Whatever the reason—kooky cartoon obsessions, a subconscious adoration for trousers, what have you—there seems to have no shortage of buildings dressed in, well, decidedly non-architectural attire. Take, for instance, the Longaberger Company headquarters in Newark, Ohio, which is housed in what appears to be a giant picnic basket. The building, which weighs about 8,000 tons and covers more than 180,000 square feet, is no subtle homage to the picnic wares the company sells, but rather a blatant, colossal replica of a Longaberger bestseller, the Medium Market Basket. Neat? Heck yeah. Practical? Not really, no. The handles alone weigh 150 tons and have to be heated to keep ice from forming. Below: more ridiculous buildings in disguise, including a pub dressed as a sea monster and China's now-infamous blue jeans tower.
? With its Gate to the East in Suzhou, China, architecture firm RMJM hoped to create a building as iconic as Paris's Arc de Triomphe, but instead have irritated lots of people by building what looks like $700M, 74-story pair of blue jeans.
? Also in China, land of architectural craziness it is, is this Piano House, masterminded a few years ago by Hefei University of Technology architecture students to house plans for the new Shannan district in Huainan City and bring notoriety to the region.
? This kindergarten "classroom" in the country of Georgia is carved from an old passenger jet—a Georgian Airways Yakovlev Yak-42 to be precise. The interior may be outfitted with standard preschool fare like tables, crayons, and toys, but the exterior looks every bit a regular airplane. The best part? The cockpit remained untouched, meaning there are some 1,500 buttons, nobs, and switches just waiting to be played with.
? For 2012's Art Basel Miami, NYC-based artist Desi Santiago teamed up with the arts nonprofit BOFFO to transform an oh-so-Miami South Beach hotel into Gypsy, the demonic, fortune-telling, inflatable pooch. Santiago painted the Art Deco façade of Lords South Beach Hotel an inky black and outfitted the building with inflatable taloned paws, a zig-zaggity tail, and a 25-foot head. Want to know more? Right this way.
? Speaking of dogs, have a look at the Dog Bark Park Inn, which opened in 2003 in the tiny western Idaho prairie town of Cottonwood. On the grounds: Toby, a 12-foot-tall beagle statue carved by artists (and Dog Park Park owners) Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin), and Sweet Willy, which houses a two-bedroom bed and breakfast that rents out for about $90 a night.
? It's hard to tell whether this chapel by New York-based architect Andrew MacNair looks more like a landed extra-terrestrial aircraft or a giant version of yesterday's breakfast, but either is a little unexpected in the South Korean highlands. The building, nestled in the rolling landscapes of Yangpyeong County near Seoul, features smooth, wood-paneled walls hand-crafted by U.S. boat builders.
? Edgy art collective Crazy Fools dressed up London's The Library pub, which in October 2009 masqueraded as a tentacled sea monster.
? Behold the home in Shanghai, China, that's disguised as a cutesy cartoon cottage. The homeowners, obvious Hello Kitty devotees, decked the pink exterior in kitty-shaped lattice. The interior? More pink walls, askew bows, and cat-head silhouettes. Now that's commitment.
· 180,000-Square-Foot Picnic Basket is Anything But Subtle [Curbed National]
· Oops! This Building Looks Like a Pair of Jeans [Curbed National]
· Non-Crazy Plane Conversion May Be the Coolest School Ever [Curbed National]
· A Bit Late for Halloween, Hotel Dresses as Demonic Dog [Curbed National]
· Order South Korea's Egg-Shaped Chapel Sunny Side Up [Curbed National]
· Here's a Building Masquerading as a Tentacled Sea Monster [Curbed National]
· Did This Plane Get Lost on the Way to the Nearest Airport? [Curbed National]
· Behold the Truly Incredible Beagle-Shaped Bed and Breakfast [Curbed National]
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