Top 10 Amazing Structures of the World

It is said that history repeats itself. As we go back in history, we come across the ancient wonders, which used to be peculiar on both shape and size. The Colossus of Rhodes was known for its height and the legs stretching at impossible distance. The Hanging Garden of Babylonia was another amazing structure and till date scientists are unable to find out the logic – how can a garden hang? Unfortunately, none remain today except the Pyramid of Giza. Talking of the modern wonder, they are called wonders for its historical evidence. There now exist some unique structures that finally prove the statement – history repeats itself. Finally, the modern age man has taken the architecture to its zenith. Though they could not build another colossus, they certainly built something far more intriguing.

• Aqua (U.S.A.) – It is an 86 story building, used for residential purpose. It was designed by a team led by Jeanne Gang. It is the supposed to be the tallest building in the world to be designed by a woman architect. It was shortlisted for the biannual International Highrise Award in 2010. It was announced that the Carlson Hotels Worldwide was ready to spend $125 million, in the highrise for a new chain of hotels called Radisson Blu. The building is planned to have 215 hotel rooms in the first 18 floors. The skyscraper will also consist of penthouses, offices, residential complexes etc. The most interesting feature of this skyscraper is that Gang and her team plans to make the terrace big enough to get maximum solar radiation and come up with systems for rainwater harvesting, energy efficient lighting etc.

• The Crooked House (Poland) – Krzywy Domek when translated in english means the crooked house. It was built in 2004 by Szotnyscy Zaleski. The house is basically a tourist attraction and has plenty of restaurants and bars. Zaleski was highly inspired by Jan Marcin Skanzer who used to do fairy tale illustration for children. Zaleski was also inspired by Per Dahlberg and his artwork. Thus, the house features three stories and is built in such a surrounding that gives the feeling of “melted or sagged out of exhaustion.” This building has become the most photogenic building of Poland.

• The Basket Building (U.S.A.) – The Longaberger Company is an American based company that manufactures hand-made maple wood basket and other products meant for home decoration like pottery, wrought iron etc. Since the company is the biggest seller of the “Medium Market Basket”, so the owner Dave Longaberger wanted all the consultancies to be in the form of baskets. Unfortunately, only the headquarters could be completed before his death. Post death, all the other constructions were stopped by his daughters. Thus, the headquarters in the shape of a basket.

• Residence Antilia (India) – Antilia is a name given to the house of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani. The house has 27 floors. The building has been described in the media as “The Taj Mahal of the 21^stCentury”. The Antilia has been derived from the mythical island in the Atlantic called Antilia. It was categorized in the list of the 10^th most expensive house in the world in 2010. The house was designed by two architects from Canada. Features include – 9 elevators in the lobby, 3 helipads along with an air traffic control facility, parking space for 168 cars etc. Other facilities include health spa, studio, mini theatre, plenty of swimming pools, hanging gardens and a ballroom.

• Habitat 67 (Canada) – It is a housing complex designed by an Israeli-Canadian architect named Moshe Safdie. It is highly considered as an architectural landmark and one of the significant buildings in Canada. Habitat 67’s design was a project for Safdie’s thesis at the McGill University. The house has 12 stories and has 354 identical blocks arranged in a haphazard manner. All together it forms 148 residences of different sizes. The purpose of this building is to “re-define urban living”, by providing fresh air and a panoramic view.

• Waldspirale (Germany) – Built in the 1990s, Waldspirale is a residential complex. The name when translated in English means forest spiral, depicting the actual plan of the house which has a green roof. The house was designed by an Austrian artist named Friedensreich Hundertwasser and planned by architect Heinz M. Springmann. It contains 105 apartments, parking garage, a cafe and a bar and more 1000 windows. The peculiarity of the building is that the windows give the feeling of “aus der Reihe tanzen”, when translated to english means dancing out of line. None of the windows have the same design; each are unique. The doors and handles of the building are also unique. The building has a U shape and has multi-coloured ceramic look to it.

• Cubic Houses (Netherlands) – Kubuswoningen, or cubic houses when translated in English is a set of creative houses in Netherlands. The houses are designed by the architect Piet Blom and are based on the concept of “living as an urban roof”. Blom designed the houses at an angle of 45 degrees and placed it on a hexagonal shaped pylon. The design represents “a village within a city, where each house represents a tree and all houses together, a forest”. There are a total of 38 cubes, and two big cubes which now have been converted into a hostel. The house has three floors; ground floor, first floor with a living room and kitchen, second floor has two bedrooms and a bathroom and the top floor is a terrace garden.

• Central Library Parking Garage (U.S.A.) – The Central Library was founded in 1973. The garage of this library has been modified into book spines which are 25 feet tall and 9 feet wide each. There are 22 titles spines showing the name of various books of different genres. The different genres hint at the varied taste and interest the people have there.

• The Gherkin (London) – Number 30. St. Mary Axe, popularly referred to as the Gherkin for its shape is skyscraper. It is located in London’s chief financial district. It was built in May 2003 and has 40 floors. It now stands in the former site, where the Baltic Exchange building once stood. It got damaged by a bomb explosion in 1992. It was constructed by Skanska. The Gherkin name was given to it for its not so orthodox layout and appearance.

• China Television Head Quarters (China) – The CC TV headquarters is a skyscraper that is 234m tall. The architects of the building were Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren. Because of its peculiar shape it is often nicknamed as “big boxer shorts”.