Beyond four walls and a roof under which you can shelter, architecture has evolved until be mixed with art, all with two objectives: functionality and visual impact. But at the moment in which the imagination and sense of humor get into the equation, the results are peculiar. Houses, offices, museums and all kinds of buildings that have a role and surprise by their impossible forms.
The Basket Building, Ohio (USA)
The Basket building is the headquarter of Longaberger Basket Company
Definitely one of the best examples in terms of peculiarity. Epitome of pop architecture, houses the headquarters offices of the Longaberger Basket Company, dedicated to the crafting of maple wood baskets since 1973.
Become almost a monument for the citizens of Ohio, it was devised by the group’s founder Dave Longaberger. With a base of 59 meters long per 38 wide growing on the roof until the 63×43 meters, it is the largest basket world. What better way to represent your business than with seven floors of offices in the shape of a basket hundred times larger than the average size?
The Basket building is located in Ohio, United States
Today, after a drop in company sales up 90% since 2010, the building is for sale. The mayor of Newark, the small town where it is located, says that he is not interested but is sure that it will find a good buyer. Mr. Longaberger probably was not thinking about resale when he devised his peculiar paradise of baskets.
The Haines Shoe House, Pennsylvania (USA)
The Shoe House was built by Mahlon Haines
There are several shoe-shaped houses throughout the world, but the best known is the one built by the magnate footwear Mahlon Haines in 1948. Built as his home and as advertising claim for his business, Haines was concerned to detail to the point that each window of the house has a showcase with a picture of a shoe.
To achieve its characteristic shape, the house consists of a wooden structure covered with wire mesh and then topped with a layer of cement. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room, divided into five different levels.
The Shoe House has a structure made by wood, covered in metal mesh and finished off with a layer cement
Since its construction until now it has not lacked occupants. It has been housing, an ice cream shop, an hotel and a museum to become a local landmark and meeting place for lovers of architecture.
747 Wing House, California (USA)
The house was built with recycled wings of a Boeing 747
Eccentricities aside, this architectural wonder unites imagination, functionality and environmentalism. It is not here to build a plane shaped house but to recycle materials of a real aircraft to build a house.
The wings of the recycled commercial airplane Boeing 747 are shaping the house and serving as a roof but also other parts of the fuselage have been used. Great, original and quirky but without losing a hint of modernity. The large windows from the floor to ceiling surrounding the entire house allow to wrap yourself of Malibu’s desert sunsets in which it is situated very intelligently.
Although the identity of the aircraft is still present, the obviousness is not the same as Longaberger or Haines. The genius of design is appreciated both outside and inside of this example of peculiar architecture. Outside, it blends perfectly with the surroundings and inside, the large spaces and natural light make a home despite the robustness of the materials.
The Wing House of California is a unique and original building
From one end to the other of the vanguard what is rewarded is originality also in architecture. Giants architectural forms astonish us along the world and this is just a small sample. In Horse we support the search of visual impact.
