, the durian.

[A.Aperson 0]

Here in the Twin Cities, there's a museum called the Weisman Museum that essentially looks like a bunch of crumpled-up tinfoil.

[A.Aperson 0]

Sorry for the double post

Originally posted by: Duke87

^^^ Meh. It's Japan. What do you expect? quote>

The robot building is actually in Bangkok, Thailand.

[bwong 36]

crazy, all are really, really cool!

[bwong 36]

crazy, all are really, really cool!

[bwong 36]

crazy, all are really, really cool!

[Shilka 0]

These are residential kubes standing on their tips in Rotterdam, Netherlands, built in the 70's and 80's.

Also, Gaudi has designed some of the most wild but beautifull buildings imo.

Here's how the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain will look like if it ever will be finished:

And check out the detail on this building;

And gaudi's Casa batllo, also in Barcelona i believe.

[your_adress_here 11]

Where is the Canadian Museum of Human Rights being built?

[koolkalang 2]

This things' old...but it's still insane. It's gone now though, I think there's a park where it used to be.

I think it's called the kowloon walled city or something.