Unusual Buildings: 10+ Photos From Around The World

A wonderful collection of the world’s most unusual buildings.

There are numerous incredible buildings in the world that are known for their farout shapes, aweinspiring designs, and unique styles. We have compiled some of the most remarkable structures in the world you love to visit.

Gate Tower Building, Osaka

In Osaka, Japan, there is a building that is as practical as it is unusual. In the Gate Tower Building, a section of the city highway runs between floors 5 to 7. The building has reinforced sound insulation so that the noise doesn’t affect the surrounding offices. However, special architecture comes at a price. The motorway operator pays rent for the floors occupied by the motorway: the equivalent of around 15,000 euros a month.

L’Arbre Blanc Residential Tower, Montpellier, France

Modelled on the shape of a tree, the curved 17-storey building contains 113 apartments with cantilevering balconies, alongside publicly accessible facilities on the ground floor and rooftop. The many technical innovations of L’Arbre Blanc include the terraces, whose cantilevers, which are up to 7.5 metre-long, constitute a world first. These exceptional outside spaces are fully-fledged living rooms that are connected to the dwellings in such a way as to allow residents to live inside and outside, a luxury for a city bathed in the sunshine 80% of the year!

Vyaghra Gumpha, India

Vyaghra Gumpha is one of the popular caves in Udayagiri. The cave, which is in ruins, has an entrance carved like a tiger’s mouth, with the single-cell forming the tiger’s throat. It is one of the most photographed sites in Udayagiri. The word vyaghra means “tiger”. The inscription found here tells that this cave belongs to the city judge Sabhuti.

Twisted Chimney in Wales

It might look like a chimney that has somehow collapsed in a wilted heap, but Wales’ latest piece of public artwork is already winning the public over.

A twisted chimney created by a New York sculptor has been unveiled as a public artwork in a south Wales valley. Hand-carved out of steel, the £180,000 sculpture is 16 metres in length and twists eight metres into the air.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco

San Francisco, CA, United States. 1974. Architect: John Portman

This 802-room hotel, located in the award-winning Embarcadero Center, is situated adjacent to the Justin Herman plaza. Its wedge-shaped design steps back to open the plaza to the bay, creating a magnificent public gathering place. A 17-story atrium provides another dramatic space for people to congregate. Separate conference and exhibition areas offer more than 67,000 sf (6,225 sqm) of meeting space.

Sumela Monastery

Sumela Monastery, a Greek Orthodox monastery originally established around AD 386 nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of 1200 meters, Trabzon Province, Turkey.

Alpine shelter on Monte Cristallo, Auronzo di Cadore, Italy

This incredible alpine shelter on Monte Cristallo, Auronzo di Cadore, Italy, was built during World War I at a height of 2760 meters. It’s believed that the refuge was constructed by Italian soldiers during World War I, in what was known as ‘The White War’, due to the freezing conditions soldiers were faced with.

A Fire Escape of the 38-story Copan Residential Building in São Paulo, Brazil

The Edifício Copan (Copan Building) is a 118.44-metre (459 ft.) tall, 38-story residential building in downtown São Paulo, Brazil. It has 1,160 apartments, 70 commercial establishments and is one of the largest buildings in Brazil.

An elevator in the jungle at Zhangjiajie

Les Espaces d’Abraxas, France

Les Espaces d’Abraxas is a monumental apartment complex in Noisy-le-Grand near Paris. It was designed by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. The large complex of 591 apartments was designed in 1978 and completed in 1982. It rapidly acquired iconic status, amplified by its use as background sets in movies and music clips. It consists of three buildings: Le Palacio (the palace) is the largest, followed by Le Théâtre (the theater) to its west, and the smaller L’Arc (the arch) between the other two. Le Palacio has 441 housing units, Le Théâtre has 130, and L’Arc has 20.

Alaskan attorney builds 185 foot stacked log cabin tower in the wilderness

Stacks on stacks on stacks - Guiyang, China

Multi-coloured ‘Comfort Town’ in Ukraine

Comfort Town is found in Ukrainian capital of Kiev and is made up of 180 pastel low-rise apartment blocks

Built in the 18th century, this is one of the oldest buildings in Hattfjelldal municipality in Norland, Norway.

Pietragalla, Italy

Pietragalla is the town of the fantastic “Palmenti”, in the local dialect defined as “rutte”, cellars-caves dug into the rock still used today for the conservation of wine. The palmenti are a complex of underground structures, which originate in the first half of the nineteenth century.