There are houses built purely to spite the neighbors, and then there are houses that take on the heroic goal of vexing entire countries. Co.Design's primer on the micronation—small communities that declare themselves independent of their governments, usually without the cheeriest of outcomes—tells the story of the short-lived Republic of Kugelmugel, which was founded in 1984, when artist Edwin Lipburger decided to create a spherical home in the Austrian countryside that looks like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Disputes arose between Lipburger and building inspectors, and eventually escalated to the point where he attempted to secede from Austria and rename his address "Anti-Fascism Square."
The real trouble arose when Lipburger stopped paying taxes and started printing his own stamps (which Co.Design assures us "is pretty much the first thing every micronation president does"). Only an official pardon from Austrian president Rudolf Kirchschläger kept him from going to prison. Austrian officials later relocated the Lipburger's home to to Vienna's Prater park, where it still serves as a popular tourist destination. But the idea of the spherical pseudo-nation lives on, at least in renderings; some architects think they might be the answer to climate change.
· The Fascinating Design Stories Of 5 Unrecognized Micronations [Co.Design]
· All Vienna coverage [Curbed National]