Buildings That Won’t Behave (10 Photos)

October 20, 2026

By Vidar

Nine buildings and a ship that refuse to stand the normal way

A house front sits down on a London lawn, a ship is cut in half in the Thames and a cottage tips off the roof of a San Diego engineering building. Some of these are sculptures, some are murals and two are real buildings you can walk into.

More: Buildings That Look Like They’re From a Dream (8 Photos)

🧷 “Rock and Roll” — By Alex Chinneck in Milan, Italy 🇮🇹

A giant zipper ran down the corner of an old Milanese facade, with the top of the wall unzipped and folded back like fabric. The facade was a false front, built at Opificio 31 for Milan Design Week 2019 and shown there as IQOS World Revealed, a Philip Morris project. Chinneck lists the piece on his own site as Rock and Roll.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsIQOS World RevealedAlex Chinneck · 2019 · Via Tortona, MilanShown for six daysFacade 17 m widePolystyrene (builder says)1The old-looking Milanese facade was fake, pieced together from details of nearby streets down to graffitied shutters and aged plaster.Domus2Its builder reports the peeling corner was a three-tonne curved steel piece, with most of the rest CNC-milled polystyrene painted to look old.satis&fy20198 Aprdesignboom report, press-preview day (photos: Marc Wilmot)20199 AprOpening; Dezeen, Domus, Artribune201910 AprVenue photo of the wall zip inside201914 AprLast day of the show20265 JanVenue photo: plain facadeRead the full file →

More: Alex Chinneck’s Architectural Illusions (8 Photos)

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🏠 “A Week at the Knees” — By Alex Chinneck in London, UK 🇬🇧

A Georgian-style house front, green door and drainpipe included, bent at the knees and sat down on the grass of Charterhouse Square. Chinneck built it as a temporary piece for Clerkenwell Design Week in May 2025.

💡 Artist Fact: Behind the bricks is a frame of about 320 meters of repurposed steel, and the whole piece weighs about 12 tons. Chinneck first made a brick facade slide off a house in 2013 in Margate, with From the Knees of My Nose to the Belly of My Toes, which stayed up for about a year.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsA Week at the KneesAlex Chinneck · 2025 · Charterhouse Square, LondonAround 7,000 brick facesOnly 15 cm thickWalk-through arch1Chinneck says cut brick faces were bonded to stainless steel over a rolled-steel skeleton, then finished with lime pointing.Alex Chinneck in Londonist2Michelmersh records 4.6 tonnes of steel reused from the former American Embassy in London for the sculpture’s frame.Michelmersh202520 MayOpening-day artist interview20254 JunianVisits walks beneath the arch20256 JunPhoto taken: front view20256 JunPhoto taken: side view202519 AugReport: display ended in early July20269 FebRetrospective, not a new sightingRead the full file →

📷 Photo and cover crop: Matt Brown / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

More: Alex Chinneck’s Architectural Illusions (8 Photos)

🔗 Follow Alex Chinneck on Instagram

〰️ “Krzywy Domek (Crooked House)” — By Szotyńscy & Zaleski in Sopot, Poland 🇵🇱

On Monte Cassino Street, the front of a shopping center bends and sags as if the whole building had melted a little. It was built in 2004 to a design by Szotyńscy & Zaleski, inspired by the fairy-tale illustrations of Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg. It holds about 4,000 square meters of shops, restaurants, bars and offices.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsKrzywy DomekSzotyńscy & Zaleski · 2004 · Sopot, PolandShopping & office buildingSzancer & Dahlberg drawings4,000 m² (In Your Pocket)1The owner says the architects drew on drawings by Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg and designs by Antoni Gaudí.Krzywy Domek (owner’s site)2Its roof of blue-green enamelled shingles is reportedly meant to suggest a dragon, according to In Your Pocket.In Your Pocket2011AugGoogle Street View imagery20153 AugIn Your Pocket city guide201728 NovPhotographed at dusk20242 OctArchitectureLab feature20257 DecNational Geographic Polska202621 SepNew ground-floor concept announcedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Аимаина хикари / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

More: 6 Real Buildings That Look Impossible

🙃 “Upside-Down House” — By Daniel Czapiewski in Szymbark, Poland 🇵🇱

This wooden house stands on its roof, with its foundations in the air. The businessman Daniel Czapiewski designed it, and it was finished in 2007 as a statement about the uncertainty of life in post-communist Poland.

💡 History Fact: Czapiewski’s company usually builds a house in about three weeks, but this one took 114 days because the workers were disoriented by the angles of the walls. Inside, it is furnished as a home would have been in the communist era.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsUpside-Down HouseDaniel Czapiewski · 2007 · Szymbark, PolandDom do góry nogamiCEPR, SzymbarkOpened 12 May 20071Inside, the armchairs, sofas and even the television hang from the ceiling.Kartuzy.info2Czapiewski’s company reportedly took 114 days to build it, instead of the usual three weeks.Transparent Language200710 MayOpening announced for 12 May200714 MayLocal report on the opening200824 JulOur photo (camera date)201017 NovBlog on the 114-day build201327 MayPhoto on Wikimedia Commons20133 SepVisitor’s account with photos201416 JunPhoto on Panoramio201524 MayPhoto on Wikimedia Commons20181 SepIIBEC article202027 OctDesigning Buildings profileRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Polimerek / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

More: 6 Real Buildings That Look Impossible

📦 “Home Sweet Home” — By Nego in Torrellas, Spain 🇪🇸

Nego painted the end wall of a house as a cardboard box, with a ginger cat tearing its way out through the side. It won second prize in the village’s 2017 street art contest, the II Concurso Arte en la Calle de Torrellas, and Heraldo de Aragón reported it under the title Home Sweet Home.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsHome Sweet HomeNego · 2017 · Torrellas, SpainMural contest finalistResidents voted the prizes1Torrellas received 14 projects for its 2017 contest; the council picked three artists to paint facades lent by residents.Heraldo de Aragón2Heraldo de Aragón named Nego, of Salamanca, a finalist with “Home sweet home”.Heraldo de Aragón201722 JulContest results · Heraldo de Aragón201825 MarPhotographed (camera date), published 20192024AprIn place on Google Street ViewRead the full file →

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🔗 Visit Nego’s official website

🪞 “Dalston House” — By Leandro Erlich in London, UK 🇬🇧

The front of a three-story terraced house lay flat on the ground on Ashwin Street in Dalston, under a huge mirror set at 45 degrees. Visitors lay down on it, and in the mirror they seemed to hang from window ledges and climb the walls.

💡 Nerd Fact: The Barbican commissioned it for the London Festival of Architecture 2013, presented with OTO Projects. It stood on an empty lot at 1–7 Ashwin Street and was only up from June 26 to August 4 that year.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDalston HouseLeandro Erlich · 2013 · Dalston, LondonBarbican commission45-degree mirror1–7 Ashwin Street1A Victorian terraced house facade lay flat on the ground, with mirrors overhead making visitors appear to stand on or scale it.Public Art Online2The Ashwin Street lot had stood largely vacant since it was bombed in the Second World War.Dezeen201326 JunOpening-day report · Londonist201326 JunOpening report · Dezeen20131 JulListing with dates · Public Art Online2013JulPhotographed by Cmglee20134 AugAnnounced last day of the showRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Cmglee / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🏘️ “Vizinhanças” — By Francisco Fonseca in Ôlas, Portugal 🇵🇹

One building, painted to look like a whole village stacked on top of itself: tiled roofs, balconies, doors and little windows, floor after floor. Fonseca painted it for the 2025 Douro Street Art Festival in São João da Pesqueira, and the municipality lists it as Vizinhanças (Neighborhoods).

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsParedes do DouroFrancisco Fonseca · 2025 · Ôlas, PortugalDouro Street Art FestivalSponsor: I LOVE DOURO1Google Street View from September 2025 shows the same building still bare, before Fonseca painted it.Google Street View, Sep 20252The municipality says the mural draws on traditional Alto Douro architecture and the identity of Douro villages.São João da Pesqueira municipality2025SepStreet View: the wall still bare202518 OctFinished, per the artist’s record20257 NovFrancis.co among festival nominees202613 FebListed on the municipal art routeRead the full file →

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🔗 Follow Francisco Fonseca on Instagram

⭐ “Fallen Star” — By Do Ho Suh in San Diego, USA 🇺🇸

A small blue house hangs off the roof of Jacobs Hall at UC San Diego, seven stories up, as if it had dropped from the sky and landed askew. It was lifted into place in November 2011 and opened in June 2012 as part of the Stuart Collection.

💡 Nerd Fact: The house is furnished inside, and its floor slopes about 5 degrees. Suh based it on a New England cottage he knew from his neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, at about 75 percent of its size.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsFallen StarDo Ho Suh · 2012 · UC San Diego, San DiegoStuart CollectionSeven stories up70,000 lb (university)1The cottage was built on the ground in front of Jacobs Hall and raised to the roof on 15 November 2011.Stuart Collection2According to UC San Diego, the house weighs 70,000 pounds and is a three-quarter-sized version of a small house in Providence, Rhode Island.UC San Diego Today201115 NovRaised to the roof · Stuart Collection201231 MayOpening announced · UC San Diego20127 JunOpens to the public201230 JunHouzz tours house and garden20236 JulVisitor: closed for maintenance202329 DecPhotographed by Doglover41Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Doglover41 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

🔄 “Turning the Place Over” — By Richard Wilson in Liverpool, UK 🇬🇧

Wilson cut an oval about 8 meters (26 feet) across out of the front of the former Yates’s Wine Lodge on Moorfields and set it turning, so the wall kept rolling out of the building and back in. It ran from June 2007 to January 2011, in the lead-up to Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTurning the Place OverRichard Wilson · 2007 · Moorfields, LiverpoolRotating facade cutFormer Yates’s Wine LodgeLiverpool Biennial1The oval turned on an angled spindle and was flush with the facade at only one point in each rotation.Richard Wilson’s website2Liverpool Biennial records it launched on 20 June 2007 and closed on 8 January 2011.Liverpool Biennial200720 JunLaunched · Liverpool Biennial200721 JunPhotographed turning by alan fairweather200726 JunPhotographed by S Parish200817 NovOur photo uploaded to Commons (upload date)200924 JanPhotographed by Mr M Evison201027 SepPhotographed by Rept0n1x20118 JanClosed · Liverpool Biennial201219 AprPlanned restart cancelled2018AugFound still and flush · visit recalled in 202220252 SepOnly the elliptical mark remainsRead the full file →

📷 Photo: John Bradley (Irate) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

🚢 “A Slice of Reality” — By Richard Wilson in London, UK 🇬🇧

Off the Greenwich Peninsula, a vertical slice of the sand dredger Arco Trent stands in the Thames, commissioned for the Millennium. The rest of the ship was scrapped. The piece is now part of The Line, London’s public art walk.

💡 Nerd Fact: The cut leaves parts of the crew’s living quarters exposed, down to a pool table.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsA Slice of RealityRichard Wilson · 2000 · Greenwich Peninsula, LondonArco Trent sand dredger1/8th of a shipMillennium commission1Wilson cut a one-eighth vertical slice from the sand dredger Arco Trent, exposing its living quarters and engine room.The Line2In 2021 Artangel’s Sonic Ray beamed Longplayer by light across the Thames to a temporary listening post aboard the sculpture.Artangel2000Commissioned for the millennium · The Line201819 MayOur photo, from the river2021AprGoogle Street View from the path202130 SepSonic Ray listening post opens · Artangel202414 FebPhotographed by Gareth James2024REVEIL live sound stream from the ship20258 JanPhotographed by DS PughMore photos2025 Seen from the Thames Path, January 2025Photo: DS Pugh / Geograph Britain and Ireland (CC BY-SA 2.0)Read the full file →