Categories > Architectural Oddities

Architectural Oddities

Possibly our broadest category, it includes among other things: Eccentric and unusual homes, mazes, bizarre ruins, amazing outsider architecture and other strange buildings built by non-architects, the architectural follies of Princes and millionaires, gorgeous and unusual libraries, building and bridges grown from living trees, secret passageways, secret lairs, caves, caverns and buried treasure hordes.

Basically any building, structure, house, church, tunnel, that stops you in your tracks because it is unusual looking, has a bizarre back story, or curious method of creation belongs in architectural oddities. From ancient and mysterious ruins in South America to a Buddhist temple made of beer bottles, to a beautiful solar tower in Spain they all fall under the category of architectural oddities.

Chicago, Illinois, US

Bloomingdale Trail

Urban hiking on abandoned railway in the centre of Chicago.

In Chicago's Bucktown/Wicker Park area, an abandoned elevated railway allows an unusual urban hiking experience on a three mile green-way. Slated to become an official city park, currently it... »

Architectural Oddities | Edited by mojotexas, Dylan and others

Szekesfehervar, Hungary

Bory Castle

Hungarian self-built castle

One of two self-built castles in Hungary (the other is the much more ramshackle Tarodi Var), Bory Castle was the work of Hungarian sculptor and architect Jeno Bory. Bory built the castle between... »

Architectural Oddities, Eccentric Homes, Outsider Architecture | Edited by Dylan and Henry

Elephant & Castle, United Kingdom

Michael Faraday Memorial

Shiny Brutalist box commemorates a pioneer of electricity and houses a railway transformer

At the center of a busy traffic interchange of Elephant and Castle sits a gleaming stainless steel box that has perplexed south Londoners for decades. Depending on which urban legend is favored... »

Unusual Monuments, Electrical Oddities, Architectural Oddities | Edited by Trevor and Dylan

Vienna, Austria

Europe's Oddest Architect

Friedensreich Hundertwasser's eccentric structures delight visitors in Austria, Germany and New Zealand.

Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna in 1928, this artist and architect took on the name Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser. Preferring spirals and curves to straight lines, he... »

Architectural Oddities | Edited by spinkk

Copenhagen, Denmark

Fox Hotel in Copenhagen

Hotel designed by indie graphics artists

Hotel Fox in the center of Copenhagen is at the bleeding edge of modern art and design. While many high street institutions claim interiors designed by famous names, rare are these that let art... »

Intriguing Environs, Odd Accommodations, Bizarre Restaurants and Bars, Architectural Oddities | Edited by stanestane and Dylan

Homestead, Florida, US

Ed Leedskalnin's Coral Castle

A mysterious and impresive castle built as a monument to lost love

There are many motivations to create one's own castle. Divine inspiration, as a way of cheating death, as a monument to human ability, or simply a compulsive inability to stop building. However... »

Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture | Edited by Dylan and ack sed

Vienna, Austria

Gasometer Town

Gasometer Town - repurposed natural gas tanks

A Gasometer or a Gas holder is a large container in which natural gas is stored at atmospheric pressure. In the 19th and early 20th century gasometers were used extensively to temporarily store... »

Architectural Oddities | Edited by stanestane

Georgia, US

Pasaquan: Home of St. EOM

The artistic creation of the strange and mysterious St. EOM, a.k.a. Eddie Owens Martin

At one point in the late 1950s, during an extended and fever-ridden illness, Eddie Owens Martin experienced the first of a series of phenomenal visions that would drive his artistic efforts for... »

Museums and Collections, Outsider Art, Architectural Oddities, Eccentric Homes, Outsider Architecture | Edited by wythe

Illinois, US

Leaning Tower of Niles

Half-sized replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa built to honor Galileo

For those who have yet to make it to Pisa, Italy, the Leaning Tower of Niles, located in Niles, Illinois, provides a similar -- albeit scaled down -- experience of the famous Leaning Tower of... »

Strange Statues, Architectural Oddities | Edited by anhie

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

Tiffany Glass Mural "The Dream Garden"

Mural made of 100,000 pieces of hand blown glass, and until recently, the largest glass mural in the US

East of the Curtis Center is a one of a kind mural and gazing pool called "The Dream Garden". Designed by Louis C. Tiffany and based on a Maxfield Parrish landscape, it took 6 months to... »

Unique Collections, Unusual Monuments, Peculiar Fountains, Architectural Oddities | Edited by Dylan