12 Incredible Architectural Illusions

Warped Building Optical Illusion would be one twisted place to live, and just think about how you would never have to give directions again… who could miss a building like this? This building is yet another architectural masterpiece. It has actual live in apartments, so if you are searching for a new unique place to live.. here it is! (Link)

This photo shows a unique balcony facade illusion. A man and a woman appear to be standing outside on the balcony when in fact they are just drawn onto the wall of the building. There are also a number of vases that appear to be sitting on the window frames but they, too, are just drawn illusions. (Link)

A unusual building in the area of Colonia Juarez (Mexico City, Mexico) designed by Mexican architectural studio Agence Arquitectura and Movimiento Workshop, and inspired by currents Art Cintique (kinetic art) and Op Art (optical art).

The facade of a small building called Kiral consists of vertical and horizontal lines forming waves, which break the usual course of perception of the vertical plane. (Link)



How fun is this? Bâtiment (Building) is a mirrored installation by artist Leandro Erlich on display at Le 104 in Paris as part of their "In Perceptions" exhibition. The piece is clever in its simplicity: a massive building facade is constructed on the floor near a towering mirror giving anyone reflected the uncanny appearance of being weightless. Optical illusions are familiar territory for Erlich, whose pool installation appears to plunge air-breathing gallery patrons several feet underwater. (Link)

Is this really a sinking house, away on the horizon? Hardly possible, but yet it appears so. Can you guess how this optical illusion took place?

As you see, the first photo was taken under an angle, giving you the impression that the house is sinking, while in fact the camera was tilted to the right. :) (Link)

The Upside Down House from Trassenheide, Germany was built as an artistic project by Udiusz Golos and Sebastion Mikuciuk. Unlike most upside down houses this house isn't just a shell but fully furnished and completely upside down. It would be one trippy house to walk though. Also, be sure to check out this upside down statue. (Link)

House in Maryland, USA.

The 3D Lichtenstein House Optical Illusion plays with your eyes through an altered perception. What appears to be a normal house in the still pictures is actually made of three concave angles that appear to be coming towards you; this effect makes the house appear to be always popping out at you from any viewing angle.

(Link)

The café wall illusion, sometimes also called the Münsterberg illusion (Ashton Raggatt McDougall 2006), is an optical illusion produced by a black and white rectangular tessellation when the tiles are shifted in a zigzag pattern, as illustrated above. While the pattern seems to diverge towards the upper and lower right corners in the upper figure, the gray lines are actually parallel. Interestingly, the illusion greatly diminishes if black lines are used instead of gray. (Link)

Architectural Optical Illusion creates a pretty strange picture. This building is actually the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The first question you have to ask yourself is whether this planned. The curve in the tree is identical to the strange curvature of the building. (Link)

Odessa. House with only one wall. (Link)

This building mural, a trompe-l'oeil, is located in Georges V Ave. in Paris, France. Trompe-l'oeil is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects really exist, instead of being just two-dimensional paintings. The name is French for “trick the eye”, from tromper, to deceive, and l'oeil, the eye. (Link)