SWOOPY ARCHITECTURE

TRAVELQUIZ OFFERS “Do You Recognize These Quirky Architectural Landmarks Around the Globe?” Indeed, a couple are old favorites, but several others are new to me. Here are tidbits gleaned from TravelQuiz together with my usual Internet sleuthing.

Casa Batlló. “You’ll find the whimsical designs of architect Gaudi,” TravelQuiz describes, “all over the city of Barcelona, but Casa Batlló is a clear standout.” 

Casa Batlló, Barcelona. Image by ChristianSchod via Wikipedia.

Wikipedia recounts, “There are few straight lines, and much of the façade is decorated with a colorful mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadís). The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the lance of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia, Gaudí’s home), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.”

I didn’t visit Casa Batlló when I strolled Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia, though just down the street from there is one of my favorites, Casa Milà/La Predera. Both buildings share Gaudi’s love of nonplanar surfaces.

Above, Casa Milà. Image by Ed Menendez, via Flickr from TARADIGM. Below, Ana Viladomiu “Living in a Tourist Attraction.” Image by Samuel Aranda for The New York Times.

The Cube Houses. The Cube Houses (or Kubuswoningen),  TravelQuiz recounts, “is a housing complex designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom in 1984. The cubic rooms have all been tilted on their side at 54.7 degrees.”

De Kubuswoningen in Rotterdam viewed from Blaak metro station. Image by GraphyArchy via Wikipedia.

“According to the architect,” TravelQuiz recounts, “they were designed to resemble an abstract forest, with each triangular roof reflecting a treetop.” Wikipedia recounts, “Blom’s main goal was to create an urban area that felt like a village.”

Dancing House. Here’s another of my favs, “Fred and Ginger,” a seven-story building in central Prague designed by Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić.

Dancing House. This and a following image from TravelQuiz.

TravelQuiz says, “Locals, however, once referred to it a ‘The Drunk House,’ as its shape reminded them of a boozy night.” SimanaitisSays notes that the building’s image “is now featured on a gold 2,000 Czech koruna coin issued by the Czech National Bank.”

Walt Disney Concert Hall. Another Gehry work, Walt Disney Concert Hall is part of my swoopy collection. SimanaitisSays recounts its being part of the venue in “Martians Invade Downtown Los Angeles.”

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Street, Los Angeles. Image by Carol M. Highsmith via Wikipedia, available from the U.S. Library of Congress. 

Crooked House. TravelQuiz describes, “Built in 2004, Poland’s Crooked House—with its waving and curving facade—is part of a mall in Sopot, a Baltic seaside town just north of Gdansk. 

Crooked House.

TravelQuiz continues, “Architectural design team Szotynscy & Zaleski were inspired by illustrations of Polish fairy tales drawn by artists Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg.”

Wikipedia recounts, “Krzywy Domek (pronounced [ˈkʂɨvɨ ˈd̪ɔmɛk], Polish for “crooked house”) is an unusually shaped building in Sopot, Poland. It is about 4,000 square meters (43,000 sq ft) in size and is part of the Rezydent shopping center.” 

An interior of Krzywy Domek. Image by Topory via Wikipedia.

Krzywy Domek and the others surely display my affinity for swoopy architecture. Thanks, TravelQuiz, for adding to my collection. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025