MC Escher, for those of you who don’t know, was a Dutch graphic artist famous for creating surreal pieces that often featured bizarre or impossible architecture. And, as the seven strange structures below suggest, it seems Mr. Escher has more than a few fans in the world of building design.
The dreamy open spaces at the Institute of Sound and Vision in the Netherlands are encased in a facade comprised of a series of television images. The result is a colorful, media-inspired mosaic. Photo: imgur
Portugal’s Stone House, while as surreal as any MC Escher work, is perhaps more easily equated with the Flintstone’s suburban Bedrock home. Photo: Andre Goncalves
The concrete that was used to build San Diego’s Salk Institute for Biological Studies was made with volcanic ash, giving the grounds a warm, pinkish glow. The facility also sort of looks like belongs on the set of The Fifth Element. Photo: imgur
Because a regular snail house wouldn’t be strange enough, this particular mollusc manor in Bulgaria is rainbow colored. Photo: inthralled
The Dancing House in Prague was once refereed to as Fred and Ginger after the famous dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but the architect who designed it, Frank Gehry, wanted the moniker dropped because he was “afraid to import Hollywood kitsch to Prague.”
The aptly named Upside Down House in Poland is the work of businessman and philanthropist Daniel Czapiewski, not a tornado. Photo: BoredCouple
Originally built as a pavilion for Expo 67, Montreal’s Habitat 67 is considered to be one of the most notable architectural landmarks in Canada. Photo: Ken Kaminesky
