Architectural Wonder or Curiosity: Wacky Buildings in China

As part of a sports complex in Anhui province's
Huainan City is the "Ping Pong" Hotel.
(Rendering Huainan Municipal Bureau of Sports)

Steering clear of anything traditional, building designers in China continue to push architecture beyond the imagination. In 2008 when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics, the world gazed upon some of these achievements in the "bird's nest" Olympic stadium and the glowing Water Cube swimming venue. New buildings constructed today and on the drawing boards will help to bring attention to China's design aesthetics for years to come. Take a look at these unusual buildings from an Inman News report.

The "Ping Pong" Hotel is planned as part of $260 million sports complex spread over 165 acres aimed for completion in 2016. The $46 million 500-foot hotel is shaped like a giant ping-pong racket and will include a viewing deck in the handle.

The sports complex itself will include buildings shaped like a volleyball (to house a swimming pool), a soccer ball, basketball and an American football.

Overview of the planned sports complex in Anhui province.
(Rendering Huainan Municipal Bureau of Sports)

Above are two views of the "Piano House".
(photos: Xinhuanet)

Also in Huainan province is the "Piano House" shaped like an open grand piano and a giant glass violin resting against its side. The violin houses an escalator. Built in 2007, the building has been used as a performance and practice venue and an exhibition space.

Above are renderings of the planned Comics and Animation Museum in
the Zhjiang province, 111 miles southwest of Shanghai.
(Photos: MVRDV Architectural)

Probably the most striking of these new architectural wonders is the plans for the Comics and Animation Museum. To be built in Zhejiang province, location of the International Comic and Animation Festival, the museum will include eight interlocking buildings shakes like speech bubbles. Within the bubbles will be a roof terrace restaurant, comic library and three cinemas. The museum is part of the 33-acre Comic and Animation Centre which begins construction in 2012.

Renderings of the Shenzhen Bao'an International Terminal 3.
(photos: ARUP Engineering)

Less odd but still unusual is the Shenzen Bao'an International Airport Terminal 3 which is shaped like an airplane. Located in the Guangdong province, along the South China Sea, the new terminal is currently under construction and should increase passenger traffic at the airport from 26.7 million to 45 million per year.

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