10 Most Incredible Buildings in the World

Nowadays it’s not enough that a building serves its purpose of housing residential or office properties. A building should be a statement, a landmark. It should be innovative, novel and above all, unique. Here’s a list of the Top 10 Most Incredible Buildings in the World. 

1) The Hashtag Tower (Seoul , Korea)

This building takes innovative architecture to a whole other level.  This apartment complex has been designed by Danish architects BIG to look like a hashtag.  Known as The Cross # Towers, these buildings are made of interlocking horizontal and vertical towers. What makes these buildings even more unique is the fact that they’re connected by three public bridges at different levels-underground, ground level and in the sky.  These bridges are landscaped and outfitted to cater to the needs of a variety of cultures and age groups.

 

 

2) Elephant Building (Bangkok)

At a height of 1202 meters with 32 floors, the Elephant building is one of the most notable structures in Bangkok, Thailand.  Completed by 1997, this building has 7 different parts including residential towers, office area and even a shopping plaza. It has been designed by Sumet Jumsai and is also known as the Chang building.

 

 

3) Ren Building (Shangai)

 China has proved once again that they have to be a step ahead of everyone else, even when it comes to architecture.  Designed by PLOT (which has now split into BIG and JDS) this building resembles the Chinese character “人”, which is actually a man walking. It combines two buildings, one emerging from the water and the second from the land. The first building is devoted to activities of the body and houses the sports and water culture center. The second building emerging from land, is devoted to the spirit and enlightenment, and houses the conference center and meeting facilities. The meeting point of the two buildings is a 1000 room hotel, a building for living.

 

 

 

4) The Wave (Vejle, Denmark)

This amazing building looks more like a work of art that should be on display.  Designed by Henning Larsen Architects, a Danish company, this residential building was declared the residential building of the year in 2010. This spectacular structure houses 140 apartments, each with a magnificent view of the bay. Located in Vejle, a quaint town in Denmark, it is said that the wave form is inspired by the characteristics of the area upon which is was built: the sea, the bridge and the hills.

 

 

5) Zigzag Towers (Doha,Qatar)

The West Bag Lagoon Plaza, are the tallest and zig-zag towers in the World.  Each is a 34 storey residential and commercial building which consists of 748 apartments as well as shopping mall, coffee shops, restaurants and many more luxurious facilities.

 

 

6) The Longaberger Building (Ohio, USA)

This is by far one of the cutest buildings we’ve ever seen.  Located in Newark, Ohio, this building is the headquarters of the Longaberger company. It is an American manufacturer of handcrafted maple wood baskets and other home and lifestyle products including pottery, wrought iron, specialty foods etc. 

 

 

7) The Dancing House (Czech Republic)

Designed in 1992 by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunic, this building was originally named Fred and Ginger, after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as it resembles a pair of dancers.  This architectural masterpiece was completed in 1996 and is located in downtown Prague. 

 

 

8) Coin Building (UAE)

Also known as the disk, the full moon, the button etc, this unique structure is the world’s only spherical building. Designed by MZ and Partners architects, it is the headquarters of Aldar in Abu Dhabi.  The fact that it stands up is nothing short of a miracle as it is 110 meters above the ground with a diameter of 124 meters. It opened in 2010.

 

 

9) Egg Building (China)

The Egg, or more formally known as the National Centre for the Performing Arts is an opera house in Neijing, China.  It is a massive dome made of titanium and glass which is surrounded by an artificial lake.  The building can seat 5,452 people in its 3 halls and is almost  12,000 square meters in size. Designed by French architect Paul Andreu, construction of the egg began in 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

 

 

 10) Wooden Skyscraper (Vancouver, Canada)

If Michael Green’s project comes true then we could have ourselves the tallest and greenest wooden skyscraper in the world.  It may seem like a bizarre idea, especially since we live in a world surrounded by steel and concrete but as Michael rightly points out, wood is much more eco-friendly and cost-effective than either of them. This wooden tower is scheduled to come up in Vancouver.