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Airbnb has added a replica of the floating house from the popular 2009 Pixar film Up and other unique pop culture-inspired stays to its inventory. The experience is part of Airbnb's new Icons line of vacation rentals, which CEO Brian Chesky recently unveiled to the public in Los Angeles. ... View full entry
Friday, May 3rd, will see the launch of a new show on HGTV inspired by the popular Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild. The show, which bears the same name as the social media account, will offer insights into “exceptionally weird, wacky, and wild properties that sellers put on the market every... View full entry
And just like that, 2022 is coming to an end. As quickly as it went by, this year was equally prolonged by many of the same issues that have plagued the world over the last couple of years. In addition to the ongoing pandemic, which society is still adjusting to, we have been witness to Russia’s... View full entry
Airbnb has named the 100 winners of its recently-launched OMG! Fund design contest celebrating the “craziest and most unique” buildings submitted to the short-term rental giant from more than 20 countries across the world. The contest awards $100,000 to each design as judged by a four-person... View full entry
Tulsa hosts a building that looks a lot like George and Jane Jetsons’ home in the cartoon, or perhaps a squat version of Seattle’s Space Needle – shaped like a wheel on its side perched on a stick.
The house recently hit the market, with an asking price of $415,000. But unfortunately for any time travelers, it has already been snapped up.
— The Guardian
The brainchild of local duo Joe Damer and Jeremy Perkins (who is a licensed architect) has only been on the market since the last week of June and was reportedly purchased by someone looking to convert the 17-year-old home into what promises to be one of Airbnb’s many unique short-term... View full entry
Airbnb is making a new $10 million investment in design with a new project called the OMG! Fund that will commission “100 of the craziest and most unique property ideas” in a design contest open to architects, designers, and the public across the globe. The contest’s brief’s sole... View full entry
Without special approval, cities with populations of less than 3 million must not build skyscrapers taller than 150 metres (492.13 ft), and cities with larger populations must not construct buildings higher than 250 metres, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Tuesday. — Reuters
China had previously imposed a ban on “oversized, xenocentric, and weird" architecture, including many copycat-type structure’s like the faux Eiffel Tower in the suburbs of Hangzhou. The previous ban set a limit of 500 meters. Violators of the rule “will be held accountable for life”... View full entry
A settlement has been reached in the strange case of a homeowner who fought her California town to keep a famous Flintstones motif installed. The curious legal dispute has kept the Bay Area suburb in the headlines for the past two and a half years. Florence Fang will receive $125,000 from the... View full entry
Even with everything else going on right now, the crazed excess of the newest building on Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue is guaranteed to stop you in your tracks. — San Francisco Chronicle
The Chronicle’s urban design critic, John King, reviews the now-completed and very much style-agnostic Enclave dormitory in Downtown Berkeley. "It's as if Harry Potter and Fred Flintstone decided to build a McMansion. On acid." Image courtesy of LCA Architects. "The design mimics a Moorish... View full entry
A government statement says "plagiarising, imitating, and copycatting" designs is prohibited in new public facilities.
The statement says buildings "reveal a city's culture" - and that "large, foreign, and weird" designs should be limited.
The guidelines also clamp down on new skyscrapers - limiting them, in general, to a maximum of 500 metres.
— BBC
A new government directive released jointly by China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and National Development and Reform Commission seeks to halt the further spread of Western-inspired copycat architecture, a common appearance in many Chinese cities. Duplitecture definition from... View full entry
A proposed dormitory block headed to Downtown Berkeley has a few people scratching their heads. The beguiling, 254-bed student housing project, known as the Enclave and designed by Kirk E. Peterson & Associates, will bring 55 dormitory units to a site located just across from Berkeley's... View full entry
The “Flintstones” home in northern California appears to take its architectural cues from the town of Bedrock. The experimental house was built in the 1970s using a technique that involved spraying concrete to create curved walls. The result is a building where Fred and Wilma would feel at home, and it has become a landmark for drivers passing on I-280. — The Guardian
Neighbors of the quirky home in the affluent town of Hillsborough in Northern California aren't exactly fans of the prehistoric-looking architecture, nor the collection of large metal dinosaur and woolly mammoth sculptures on the property, and have sued the current owner, businesswoman Florence... View full entry
China’s State Council announced that “weird architecture that is not economical, functional, aesthetically pleasing or environmentally friendly will be forbidden.” Many architects and members of the public understood the frustration and bewilderment, even if they questioned the subjective nature of the official instruction. — The Economist
That was a close call, thankfully 'Weird Architecture' that is economical, functional, aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly is still completely accepted and encouraged. China may be forcing itself into a semantically and conceptually charge subjectivism that could potentially bring... View full entry
From egg-shaped concert halls to skyscrapers reminiscent of big pairs of pants, China’s top cities are famously full of curious monuments to architectural ambition. But as land prices in the main metropolises have shot into the stratosphere, developers have been scrambling to buy up plots in the country’s second and third-tier cities, spawning a new generation of delirious plans in the provinces. — The Guardian
"From Harbin “City of Music” to Dezhou “Solar Valley”, provincial capitals are branding themselves as themed enclaves of culture and industry to attract inward investment, and commissioning scores of bold buildings to match." View full entry
Back in February, the Chinese central government demanded an end to all mainland construction of buildings that are “oversized”, “xenocentric” or “weird” and a move toward architecture that is “pleasing to the eye”.
Fast forward five months, and a 12-story toilet has been built in Henan province.
— the Independent
Ironically enough, the building is home to the North China Water Conservancy and Electric Power company.For more on the state of architecture in China, check out these links:China plans to build an underwater "space station" in the South China SeaMegatall Shanghai Tower receives CTBUH signboard... View full entry
