Creativity is the key to man’s success. What man can imagine he can give form and bring to life. Sometimes, the results can amaze us and sometimes, they succeed in only stunning us, and not in a good way. Here are a few buildings that represent the unbridled creativity of the human mind. While I doubt many will find them aesthetically pleasing, almost everybody leaves with the same feeling once they’ve seen them; “Really, what were they thinking?”
The Crooked House, or the Krzywy Domek, Poland
At first sight, the crooked house looks like a painting that was left out in the rain too long. The colors have started run and the lines have kind of blurred and warped. Be that as it may, there’s no denying that this strange looking building designed by award winning architect Szotynscy Zaleski is one of the most photographed locations in the country. Zaleski, it is believed, drew inspiration from Jan Marcin Szancer’s fairytale illustrations for children. The crooked house is of the most popular tourist attractions in the town of Sopot and houses a few bars, restaurants, and shops. The interiors aren’t half as spectacular as the exteriors but a snapshot of you with the house in the background makes for a memorable mantelpiece photograph.
The Upside down House, Poland
With all due respect, the good people of Poland seem to have a penchant for the strange and bizarre. This next structure, the Upside down House, was created by Daniel Czapiewski, a Polish businessman and philanthropist. Along with being quite a crazy structure, the Upside down House in the tiny village of Szymbark is also meant to be profound ideological statement against the Communist era. Well, I guess, he has definitely made his point! Although the project was slated to be completed in three weeks, it stretched on for 114 because the workers were too disoriented by the disconcerting angles of the walls. It is not uncommon for tourists to experience dizziness and nausea within minutes of being inside the Upside down House.
Nikolai Sutyagin House a.k.a the Gangster House
As you approach the city of Arkhangelsk in North-west Russia, you see a pagoda like structure dominating the skyline. As you come closer, it begins to remind you of a Disney Castle with its towers and turrets. When you finally reach it, you are not sure what to make of it at all! What seems to be a strange and yet intriguing building for travelers and tourists is an eyesore for the locals and natives. It soars 13 floors above the ground and at 144ft it is about half the size of the tower of Big Ben. This precarious structure that threatens to collapse at any given point of time is home to notorious gangster Nikolai Sutyagin. What started off as a two-storey project turned into this crumbling monstrosity that took 15-years to build. Really, Sutyagin should have stuck to his gangster business and left the architecture bit to professionals, don’t you think?
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