World's Weird Towers

Zizkov Television Tower, Prague
Not even Orwell could come up with something as disturbing as this. The 216-metre-tall broadcasting needle was undeniably striking when it opened in 1992, its three metallic pillars supporting nine pod-like protuberances and three decks for transmitting equipment. But when local artist David Cerny attached a bevy of faceless baby sculptures to the tower's pillars in 2000, it apparently caused quite a stir. Turns out residents of the Czech capital must be an edgy bunch, as many clamoured for the babies to be returned after they were removed in 2001. So back up they went, and to this day they send shivers up the spines of sightseers.





Puffer fish tower, China
Maybe it's time to replace the idiom 'a white elephant' with the more topical 'a copper puffer fish.' After all, the 15-storey viewing tower (pictured) that opened late last year on an island in Yangzhong county has become emblematic of the controversy surrounding China's bizarre and extravagant state investments. Comprised of 8,920 copper plates, the fishy tower is clearly bizarre. But since one of China's most indebted regions paid nearly USD $12 million to build it, 'extravagant' might be better replaced with 'idiotic.'





Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea
Oh, those heady days in 1987 when construction began on what would have been the world's tallest hotel. Fast-forward 26 years, and this 105-storey pyramid-shaped skyscraper still has yet to open in the capital of an impoverished totalitarian state, owing to repeated construction delays and funding shortfalls. Indeed, spending USD $750 million on a hotel at a time when much of North Korea's population is starving — and tourism isn't exactly booming — makes the Ryugyong look like one of the biggest copper puffer fishes (a.k.a. white elephants) of all time.





Corn water tower, Rochester, Minnesota
This list could be comprised solely of water towers that have been fashioned to resemble items for which their locations are famous. Of the dozens of fine examples around the world (but mainly in the United States), the most perfectly rendered one rises above a Seneca Foods processing plant in Rochester, Minnesota (where they get through a lot of sweetcorn). The 190,000 litre tank is about 20 metres high and shaped exactly like an ear of corn, and is even illuminated at night by a ring of spotlights.





Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
The 840-year-old bell tower that rises nearly 56 metres above Pisa's cathedral square gets a fair amount of attention thanks to its tiered Romanesque arches, white marble cladding and seven enormous bells. But would more than a million people visit the structure each year if it was not tilted four degrees to the southeast? It's hardly surprising that the true identity of the tower's architect is in dispute — who would want to admit to building on ground that's too soft on one side to support the structure's weight? Fact is, the 'leaning' in its name represents its biggest selling point, making the tower not just strange to behold, but also a monument to incompetence.





Pigeon towers, Libya, Iran and Egypt

Dotted across the landscape in Iran, Egypt and - as in this picture from Gaddafi's compound in 2011 - Libya, are these elegant, mysterious mud-brick structures dotted with a complex series of holes and wooden perches. The purpose of these marvellous and often ancient castles? To house pigeons. The best examples are found in Iran, where in the 16th and 17th century the creatures now commonly referred to as 'rats with wings' were a valuable resource, due to the usefulness of their droppings as a natural fertilizer. The towers were constructed in order to harvest nature's bounty.





Nikolai Sutyagin's house, Arkhangelsk, Russia

Forget Orwell — this is more like something Tim Burton would concoct. This 13-storey hodgepodge of two-by-fours and shingles looms over the city of Arkhangelsk in Russia's far northwest, and is thought to be the world's tallest wooden house. Built by one-time gangster Nikolai Sutyagin over the course of 15 years , the structure looks like something out of Edward Scissorhands. But neighbours are not amused: The place is apparently falling down — what with its owner being jailed for racketeering — and the city is threatening to demolish what it deems to be a fire hazard.





Klimwand Climbing Tower, Wunderland Kalkar, Germany
When asked about their weekends, visitors to this amusement park north of Dusseldorf can offer a unique reply: 'Oh, we spent some of Saturday in and around the cooling tower of a former nuclear power station.' This would have been an extremely bad idea 20 years ago — when the plant was operational — but these days it looks like a lot of fun, what with the colourful climbing wall on the outside of the tower and the rotating swing ride that occupies its interior. The park assures visitors that no radiation remains.




From: http://ph.msn.com/