12 of the most unusual buildings around the world built today
If you think that the greatest wonders of the world were created only in the distant past, then you are greatly mistaken. Edition Lifehacker has collected the top 12 buildings erected in our time.
1. Concert hall "Harpa"
- Location: Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Year of construction: 2011.
The Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center was created by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The construction cost 164 million euros. The total area of the building is 28 sq. m. It has four concert halls, as well as souvenir shops, a flower salon, a bookstore, boutiques, a cafe and a restaurant with panoramic views. The name of the building is translated from Icelandic as "harp".
2. Burj Khalifa
- Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- Year of construction: 2010.
This impressive super tower is the tallest structure in the world. It has 162 floors and 828 m, with 180 m falling on the longest spire on the planet. The Burj Khalifa is shaped like a stalagmite of glass and steel. The tower houses a hotel, apartments, offices and shopping centers.
3. Gardens by the Bay
- Location: Singapore.
- Year of construction: 2012.
These are artificial supertrees on which many species of ferns, grapes, orchids and bromeliads grow. The structures are equipped with photovoltaic cells and generate energy from sunlight.
In addition to the supertrees, Singapore Gardens by the Bay is home to greenhouse complexes and flower domes full of exotic plants from around the world, including Cloud Mountain, an elevator-accessible greenhouse for mountain plants.
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4. Metropol Parasol
- Location: Seville, Spain.
- Year of construction: 2011.
The building, designed by German architect Jurgen Mayer, claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. It consists of six umbrellas in the shape of giant mushrooms. On the ground floor there is a market, on the terraces on top - a restaurant, observation platforms and an archaeological museum.
5. Absolute peace
- Location: Mississauga, Canada.
- Year of construction: 2012.
The Absolute World complex consists of two residential high-rise buildings, built in such a way that there is not a single exactly the same floor or balcony in the whole building. The height of the first tower is 170 m (56 floors), the second - 150 m (50 floors). Due to the peculiarities of the construction, the buildings look like they rotate around their axis.
6. Opera House in Guangzhou
- Location: Guangzhou, China.
- Year of construction: 2010.
A very impressive building in the southern industrial city of Guangzhou, China, faced with huge glass panels over a steel frame. The theater consists of two halls: a large one with 1 seats and a more chamber one with 800 seats. From the inside, the building looks, perhaps, even more impressive than from the outside.
7. Lotus Temple
- Location: New Delhi, India.
- Year of construction: 1986.
The Bahá'í Temple is the main attraction of the Indian capital. It is open to people of all faiths. The building consists of 27 "petals", faced with marble, which was brought from Mount Penteli in Greece. The architect Fariborz Sahba was inspired by the famous Sydney Opera House during the construction. The temple is surrounded by 10 hectares of garden, and next to it was placed a greenhouse with local plant species.
8. Atomium
- Location: Brussels, Belgium.
- Year of construction: 1958.
From a distance, this stainless steel and aluminum atom model may appear to be just a decorative sculpture. But in fact, this is a huge building, in the spheres of which are located a restaurant, observation platforms, a museum and exhibitions. You can get there on escalators located in the connecting pipes between the balls.
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9. Temple of the Sagrada Familia
- Location: Barcelona, Spain.
- Year of construction: 2010.
This building is one of the most famous long-term construction projects in the world. The construction began already in 1882, and only in 2010 the temple was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI and officially opened. The church is built in the shape of a Latin cross, and its portals, facades and towers are decorated with sculptures illustrating the earthly life of Christ.
10. Related hybrid
- Location: Beijing, China.
- Year of construction: 2009.
The Linked Hybrid residential complex consists of several multi-storey buildings connected by bridges. His 750 apartments are home to 2 people. There are also shopping areas, a cinema, a hotel, a parking lot, a kindergarten and a school. The building is designed so that its residents do not have to use public transport a lot: you can live here almost without going outside.
11. Marina Bay Sands
- Location: Singapore.
- Year of construction: 2010.
Have you ever been upset by wasting space on the rooftops of modern buildings? The architect Moshe Safdie was upset, so he installed a flat terrace with a pool and garden on top of three Singapore skyscrapers. The Marina Bay Sands complex serves as a hotel and casino, as well as an exhibition center, two theaters, seven restaurants, two ice rinks and a museum.
12. Vertical forest
- Location: Milan, Italy.
- Year of construction: 2014.
In Italian, this architectural complex is called Bosco Verticale. It consists of two skyscrapers with a height of 111 m and 76 m. About 900 trees, 5 shrubs and 000 beds with perennial plants have been planted on terraces around the buildings. Skyscrapers not only decorate the urban landscape, but also help filter the air from carbon dioxide. The complex receives electricity from solar panels.
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