- by Village of Joy

I’ve only seen 3 of these buildings in person (the 2 in London and the Lotus temple in India) all of which are at the less-extreme end of the scope of strange on display. Some of the others are .. deformed, bizarre or mind(and material!)-bending!
It actually hurts my eyes to look at some of these buildings! Not because they are ugly or garish, but because they play with dimensions so much, they make me slightly queasy. It’s very unsettling!

Having said that I find it hard to pick a favourite – my opinion shifts every time I go through the list, I like the Hang Nga Guest house a.k.a Crazy House – complete with watching giraffe(above) – in Vietnam and Minsk’s National Library – although Kansas City’s Public Library has to win the context/Ronseal award! The rugged Stone House in Guimarães, Portugal(below) and the seemingly unfinished Wooden Gagster House, in Russia are also recurring favourites. They are so utterly different in style but they are all so striking and, undeniably, original!

France’s Ferdinand Cheval Palace is so ornate I want to see it up close but I shall never be safe to drive the streets Prague and Sopot for fear of being so distracted/unsettled by their curvy offerings!