A Book or a Piece of Paper?
Much to the Internet's bemusement, on November 19 the People's Daily Online newspaper tweeted several peculiar images of an illusionary building erected in Harbin, the capital and largest city of the China's northeastern Heilongjiang province.
A five-storey building that gives the illusion of being as thin as a piece of paper is erected in Harbin, Heilongjiang province pic.twitter.com/GLDbd10BAO
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) 20 ноября 2017 г.
From the side, the five-storey building in grey and mint colors gives the impression that it's as thin as a piece of paper, but its front looks like a book.
Just several days before that, Chinese media published another bunch of photos, showing a weird hotel under construction in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Dubbed an "alien base," the building complex, covering an area of 105,000 square meters, is situated on a cliff edge in a mountainous area of Laoshan National Forest Park.
Look!ALIEN BASE!
— China Daily (@ChinaDailyUSA) 16 ноября 2017 г.
In fact, there are hotels under construction near a cliff in E China's Nanjing. pic.twitter.com/ZrrUmPpCtu
However, the design wasn't inspired by extraterrestrial forms of life — it is said to be inspired by a honeycomb.
'Burger Hotel'
Another hotel building took local media by storm due to its unusual location.
Would you expect to find a hotel between two steep cliffs? This 'Burger hotel' between cliffs becomes an online hit https://t.co/TaJPesntjG pic.twitter.com/EH73loLrFe
— China Daily (@ChinaDailyUSA) 3 ноября 2017 г.
The eight-storey building, constructed in 2016 in Yanchuan county, Shaanxi province, is literally squeezed in between two steep cliffs, which is why many internet users nicknamed it a "roujiamo", a Chinese burger.
Starship Enterprise
#China's #modern #architecture #DargonNet's #StarTreKEnterprise style HQ, #Fuzhou, #Beijing, #Zhangzhou #Yibin https://t.co/dQFSBomCV0 pic.twitter.com/7wMFeNG2VF
— Yicai Global 第一财经 (@yicaichina) 16 февраля 2017 г.
The Lotus Building
This truly impressive "flower" growing out of an artificial lake in Wujin, Jiangsu province, was designed by Australian architecture firm Studio 505.
Researching Chinese #architecture and The Lotus Building in #Wujin is possibly the most stunning thing I've seen in weeks 🌷 pic.twitter.com/tkda1NYLOf
— Tilly Daisy (@tillydaisym) 5 декабря 2016 г.
The entrance to the building, which is home to departments of the city's planning bureau, can be found beneath the lake. At night, it looks even more stunning, when beautiful colorful lights illuminate it.
Gigantic Piano and Violin
Piano House by Huainan Fangkai Decoration Project Co. pic.twitter.com/5giB3nyLto
— AlluringArchitecture (@ArchitectureAce) 5 ноября 2017 г.
Built in Huainan, Anhui Province, in 2007 by architectural students at Hefei University of Technology, this house is said to be used by city planners as a showroom. Its main piano-shaped part can be accessed via the glass violin, which serves as a staircase.