4 Buildings That Defy the Laws of Gravity

4

CCTV Headquarters

The CCTV headquarters is home to one of China's largest television broadcasters. Judging from the size of the place, we're assuming it's also where they keep their political dissidents.

Getty

For the record, that massive overhanging part with nothing underneath it is as tall as most skyscrapers are wide. The loop design allows a person to walk through the 44-story building in a complete circle. Relax, that only sounds like something you have no interest in doing. You'll probably change your mind once you get a look at the view.

archello.com

Like we said, something you probably have no interest in doing.

3

WoZoCo Apartments

When the WoZoCo apartments were built in Amsterdam, 100 units were planned, but only 87 would meet regulations without expanding the building outward. So, naturally, they had to do this:

LeonL

Surely they didn't just decide to slap those 13 extra apartments onto the side of the building for no reason, right? There was some kind of cost benefit or something, perhaps?

Nope, it's actually more expensive to do it this way, so they had to trim costs elsewhere, because no corner is too good to be cut if the end game is an apartment that levitates off the ground like David Blaine entertaining a pack of tourists.

thewoodfile

2

Astra Tower

Ancient Egyptians knew that a building with a strong base would stand for a very long time, and they have the pyramids to prove it. Germany, on the other hand, knows that if your building has a brewery in it, you can pretty much get away with anything and the public will just chalk it up to excessive drunkenness.

Jan Krutisch

That can be the only possible explanation for the building you see above. It was called the Astra Tower, and it used to house the brewery that, fittingly, made Astra beer. But that operation eventually moved to a new building, leaving the Astra Tower no other use than forcing nearby residents to live in constant fear of being crushed to death by one of the most awkwardly designed buildings ever. It was demolished in 2005 and replaced with, you know, a normal a building. They got rid of the brewery, too.

In other words, you have absolutely no reason to ever visit Astra Tower.

1

Ontario College of Art and Design

The Ontario College of Art and Design had problems. For starters, they needed a bigger building. On top of that, they're a college of art, and the Internet exists now. Accepted standards of conduct under those circumstances dictate that you must build the most audacious-looking structure imaginable:

Simon Bentley

As you can see, they nailed it. That's the new and improved Ontario College of Art and Design, a two-story structure erected in the exact spot where the old building still stands. The two sections are connected by an elevator and a shared fear that the upper level will someday overpower the comically thin stilts that support it, sending it crashing into the building below and killing everybody.

But damn if it won't look "funky" doing it.