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American History

Historic Architectural Oddities from Around the World

Architects love to break the rules and try new things. This collection looks at some of the world's most famous rule-breaking architectural designs.

Aimee Heidelberg August 15, 2024 28 min
An oddly formed, blue, oblong building.
Graz Kunsthaus Vom Schlossberg. Marion Schneider and Christoph Aistleitner (2006, CC2.5).

Where did we find this stuff?  Select references and readings

Bones of 30,000 plague victims decorate this church.  Christine Bednarz, National Geographic, 26 October 2017.

Brutalist architecture:  Everything you need to know.  Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 12 July 2023.

Cool School: Cat-shaped kindergarten makes us all want to go back to school.  Isabelle Khoo, Huffington Post, 7 August 2015.

German Kindergarten designed as a giant cat.  Pinar Noorata, MyModernMet.com, 18 August 2013.

History of the World’s Only Corn Palace.  Troy Magnuson, SDPB Radio, 25 July 2023.

“It’s a blob”:  An exploration of blobism and blobitecture.  Tom Brennecke, Parametric Architecture, 22 May 2023.

‘Lost its soul’: Campaigners decry renovation of Thailand’s iconic ‘Robot Building.’  Oscar Holland, CNN, 5 November 2023.

Ohio’s Longaberger basket-shaped building faces an uncertain future after the company’s bankruptcy.  Alexandra Charitan, Roadtrippers, 23 August 2023.

The history behind that creepy bone chapel you saw on Reddit.  Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience, 2 November 2017.

The story behind Vietnam’s ‘Crazy House.’  Kate Springer, CNN Travel, 25 August 2019.

The true story of the Winchester Mystery House, the creepiest mansion in the U.S.  Hadley Mendelsohn and David Nash, House Beautiful, 15 September 2023.

The house the postman built.  Heidi Ellison, Paris Update, 1 March 2023.

Written by
Aimee Heidelberg

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