Mini Challenge #338 - Weird, Strange, or One-of-a-kind Architecture.

Cavalier

The topic of this Mini is Architecture, but not just any architecture. It must be something that one doesn't see very often. Weird is best, strange is great, and one-of-a-kind fits the topic nicely.

Here are some examples:

Chapel on the Northern California Coast.

Not sure what, but interesting

Beehive Bird House

Sundial walking bridge in Redding, Ca.

OK, let's see your weirdness!! The mini will run for 2 weeks and will close on July 10, 2022 at 5pm Pacific Standard Time U..S.

OUR UN-OFFICIAL GENERAL RULES
1. Have fun sharing and seeing what others share!
2. The host supplies a topic, and you post 1-3 images. The host judges the winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and is not eligible to enter.
The 1st place winner then chooses the next topic, judges the winner and then passes on the baton to the new champion.
3. Any photo you’ve taken is eligible, regardless of when taken or camera used.
4. Any amount of post-processing is allowed, including making composites as long as everything you put in the photo is taken from a photo made by yourself. However, it is helpful if you list your camera and lens along with your photo.
You may comment on other contestant's images. If you want someone to leave you some critique or criticism, just ask within your post.
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grandmaR

I have been vacillating between photos that I have of really weird stuff but were taken a long time ago on film and the photos are not so good, and photos that are better, but are not so unusual. So I'm going to cheat. I'm going to give you four of the better photos, and then two that aren't so good that are not entered in the competition.

1. Dog House - on US 1 back in the 50s. Digitized slide
   

2. Orange Building in Lyon - there was also a green one
   

3. Nemo's place (Science Museum in Amsteram)
   

A not for judging - Solomon's Lump lighthouse. Originally this was a caisson lighthouse but the lighthouse was destroyed leaving just the caisson bottom. So they built a little tiny tower on the base. I've only seen this at a distance from our boat so never got a good photo of it.

Two silos which were made into appartments on the Eastern Shore of Maryland - I only have a film picture of this taken with a point and shoot camera

Cavalier

Thanks for the entries, @grandmaR . Interesting stones in the Antiqua Church!

JAG

Technically, we are supposed to only post 3 images for these mini challenges. Last mini, was set up to judge 4 images as a whole, although he didn't follow through. I think we should continue to follow the 3 image per mini challenge..

that said, here are my 3:

1 Ice museum at Chena Hot Springs, Alaska (my hubby was doing them a favor by removing the snow so I could get my wheelchair in there to see the ice sculptures)

2 The Church of Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia (this unique building was a series of arches on the inside, that were completely covered with tiny tiles to create these images of Christ and other biblical characters. It was impossible for me to get a full image of any room, because there were really no "rooms" rather hallways. To see the building in its fullness, you can go to this LINK and using the arrow on the right, scroll through the images of this church.)

3 On of the great pyramids of Giza, Egypt (these massive structures are thousands of years old, but still have held up pretty good, even with the looting of the stones on the outside, as well as contents on the inside. I posted this image as the man sitting on the blocks, gives you a reference to how big those blocks are and the undertaking that the slaves had to take on during the period they were built. Typically on average, it took 10 to 60 years to build a pyramid.)

Cavalier

Thanks for your entries, Joyce.

Actually, in the guidelines posted in the rules above, it does say 1 to 3 photos. I was relying on people reading the rules, but from personal experience, I know the rules are probably not read for those that have entered in prior challenges. I should have reiterated that rule. the fact that I posted 4 photos as examples is something that most people do to reflect as many examples as possible.

@grandmaR - you may want to select the three that you wanted entered in this mini. Just let me know the numbers of the photos for entry. Thanks.and sorry for the confusion.

grandmaR

Sorry - I forgot that it was to be 3, so I immediately deleted one.

pegelli

Great Challenge!

1: Entrance to Radio Kootwijk, the short wave radio station that provided a communication link between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia)

2: Antwerp Harbour House, a design by Zaha Hadid, a new structure built on top of the former Antwerp harbour firestation

3: Van Nelle, Rotterdam. A factory where they blended and packed coffee, tea, cigarettes and tobacco

Cavalier

Only 3 days left in the mini. Not many entries for strange/weird/one-of-a-kind architecture!

Com' on folks, don't be left behind. Dig out that cool architectural art.

sarasphotos

Sorry Jo, been busy and haven't had time to thin out my initial selection. Hope to have something tomorrow.

sarasphotos

Although weird and strange were challenging to find, I came up with several "one-of-a-kind" structures and narrowed my choice to three from France.

1) Chateau de Chambord: the hunting lodge for Francis I was constructed between 1519–1547 and has 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. On my very first visit in 1989 we got to go to the rooftop and walk through all of those chimneys.

2) I.M. Pei's glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum, Paris. I've seen lots of photos of this iconic structure, but not so many from within.

3) Passerelle de Rochemaure over the Rhône River: The bridge was constructed in the mid-19th century but was mostly destroyed in WWII. Although it was restored after the war, it probed to be too narrow for modern traffic and was eventually reconstructed as a bike and pedestrian bridge over the Rhône. What makes it really interesting is that it actually sways as you go over it - and when the Mistral wind is whipping down the Rhône valley, it's downright spooky.

grandmaR

there's a building in Dallas that I think is an upsidedown pyramid but I haven't got a photo of it. In London there is a building that is called the Gerkin which is like a mirrored pickle. And the city hall of London is called something like Oyster on a Half Shell. And in Lyon the aquarium is really different. That's what I expected to see here.

bfluegie

After looking through every photo I have taken with every digital camera I have ever had I came to the conclusion that I don’t take pictures of buildings very often. I finally ended up with these examples from my trip to Norway a few years ago. I hoped to take something new (like maybe the Indianapolis Children's Museum complete with dinosaurs bursting out of the building) but lingering covid kept me in. I’m fine now, but the tests keep saying “positive”.
1. Sod roofed “building” near Isegran fort, Fredrikstad Norway

2. Visitor information and gift shop, Gudvangen Norway
   

3. Oslo Opera House, Oslo Norway (as the visitnorway.com web page for this building states: “Please walk on the roof”)
   

@grandmaR, not for the challenge, but I do have a picture of the Gherkin peeking over the tower of London. While I liked the juxtaposition, I have to say that riding around in the upper deck of one of the red tour busses makes composition challenging.

Cavalier

Thanks for the entries, Barbara. I'm glad you're feeling better, but I do hope your test is positive on the next try!

sapphire73

Fun to see these entries. We just returned from a long trip, so I had to pass on this mini. But I just checked back to see how it is coming along.

Cavalier

@sapphire73 There's still time to submit your entries!

Hope you had a good trip.

sapphire73

Thanks, but we just got in the door and I haven't even unpacked yet. And yes, it was a good trip.

Cavalier

This Mini Challenge is now closed. Thanks to everyone that contributed. I'll have the results up either later tonite or tomorrow.