The Lotus Temple, New Delhi, India

Known as the Lotus Temple and completed in 1986 the Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi, India must surely be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Inspired by the Lotus Flower the structure has become one of the most visited buildings in the world according to Yahoo Answers [where several sources are cited] and most other sources I could track down. In the end wherever it lies on the list of most visited buildings with over 4 million visitors a year it has certainly made ...

Mammy's Cupboard, Natchez, MS, USA

Dating from the American Civil War era and originating in the southern US The "mammy archetype" is one of the best-known archetypes of African American women. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines "mammy" as "a black woman serving as a nurse to white children especially formerly in the southern United States". Given that while there may be a more "politically incorrect" building than Mammy's Cupboard somewhere out there I for one have not come across it. Located in Natchez, MS ...

Biorama aka The Water Tower House

Around 10 years or so ago while cycling Richard Hurding spotted an old run down water tower in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO nature reserve outside the town of Joachimsthal some 45 miles or so from the German capital, Berlin. Harding and his wife Sarah Philips, though both British, had worked in and explored many parts of the world and were looking for a new place to live. They had just found it. Both Harding and Philips were industrial designers ...

In The Spotlight - Architect Frank O. Gehry

SPECIAL FEATURE ON FRANK O. GEHRY    [Gallery] Frank O. Gehry came to my attention while I was researching the Hotel Marques de Riscal and he quickly became a favorite of mine as I began to explore his incredibly impressive body of work. It prompted me to want to bring together a little information about him and a collection of his projects on a single page rather than spread over multiple articles and ...

Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Elciego, Spain

Located in north central Spain the Rioja region is famed for its production of Rioja wines. The Rioja Denominación de Origen Calificada is named for the province of La Rioja though the wines are actually produced in three northern Spanish provinces; La Rioja, Navarre and Álava. In the province of Álava The Frank O. Gehry designed Hotel Marques de Riscal adds a touch of the ultra modern to the small, traditional town of Elciego. Erected in 2006 the hotel was a part of a plan to ...

The Flying Saucer House, TN, USA

About three weeks ago we published an article on the "UFO House" in Royse City, TX. That was one of the late 20th century Futuro homes. Here we bring you another "UFO" style home though this one is be more commonly referred to as the "Flying Saucer House". This home, while just as strange as the Futuro homes, is unique and very definitely "one of a kind". Constructed in 1970 the "Flying Saucer House" is located on Signal Mountain in Tennessee on a switch back along ...

The Kirsch Home, Oak Park, IL, USA

Now this one was a bit of a challenge! Saw this a while ago on a blog somewhere; just a picture with no info of any sort but the picture looked interesting so I decided to try to track it down. It took a little while but I was successful in the end. The "Bunker" as it seems to be referred to was designed by the architect Errol J Kirsch and there is a series of images of the home on his website. Unfortunately there is no additional information on the rationale behind the design or the construction methods; just ...

The Cigar House, Albuquerque, NM, USA

The Mead/Penhall house or the "Cigar House" as we have termed it is located in Albuquerque, NM. Many of the buildings we feature have nicknames that have been around for a long time and we have no idea of their origin; some make sense and some seem a little obscure. We have not previously heard of a nickname being applied to this property so we chose to create one; perhaps it will stick, perhaps not. In any case if you take a look at the close in aerial shot taken from Google Maps...

Dome Of A Home, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA

Valerie and Mark Sigler had had just about enough after their home was severely damaged for the third time by a hurricane. In 1998 following Hurricane Georges they had what remained of their home demolished and started the search for the architect who would build them their new home. After a lengthy search they came upon Jonathan Zimmerman [who passed away 2005], the architect behind the "Dome Of A Home" which was constructed in 2003. The Sigler house is without doubt ...

The Brenton House, Boulder, CO, USA

The Brenton House in Boulder, CO is one of a long list of notable designs by architect Charles Haertling. The home was built for Dr. Stanley Brenton and his family who had selected a home site in the Wonderland Hills subdivision of Boulder for the construction of their new home. The site was idyllic perched above a lake and having superb views of the lake, the mountains and both sunset and sunrise. With a design said to have been inspired by the barnacle [Haertling was ...