Weird Building News from your Neighbourhood

Most buildings have the very simple task of housing people, providing spaces for offices and retail, or store goods. Some even manage to impress by their fancy exterior or innovative functions integrated into their structure. Others, however, make the beholder wonder about the qualifications of the architects, engineers, and builders involved. In this article, we present to you the most unfortunately shaped, asinine, and flawed buildings in the world and your neighbourhood.

Advanced physics

During their qualification, architects have to master several scientific hurdles. From engineering mechanics to statics. Yet, many fail to understand the most simple of physical principles when the aesthetics of their drafts are at stake. Such has happened in more than one cases with highly reflective, concave outside shapes of tall buildings. Some of them repeatedly defied the rules and had to find fixes to the problems caused ex-post. Let's take a look at what even architects of the highest renown have bungled.First, you may have heard of London's 20 Fenchurch skyscraper, dubbed the "Walkie Talkie", designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly. His building unexpectedly rose to fame in 2013 when the sunlight reflected from its surface was bundled strong enough to melt a Jaguar parked a block away. As a consequence, the City of London suspended three parking bays in that area while the case was investigated further.Second, another creation of Mr Viñoly caused discontent among its visitors in 2009. The Vdara Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas similarly featured a concave outside shape. This lead to its guests getting sunburnt because the shape of the hotel's façade reflected a multiple stronger degree of radiation onto the pool area. This caused not only burns to the skin, but also melted plastic bags and even burnt the hair off of the heads of guests.Third, we have the project that could have prevented the first two incidents Mr Viñoly learnt from not only his own but also Frank Gehry's mistake in 2003. Mr Gehry was responsible for the design of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. With its stainless steel exterior, the building reflected the hot LA sun's rays into the apartments of the neighbouring residents. Two years later, the designers of the concert hall had to cover the panels with pieces of textile to reduce their reflectivity and give the neighbours some rest.

That's a penis!

Last, but certainly not least, the section that, let's be honest here, brought you to this article. Remember the great unveiling scene of GNB's new headquarters by Ted Mosby in 'How I Met Your Mother'? Sometimes the line between fiction and reality is not as thick as you might think. Architects in reality, too, seem not to be able to stay away from the same aesthetic. Thus, in this section, we have collected three shining examples of phallic inspired buildings all around the world. First, located in Barcelona, Spain, Torre Agbar towers over the city at 142 metres. Although impressive to look at during day and especially night, the tower was designed to look like a water fountain. Obviously,... what were you thinking? Architectonically, Torre Agbar is a very interesting building with its outer skin consisting of over 50,000 lamellas coloured in 40 different varnishes, and acting as sun protection at the same time. Undeniable, however, the building of course looks like a giant penis.Second, London's 30 St Mary Axe, dubbed the "Gherkin", is an iconic piece of the city's contemporary architecture. Its frame consists of helix strands for which over 10,000 tons of steel had to be processed. The tower was designed to be especially energy efficient with gaps in each floor to create a natural ventilation system. Like Torre Agbar, however, you wouldn't be surprised to find a miniature version of it in your mother's bedside table...Third is the tower that has been voted Author: Otto Neubert