Discover 10 of the World's Zaniest Buildings

Squished between two boulders in the Portugese countryside, Casa do Penedo, or the Stone House, in Guimarães was originally inspired by The Flintstones. Construction started in 1972 and it was completed in 1974. The building is unique in the way that just four large boulders serve as the foundation, walls, and ceiling of the house. Initially it was a holiday home for the unknown architect, but is now a small museum with relics and photographs from the area.

The Atomium in Brussels was originally constructed for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair and was designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak. The strangest thing about this building is it barely looks like a building, but that’s kind of the point. It’s structure, formed of nine 18m diameter stainless steel clad spheres, which are connected by tubes, emulate the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

Founded on December 5, 1873, Kansas City Library is the oldest and third largest public library system in the metropolitan Kansas City area. While the main buildings are relatively standard in their style of architecture, it's The Community Bookshelf that is the most striking and strangest feature of the city’s downtown area. Running along the south wall of the Central Library’s parking garage, a giant bookshelf was created to bring some character to the structure.

The Cube Houses are a set of innovative dwellings designed by architect Piet Blom and based on the concept of “living as an urban roof”, which essentially means high density housing with sufficient space on the ground level. To achieve maximum inside space with maximum amount of houses, Blom tilted the cube of a conventional house by 45 degrees and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon.

The Church of Hallgrimur is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), author of the Passion Hymns. Designed by the then state architect Guðjón Samúelsson and commissioned in 1938, he is said to have designed it to resemble the trap rocks, mountains and glaciers of Iceland’s landscape.

WonderWorks is a series of entertainment centers focused on making science fun for kids. It has five locations in the United States and each one is designed to look as if an existing building was ripped free of the ground by severe weather and dropped upside down on its roof. This unique design was brought to life by architect and Orlando native Terry O. Nichoson at Wonderworks’ original location. Nichoson went on to be the main design consultant for all subsequent WonderWorks locations.

A perfect example of novelty architecture, the seven-story building was designed internally by the company. Opened in 1997, the basket handles alone weigh almost 150 tons and can be heated during cold weather to prevent ice damage. Originally owner Dave Longaberger wanted all of the Longaberger buildings shaped like baskets, but on the headquarters was completed at the time of his death.

For instance, the door of the Snail House is painted to be the slug’s mouth, requiring residents to be “swallowed alive” before entering. Simeonov also substituted a standard chimney with a big yellow bee on the snail’s back. In addition to conducting smoke, the bee’s horns double as both night lights and lightning arresters. The house’s air and gas ventilate through the snail’s eyelids and exit through the snail’s big red eyes. The most important aspect of the house though, is the fact it is constructed entirely with lightweight and eco-friendly material, making it truly energy efficient.

For the next 33 years, Cheval picked up stones during his daily mail round and carried them home to build the Ideal Palace. He spent the first 20 years building the outer walls and he often worked at night by the light of an oil lamp, binding the stones together with lime, mortar, and cement. It’s regarded as an extraordinary example of naive architecture and the palace mixes different styles together with inspirations from Christianity to Hinduism.