Stefanie
Some buildings are just… built different. Literally.
This collection of amazing architecture pictures includes some of the most unique, clever, and visually stunning designs ever created. We’re talking about buildings that double as art installations, gravity-defying structures that seem to laugh in the face of engineering logic, and homes so cool they make your apartment feel like a cardboard box.
These architectural gems come from all over the world and prove that good design doesn’t just function. It sparks joy, invites curiosity, and sometimes makes you go, “Wait… that’s real?”
Here are some amazing examples of architecture doing the absolute most.
1. “Art Nouveau doorway”
2. “One Central Park, Sydney, Australia”
3. “A Tudor-style house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.”
4. “Lavishly decorated Cathedral of Saint Cecilia of Albi, a 13th-15th century Southern French Gothic cathedral claimed to be the largest brick building in the world. Albi, Tarn, France.”
5. “Akshardham temple, New Delhi, India.”
6. “The School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh”
7. “Jeff Shelton Architect – building.”
8. “This building in London, UK”
9. “Inusual Architecture”
10. “Leuven was absolutely glorious this evening!”
11. “Another look at Bombay Sapphire Distillery. Air flows thru these.”
12. “Ceiling at the cathedral. León, Spain”
13. “Chambord Castle in France | XVII”
14. “Persian mosque.”
15. “Norwegian House”
16. “The 3,500 year old Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt. It was built for the queen who is perhaps the most powerful woman in antiquity.”
17. “Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest”
18. “Federal-style house in the snow, Washington, D.C.”
19. “The 3,500 year old Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt. It was built for the queen who is perhaps the most powerful woman in antiquity.”
20. “The Royal Palace of Naples”
21. “Townhouse entrance in Holland Park, Kensington, London, UK.”
22. “The Russian Ministry of Agriculture, in Kazan.”
23. “Grand staircase of the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany”
24. “Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac towering above Old Québec”
25. “Walden 7, Barcelona”
26. “Church of Agia Fotini Mantineias, Arcadia, Greece”
27. “Another view of the Walden 7, Barcelona”
28. “louis vuitton, ginza, tokyo”
29. “Mont St. Michel, France”
30. “Saulnier Mill, part of the Menier chocolate factory, where cocoa is ground. Noisiel, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France. Built between 1865 and 1872.”
31. “The Eastern Columbia Building, Los Angeles”
32. “Saint Hubert Galleries, Brussels”
33. “Stained-glass skylight above an ornately decorated spiral staircase in Casa Navarro, a 1903 Valencian Art Nouveau residence in Novelda, province of Alicante, Spain.”
34. “Holocene House – Manly, Sydney by CplusC Architects”
35. “Main reading room at Library of Congress, Washington DC”
36. “Asamkirche, Munich”
37. “Alwyn Court, New York”
38. “The Architectural Wonder: Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore”
39. “Ernest Hemingway House – Key West, Florida”
40. “Maximum exponent of neighborhood modernism”
41. “Inside Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark – XVII”
42. “The Stunning Design of the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi”
43. “Rila Monastery Courtyard, Bulgaria”
44. “Riga (Latvia)”
“Art Nouveau
Around a third of Riga’s city centre buildings are in the Art Nouveau style, making it the city with the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture in the world – and a very handsome city to explore. So if you love Art Nouveau, you should be thinking of Riga for a city break.
One of the reasons Riga is such an Art Nouveau hot spot is that the city expanded a lot in the 1900s when Art Nouveau was a popular style. There were also a lot of home-grown architects who put their stamp on the city. The most famous of these architects is Mikhail Eisenstein, father of the Soviet early film director, Sergei Eisenstein.
There are a number of different Art Nouveau styles evident in Riga, including Eclectic, Perpendicular, National Romantic and Neo-Classical. Most of the Art Nouveau architecture is a semi-circular ring outside the old town of Riga, and just outside the pretty canal area. Luckily, it is a small city, so it is easy to walk around and see most of the sights on foot. It is also very pleasant to walk around, as there are plenty of parks and green areas to wander through or take breaks in.”
45. “18th-century Neoclassical library added to the 17th-century Kenwood House by architect Robert Adam(1728-1792). Hampstead Heath, London, UK.”
h/t: Reddit