This giant crab will be a Chinese ecology center

While the U.S. sports some totally bizarre architecture, China is the unofficial world leader in weird buildings (especially since they’ve been officially banned). The country’s latest bonkers building is an enormous crab on the shore of Yangcheng Lake in the Jiangsu Province.

The three-story building was inspired by the lake’s most famous inhabitants: Chinese mitten crabs. The palm-sized crustaceans have hairy, white-tipped claws (hence the “mitten” name) and are a Chinese delicacy during the autumn months. The architectural version is rather large, rising more than 52 feet high and measuring roughly 250 feet long.

The building was designed to withstand typhoons and strong storm winds. It’s clad primarily in painted stainless steel, though several rows of windows let in some natural light. The interior is still being completed but will open as an ecology center in the latter half of 2018.

Via: ArchDaily