10 Buildings Made Famous by Their Spookiness
In preparation for Halloween tomorrow, we decided to take a look at 10 buildings that have been made famous for their spooky and seemingly sinister designs.
1. Kingdom Centre - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Completed in 2002 by Ellerbe Becket Omrania and Associates, the Kingdom Centre tower may look innocent during the day, but at night the glow from the skybridge looks like a vessel for evil.
2. Niagara Mohawk Building - Syracuse, New York
The large statue situated on this building may be intended to symbolize light, but the shadows it casts and it's bold presence can also be regarded as having a foreboding feel to it.
3. Tomorrow Square Building - Shanghai, China
Designed by John C. Portman Jr., the Tomorrow Square building features 36 floors of Marriott executive apartments and at the top of the building, a seemingly ominous section that could be used to launch a laser into the sky at any given moment.
4. Fuji TV Headquarters Building - Tokyo, Japan
With a giant orb suspended between two towers, it's hard not to imagine a villainous figure overlooking an operation from all directions inside of it. While it's highly unlikely that any villainy is taking place inside the Fuji TV headquarters, this building easily makes the list.
5. Sathorn Unique Skyscraper - Bangkok, Thailand
The Sathorn Unique has been abandoned since 1997 and appears to be slowly decomposing from the top down with the top floors already showing signs of rotting.
6. Torre Velsasca - Milan, Italy
Modelled after typical Italian medieval castles, the Torre Velsasca is a 1950's skyscraper that is part of the first generation of Italian modern architecture and was designed by the BBPR architectural partnership.
7. Ferrari World - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Even though the building is not immediately near water, the juxtaposition of the Ferarri World building to the surrounding landscape makes it appear as though a sea monster has climbed on the land and took residence.
8. Buzludzha Monument - Buzludzha, Bulgaria
Built on the peak by the Bulgarian communist regime, the House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party was designed by architect Georgi Stoilov and began construction in 1974. The monument commemorating the events of 1891, opened in 1981 but has since been condemned.
9. Philadelphia's City Hall - Philadelphia, USA
Designed by Scottish-born architect John McArthur, Jr., the building was completed in 1907 and features a 27-ton bronze statue of city founder William Penn on top. Though nothing is inherently scary about the building in daylight, at night when the clock is illuminated and there's some cloud cover, the atmosphere of the building shifts. All that appears to be missing are some bats flying around it for it to be classified as a haunted house.
10. Riverside Museum - Glasgow, UK
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and engineers Buro Happold, the Riverside Museum features a zig-zagging, zinc-clad roof which is meant to be replicating the relationship between the city and the river. The zigzaggin however, can also be seen as resembling an elevated heart rate - which looking at the ominous presence of this building that may be a more accurate representation.
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