Funny Farms: 12 Cool Agricultural Architecture Conversions

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by Steph

Silvery barn wood, exposed timbers, the sense of history and pastoral contentment – rural ruins have a lot to offer, whether they’re simply converted for new uses or creatively incorporated into novel structures. From great big barns to piles of century-old rubble, agricultural buildings have been adapted and recycled into stunning modern homes that are surprisingly bright, airy and up-to-date.

6 Amazing Future City Concepts

The future is going to be an amazing place, if science fiction is to be believed; we will have space mining, super soldiers and TVs the size of buildings, and if some architects have their way, we will be watching all of this progress from the ocean or skyscrapers shaped like buckyballs covered in ferns.

1. Green Towers in the Park

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Designed to go up in Seoul South Korea, these things are being developed as a communal park/living space/commercial space. It is being referred to as “sustainable” implying that the people who live here will have little need for the outside world and will only have to come out if they want to. Given the fact that South Korea is about the most video-game crazy nation on earth, it stands to reason that if the community here has an internet connection, they may begin to evolve into a separate species. The project is also being called “Seoul Commune 2006″, implying that they have 16 years to get it put together.

50 Most Extraordinary Churches of the World

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Besides eating bamboo leaves bored panda likes all kind of oddities.

Being bored of usual buildings Panda has traveled the world (with the help of Internet) and found 50 strangest and most extraordinary churches in the world, and is kind enough to share them with you.

It was a tedious job for a lazy bored panda to compile such a big list, but he did it!

Oh, and Panda is more Buddhist than Christian, so churches are no more than buildings for him.

But I have to admit, that the most wonderful buildings on earth are probably churches, monasteries and other religious structures. You can do much more with a lot of faith and a lack of money than with a lot of money but without any faith.

Enjoy scrolling down the list, while Panda eats another bamboo leaf.

1. The Church of Hallgrímur (Reykjavík, Iceland)

(Bamboo leaf for Stuck in Customs via www.boredpanda.com)

Top 33 World’s Strangest Buildings

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If you are bored panda like me, you know that the best way to fight boredom is finding all kind of weird stuff.

And now, that you’ve found that page, you are just about to kill your boredom. Do you love architecture?

Strangebuildings.com has a wonderful collection of the world’s most unusual architecture and together with Bored Panda presents you an incredible list of 33 strangest buildings in the world, and best of all, it’s not just another random list, but it is based on 4.520 unique visitor votes. So don’t blame panda for this exact order, blame yourself for voting this way, or for not voting at all. (the voting took place here.)

Well enough of those boring talks, prepare your hand for scrolling down the list, while bored panda eats another bamboo leaf.

P.S.: if you want to find out more information about the building (date it was built, architect, interior shots) don’t forget to visit Strangebuildings.com.

1. Mind House (Barcelona, Spain)

(Bamboo leaf for angelocesare via www.boredpanda.com)

Seriously Big Blocks of Flats In China

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The People’s Republic of China, commonly known as China, is the most populous state in the world with over 1.3 billion people, and Shanghai with its population of 19 million is the most populous city in China and the most populous city proper in the world.

In the past decade, China’s cities expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. However, between 1978 and 2009, the country’s urbanization rate increased from 17.4% to 46.8% a scale unprecedented in human history. These changes, and a lack of space causes huge demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing.

According to Emporis, there are 7,650 skyscrapers in Hong Kong, which puts the city at the top of world rankings. Thirty-six of the world’s 100 tallest residential buildings are in Hong Kong. More people in Hong Kong live or work above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the world’s most vertical city.

While these numbers could look really cool and impressive, actually it causes a lot of housing problems. Let’s take a glimpse at some of those enormous blocks of flats in China to get a feel of how it feels to be living in some cities of China.

“Mass Living” in Hong Kong

Incredible Libraries Around the World

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1 University Club Library - New York City, United States

Photograph by Peter Bond

Captured: Venice from Above | Plog — World news photography, Photos — The Denver Post

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Posted Sep 02, 2008

The Venice Film Festival opened on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 with stars, movie-goers and photographers descending on the famed city. Dan Kitwood, an entertainment photographer from Getty, took the opportunity to make some aerial images of Venice.

The “City of Water” is located in northeast Italy, spanning 118 islands in the Venetian Lagoon. Buildings in Venice were constructed on wood piles driven into the mud, sand and clay layers under the lagoon. Many of the buildings in Venice still sit on these piles driven more than a thousand years ago.

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Amazing Buildings Swallowed by the Desert

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The desert is one of the best landscapes for finding ancient buildings. The arid climate lends itself to preservation, and there is little danger of serious decay or damage from flooding. At the same time, the sand is an ever-shifting geographic feature that can swallow whole towns both quickly (as in a violent sandstorm) or slowly (as it shifts over time). The elements of one of the world’s harshest climates can wreak havoc on anything man-made, even while providing the perfect climate for it to be preserved.

Buzludzha - The Abandoned Communist Concrete Flying Saucer in Bulgaria

pictures sources : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
text source : 1 2



G Auad, a reader of The Artificial owl nicely sent me some pictures of this incredible abandoned buildinglocated in the mountains of his country, Bulgaria. This is the first inclusion on AO of a reader's suggestion, and frankly I hope to get a lot more, because this one is great. Thanks G Auad!

Wooden Church in the Village Paltoga Vologda Region

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Wooden church in the village Paltoga Vologda region, not far from Lake Onega, Russia. The church was built in 1733, and 19th century is edged with boards, covered with iron and painted with white paint. In 1810, a number of built brick Znamenskaya church.

25 Bizarre Buildings/Houses

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25 Bizarre Buildings in photos:

1. The Basket House USA

6 Creative Hotel Concepts

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April 7, 2009 by uphaa

1. Capsule Hotel

The Capsule Inn Akihabara is an unique hotel expereince only available in Japan.

8 Amazing Scale Building Models made from Ordinary Kitchen Matchsticks

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August 20, 2009 by uphaa

8 extraordinary models made from millions of matchsticks, some of which have been featured in Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not.'

1. Minas Tirith, the City of Kings

The Future Dubai?

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the future of dubai's waterfront

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duabi or dubai city is located on the northern tip of the united arab emeritus on the persian gulf. it has been ruled by the al maktoum dynasty since 1833 and has existed in its modern state since 1971. the current ruler is mohammed bin rashid al maktoum, who is also the prime minister and vice president of the united arab emirates. the rather small city has a population of 1.6 million people and a 37 billion USD economy based largely on trade, manufacturing and financial services. contrary to popular belief petrol and natural gas only make up a small percentage of revenues.

10 Most Amazing Temples in the World

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Alex Santoso • Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 12:01 AM

More than a quarter of all people in the world belong to Eastern religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism. These people worship in temples, which are architecturally as diverse as the religions are different from each other. From the ancient ruins of Ankor Wat to the distinctly modern Wat Rong Khun, there are hundreds if not thousands of amazing temples in the world.

I have long been fascinated by the temples and sacred sites of Eastern religions. After doing an article on some amazing churches from around the world (10 Divinely Designed Churches), it's only right that we do a follow up on the ten most fascinating temples in Asia. Here they are, in no particular order:

Tiger's Nest Monastery

Tiger's Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan. Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche [wiki], the second Buddha, flew onto the cliff on the back of a tigress, and then meditated in a cave which now exists within the monastery walls.

The monastery, formally called Taktshang Goemba, was built in 1692 and reconstructed in 1998 after a fire. Now, the monastery is restricted to practicing Buddhists on religious retreats and is off-limits to ordinary tourists.

Futurama 2 - twenty years later...

published in technology by seven

In 1964, the World Fair returned to New York, about twenty years after the first event. Taking the opportunity, GM once again marked its presence with its pavilion where it revisited the future with the Futurama II exhibit, in an up-to-date and improved version. This time, though, its forecast didn't have the same twenty-year reach, nor did it limit itself to cities and roads: the future that was idealized was located at a sixty-year distance, in 2024, and the imagined world also included space conquest, in which the Americans deposited all their strength and enthusiasm.

Just like in the first edition, the exhibit was located in a building whose futuristic and aerodynamic lines resembled the Enterprise spaceship, from the StarTrek series. The visiting ritual remained the same, with the public touring the space sitting in chairs that moved over a railway line, from which the model cities and the diaporamas could be seen. There were simulations of underwater cities, cities in Antarctica and on the Moon, even. Even though it was devoid of any kind of ecological conscience, they proudly showed vast areas of deforestation in the Amazon jungle to build roads and cities, as well as crops in the desert.

Over 26 million people visited this unique exposition and, like in the first edition, they went home with a I saw the future badge. And, most likely, those who saw the future in 1964 won't survive to see the future in 2024; those who get there, though, will no longer expect a wonderful and perfect world, promised by the optimistic view of Futurama.

Read more: http://obviousmag.org/en/archives/2008/12/futurama_2_-_twenty_years_later.html#ixzz1RSKj7Fv7