In The Spotlight - Architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser

SPECIAL FEATURE ON F. HUNDERTWASSER    [Gallery] I first came across Austrian painter and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser [1928-2000] during research for the August 17th article on Kuchlbauer's Bierwelt. A look at his body of work immediately placed him with Frank O. Gehry in the category of architects who have made major contributions to the stranger end of the architectural spectrum. Like Gehry multiple ...

Kuchlbauer's Bierwelt, Abensberg, Germany

Breweries are not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about unique and inspired architecture but for German brewer Leonhard Salleck that was precisely what happened in the late 1990's. The Kuchlbauer´s Bierwelt has, to say the least, a lengthy history and can trace it origins back to the late 1400's. More recently the brewery has been in the Salleck family since 1904. The brewery brews specialty "Weissbier" or Wheat Beer and, while it is a relatively small operation, it is ...

Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria

Completed in 2003 the Kunsthaus Graz is a strange and yet very striking building. Affectionately dubbed the "Friendly Alien" by its creators its amoebic like form is a perfect example of what is sometimes termed "blob architecture" or "Blobitecture". The building was designed by architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier and they had more up their sleeve than just the creativity of the building's organic form when they formulated their plans. The entire eastern side of the building forms a high tech visual ...

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 ...