Odd Remodels
Modern Yurts
Mongolian nomadic tribes have used them for centuries. Yurts have found their way across time and space and can now be found all over the world. Classified as a type of tent,...
Storybook Living
Storybook living is available in real life – you don’t have
to reach for your children’s bookshelves to find examples of it.10 Whimsical Cottages
the Wolf Can’t Blow...
Modesthouse – a Stylish, Green PreFab Housing Option
Modesthouse prefab homes combine sustainable
building practices, green energy systems, and a choice of materials and
finishes to create “a thoughtful solution in this age of...
Home, Home in the Cave?
"If things get any worse we're going to have to live
in a cave somewhere."It's the backup plan as old as humankind but, in a very odd
sign of the times, that plan may have fallen...
The Irresistible Lure of Tree Houses
Living in a tree house is not exclusively in the domain of
childhood fantasies. There are lots of grown-ups who can’t resist the lure of
living in a house up in the trees....
Mud Homes Making a Comeback
In ancient Egypt, many homes were made of mud. To be more
precise, these homes were constructed of mud bricks – building blocks made of
mud mixed with straw, formed in wooden...
Rooms with Odd Themes
Creative inspiration for unusual rooms comes from all over the world. Whether you’re looking for ideas for expressing your own personal brand of weirdness, or simply wanting...
Gnomes in Your Garden: Corny or Cute?
Gnomes are mythical creatures who began appearing as garden decorations in Europe
in the 1800s. Their presence in gardens gained popularity because these little
guys are believed...
Home, Sweet Airplane?
I’ve got to admit, I’ve never
seen anything like this. If you don’t normally click
on links, you have to make an exception just this once, ‘cause I promise, you’ve
never...
The Folded Bamboo House Wins Honorable Mention
After Hurricane Katrina, many Americans are at least aware
of the devastating potential of natural phenomena, including the awesome
displacement of survivors, the subsequent...
The Romance of Tower Houses
There
are different kinds of tower houses, and whether they are castle towers
or Victorian tower houses, all of them hearken back to the romance of
times gone by. Who hasn’t...
The Incredible Edible House
Inhabitat.com,
devoted to “design that will save the world,” recently came up with a feature
that’s so unique it’s definitely worthy of sharing in our “Odd” category.“The...
Living Kitchens, Verdant Rooms
Imagine a
sleek, contemporary kitchen where racks of fresh lettuces grow right next to
your refrigerator. And not only that, this would be an energy-saving kitchen,
too. How...
Mini Homes of Japan
In Japan
the traditional home is based on Ma, which is the balance between space and
objects. The space is divided by shoji screens, which slide on tracks and can
be removed...
Cardboard Furniture, A Not-So-New Concept
Cardboard furniture seems like a very new and innovative concept
for greening the globe. But the idea has been around -- perhaps largely unknown
-- since the early 1970s. Frank...
Super-Sized Chess, Anyone?
The
game of chess is often called an intellectual sport. It’s played
throughout the world by people of all ages, and while it’s a simple
game to learn, it’s difficult...
Tattooed Tables
Digital
printing technology has opened up the doors to the next wave of chic
interior design. Tattooed tables are but one poster child of Reddish Design Studio,
founded by Industrial...
The House Car
This reminds me of a Barbie house I once had that folded up into a nice neat
box. When I opened the box a dresser and bed popped out. There was
always something so magical about...
Futuristic Toilets
Studies show that 9 out of 10 adults are actually NOT
toilet-trained. Ever since potty tech took off, it seems that people
are no longer in know when it comes to smart toilet...
The Loftcube Project
Imagine
living on top of the world, surrounded by open space and views of the
cityscape below. Imagine living life in the midst of simplicity, able
to pick up and go whenever...
Top 8 Wildest Furniture Finds
Autonomous Living UnitDesigned by artist Eduardo McIntosh, the Autonomous Living Unit was
presented at the New York exhibition, Future Cities: Past, Present in April,
2009. According...
The Floating Sphere Hotel
Remember those sci-fi
movies of the 80s and 90s about life in the new millennium? Well, they were
right. Sort of.
The Sphere Hotel is an orb, or pod if you will, that will...
OrganiCube
The OrganiCube project redefines small-space living. Austrian designer Christian Precht’s dwelling looks somewhat like a womb, but mostly like an incredibly trippy sci-fi pod.This...
A Real-Life Lego House?
When Lego came out with their cool, snap-together plastic building blocks and started the kids’ Lego revolution, they weren’t talking about real houses. But James May, producer...
The Polyhedron House
It may be because I’m demented or because I’m a parent (although the two are not mutually exclusive), but this awesome, little hideaway just outside of Bogota, Columbia reminds...
Leggo My Egg-O House?
It represents the circle of life, the age-old question of which came first, and of course, breakfast. But did you know that the egg is also a symbol of creative architecture? The...
A Book Lover’s Dream Home
Bookmark it and underline the best parts. This whitewashed home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, affords plenty of rare book-lover opportunities. The living area with a double-high ceiling...
Lightsaber Handrails
Reminiscent of Luke Stairwalker, here’s a futuristic staircase handrail for the Jedi Masters in all of us. The super cool LED-lit handrail by Croatia-based Zoran Sunjic is perfect...
The Twisted Evolver
If you think you’ve seen it all before, look again. The Evolver is a structure like no other. Conceived and built by students at the Alice Studio of L’Ecole Polytechnique...
Amphibious Living: The First Floating Apartment Complex
If you can’t control your environment, adapt to it. Or better yet, move into a sweet floating apartment in the Netherlands. That’s where the New Water concept by Koen Olthuis...
Glowing Yellow Tree House Restaurant
Yellow Pages execs proved their point when they said you
could find it all in the Yellow Pages. The company advertised that they were
looking for a television presenter, project...
Taiwan Center Features High-Tech Solar-Powered Skin
There's a new look in the building industry and that's eco-skin. The Taichung Convention Center, designed by MAD Ltd. of Beijing, has taken a gigantic step toward sustainable...
Old Gasometers Transformed into Incredible Urban Communities
In 1896,
the city of Vienna constructed four gargantuan gas and electric utility
buildings. The beasts churned out fossil-fueled energy for nearly a
century until one day, the...
Top 5 Crazy Cool Bus Stops
#1 – Home, Sweet HammockYou can assume the
hammock was not part of the original plan devised by the city of Vancouver, but
was actually the brainchild of an industrious local...
Sub Prime Mooring: Underwater Habitat of the Future
If it’s true that man’s primordial ancestors crawled out of
the sea hundreds of billions of years ago, it’s not a big leap to deduct that after
we humans wrap up spoiling...
Billboards-Turned-Houses?
If you have few possessions and aren’t afraid of heights,
this inhabitable billboard house would make an ideal dwelling, or a smart
vacation getaway planted wherever you like....
Suffolk House Slides through the Seasons
Ross and Sally Russell, along with friend and architect Alex de Rijke
of dRMM Architecture, built the incredible Sliding House in Suffolk, England.The home, in a nutshell, is...
A Performance Art Pilgrimage
In your wildest bohemian dream, could you imagine yourself scavenging the
streets of New York City for bits of lumber and cast-off car motors to
turn into works of art, a fleet...
Clingstone: Rhode Island’s Picture-Perfect “House on a Rock”
Rhode Island, unlike Manhattan, is not an island. Unless you’re Henry
Wood, owner of this remarkable home in Narragansett Bay. Heart-achingly romantic with unparalleled picture-window...
A Godzilla Training Ground: Amazing Building Model of Shanghai
Shanghai is the most populated city in the most populated
country in the world. With 15 to 20 million people roaming the streets, it’s
also the sixth largest metropolitan area...
Homemade Roller Coasters: The Thrill of the Build
There’s just something about a roller coaster as a backyard
addition that I never would have thought about. Nope, not in a million years.
But leave it to these coaster lovers...
Melbourne Theatre in All Its Digital Glory
A cultural mecca thrives where a ghetto used to barely get by. In Melbourne’s Southbank district, the traditionally rundown part of town, Ashton Raggatt McDougal (ARM) architects...
Mind Over Matterhorn: The Biggest Manmade Mountain in the World
For a city that was bombed into oblivion during World War
II, Berlin is surprisingly rich in historic landmarks. From the Brandenburg
Gate and the Victory Column to the Reichstag...
Odd Goose Egg Design Wins UN Memorial Competition, World Scratches Heads
As the hometown of the new United Nation’s General Secretary, the South Korean city of Chungju is plenty proud of its native son, Mr. Moon. Ban Ki-Moon is only the eighth secretary...
The Two-Faced House: Fake Visual Façade Hides Contemporary Masterpiece
Located in a historical neighborhood in Melbourne,
Australia, this Tyson Street home had been dilapidated for some time. It was
one of many single-story cottages still subject...
Gargantuan Tunnel-Shaped Marketplace
If a horseshoe mounted to the
top of your doorframe can bring you good luck, imagine what a 100,000-square
meter horseshoe can do for an entire town. The mayor of Rotterdam,...
“Chips” By Alsop Architects: French Fries Cool Enough to Eat
As the world’s first industrialized city, Manchester, England has always
been a working-class city famous – not to mention infamous – for its bleak
urban landscape and...
Earth House Lattenstrasse
Though it looks like the Hobbits have moved in and decorated quite nicely, this project was actually designed by Peter Vetsch. Earth House Estate Lattenstrasse is located in...
Rrreally Big Pipes
It’s a shame to hear about these great companies that make green products to help save the earth, and yet maintain production plants that pump out black chemical clouds. They...
Architecture On Ice
You and your kids
may be very proud of the cute snow man you built in your front yard last
weekend, what with its corncob pipe and button nose and all, but if you want to
retain...
Australian Leaf House
Leaf House by Undercurrent Architects is a gorgeous little hideaway on the coast of Sydney, Australia. Underneath this leaf-like covering lie twisted steel beams that suggest...
Life in an 18th-Century Cathedral Home
Once upon a time, there was an English couple called Ian Bottomley and Sally Onions. They may have seemed quite ordinary to a stranger, but pay them a visit for afternoon tea...
Office from Ork?
While getting smarter and more eco-friendly, today’s architecture is definitely becoming weirder and weirder. Take, for example, dmvA’s new mobile office module, the Blob VB3.The...
Ordinary Woodpile or Secret Recording Studio?
Out from the woodpile comes music to our ears. We may do a double-take to find the source… a closer look shows the woodsy hideaway of Netherland entertainer Hans Liberg. The...
Reconfigurable House: Smart, Smarter, Smartest
What is the Reconfigurable House?Essentially, the Reconfigurable House is an art & architecture project built by Usman Haque and Adam Somlai-Fischer in Tokyo and Belgium. Technically...
A Fashion Designer’s Bubbly Palace in Cannes, France
His couture has been draped across runway models for years. But what you may not know about this famous 87-year-old French fashion designer is that he does more than clothing...
When a Spaceship Meets the Great Outdoors: YTL Residence
This Malaysian home is loaded, just like its high-profile owners. Dominating Kuala Lumpur’s residential skyline, the nearly 10,000-square foot space houses three generations...
Defying Stagnant Spaces: Vodafone Head Office in Portugal
The building appears to be shifting. No accident, since forward-thinking Vodafone's philosophy, “Vodafone Life, Life in Motion,” shaped its structure. Vodafone is one of the...
A Merry-Go-Round at Work?
Ogilvy & Mather’s Advertising Guangzhou office has become a workplace where “horsin’ around” is acceptable, even encouraged. Designer M. Moser flung caution to the wind...
Modular Homes in the Arctic
While winter living in the Arctic may not be on your list of life goals, with Covey Island Boatworks’ houseboat prototype, it could just be the new hip thing to do (think the...
Wanna Hit the Opera After the Club?
Looking a whole lot like a half-cracked LEGO creation, NL Architects’ design for a new all-in-one performing arts center in Taipei doesn’t seem entirely logical. With...
Moon Rocks or Modular Housing? The APEX System
Odd doesn't even begin to describe the ADEX sustainable modular housing structure. For starters, it looks like a cluster of crystallized moon rocks.The project took first place...
Live in a Giant Mushroom: Japanese Foam Dome Homes
One of Japan’s latest strokes of genius comes in the form of foam dome homes. They may look like TeleTubby huts, but the foam structures are energy-efficient, easy to construct...
Renovating an Old Nuclear Missile Silo
One couple has brought recycling to a new all-time high – or depth, depending on how you look at it.Ed and Dianna Peden purchased an abandoned Cold War military base near...
Tower Skin by LAVA: Turning Old Buildings into Eco Light Shows
Sometimes, the best way to remodel is to do absolutely nothing to an existing structure. At least that’s what international architectural firm LAVA suggests. The company has...
The Bizarre yet Functional Vila Hermina
My guess is that after her topsy-turvy experiences in Wonderland, if Alice were to design herself a house, it would look a lot like this house on a slope in Cernin, Czech Republic....
The Matchbox House
When the owners of this matchbox house had the original structure built in 1999, they only thought of the name as a description of the size and shape of the house. They hadn’t...
Can You Call a Cylinder House Edgy?
Despite the rounded walls, this quirky home in Japan is the epitome of cutting-edge. Designed by Ryoko & Keisuke Masuda, the three-story single-family residence is a cylinder...
Asymmetry at its Finest
At first glance, this house in Garby, Poland looks like it could be a large white-striped barn. But at second glance, several unique features come into focus that make you wonder...
An Explosion of Artistic Mania
Casa son Vida is the first of six luxury residences planned for the exclusive area near Palma de Mallorca, Spain. While the other five remain to be seen, this first home is,...
Sneaky, Spirally and Extremely Sexy: The 360 House
Do you ever feel like you’re running around in circles? Every day is like that for residents of this unusually circular home in Galapagar, Spain, but in a good way.The house...
The Water-Cooled House = One Giant Koi Pond
While most architects would settle for designing a house to take advantage of bodies of water in the nearby landscape, Wallflower Architecture + Design would make no such sacrifice....
The Copper House: Only Getting Prettier with Age
Amusingly enough, Copper House, located in the Hudson valley, was named Best Green House by GreenSource Magazine in March 2010. Funny because several years from now, when the...
The Flake House: Cool Log Cabin for the Radical Nomads
Perhaps because this exhibition house was designed as a mistake, purposefully looking like a structure that has either been broken in half accidentally or forgotten about in...
The See-Through Villa 1
Although their partially underground design of the cheapest house possible, Polder 360, was somewhat of a joke, Powerhouse's Villa 1 is no laughing matter. Also part-subterranean,...
Wanna Live in a Glass Bubble?
If you’re thinking of building a home and are looking for the cheapest and simplest out-of-this-world design, well, it won’t get any better than this.Powerhouse designed...
Noah's Ark in Montana
I don't know if they're planning to gather up the local wildlife two-by-two, but a Montana family built an enormous, near-zero-energy house that closely resembles Noah’s ark.Designed...
The Weeping House
How strange the Pael House by Pezo von Ellrichshausen Architects appears depends entirely on the angle. A front view calls attention to the odd spattering of different-sized...
Cool Off-Kilter Dutch House
Designed by pasel.kunzel architects, this single-family residence was created a bit topsy-turvy. The ground floor is one large open area designed for work and play, while the...
Is it a Sofa, Backpack or Awesome, Awesome Hybrid?
Whatever you thought a sofa was, don't. In fact, whatever you thought furniture was, think again. Just when you thought the average sofa could not endure another iteration, out...
Luxury Hotel in an Airplane
What happens when you try to catch some z's on an airplane? It usually ends the same way-- with a stiff neck and cramped legs. But hold on. Old airplanes once doomed for the...
Cool Stackable Tokyo Apartments
The standard boxy shape of
apartment complexes has stayed the same for decades… until now. In an effort to
shake things up a bit, Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto designed an...
Warped Italian Villa
The Villa San Velentino in Italy looks, at first glance, like something far distorted from its original form. Rest assured, however, that everything is exactly as it should...
Cubist Blue-Lit "Narrow House"
So many apt adages come to mind when viewing this house: life imitates art, people in glass houses...This truly unique dwelling is the first to be designed by up-and-coming Egyptian-born...
Space Shuttle House
The Amsterdam Sodae House is an architectural marvel. Made of concrete and glass, the house appears to be a bit upside-down, both inside and out.Designed by VMX Architects, ...
See-Through Glass House
This house is a story of “what you see is what you get,” or so it would appear at first glance of the transparent structure. Luckily, this Costa Rican house is situated roughly...
Frank Gehry's Latest Whimsically Warped Metal
Honestly, if Dr. Seuss and Tim Burton joined forces to design a hospital and research center, it would have looked just like this. There's no other way, really, to describe...
AstroTurf Fun House
Wow. Not only is the Amalia House unique in that it's covered from roof to foundation in artificial grass (and is the first home in Austria to do so), but the shape is unusual...
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