I came across this eye-popping collection of strange building pictures here. Some of them are quite familar to me, such as the Lloyds of London building, but others I have not seen before.
Thanks to Stephen Hicks for the link. His site is definitely worth a visit.
This fellow, meanwhile, also has regular nifty pictures on architecture, with a strong enthusiasm for the works of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Here are some more shots (b&w) of the abandoned UFO houses in Taiwan.
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/cantikfotos/album/61717
Outstanding. Best collection of architectural weirdness I’ve ever encountered. I knew quite a few of them, but nothing like all of them. Thanks.
But then again, how about this:
http://www.brianmicklethwait.com/index.php/weblog/comments/sheep_under_wolfs_clothing/
The Geisel library features in Vernor Vinge’s “Rainbow’s End” which I just read.
Manchester Civil Justice Centre is really neat. The first attempt at a prison with see through walls.
Panopticon anyone?
Brian, thank you for those two photos of the Basque Health Department building. You confirmed what I long suspected: that these odd buildings are really quite ordinary beneath the surface, which makes intuitive sense for simple structural integrity reasons.
It must be rather annoying to work in the Basque Health Department. Imagine having to look out your window through that exterior skin of oddly angled glass panes and their framing members running in all directions. On the positive side, though, I would think that the double “skin” provides a measure of additional insulation in cold weather. (Is there such in Bilbao?)