We may still be a long way from putting a human colony on Mars, but that doesn’t mean we can’t live like spacemen here on Earth. These 18 trippy buildings — all built since 2000 — look like they’re from another world entirely.
The City Hall of Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, 2002. Architect: Erick Van Egeraat.
Photo: Christian Richters
The Selfridges store, Birmingham, UK, 2003. Architects: Future Systems.
Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 2003. Architect: Frank Gehry.
Photo: David McNew/Getty Images
Phaeno Science Center, Wolfsburg, Germany, 2005. Architect: Zaha Hadid.
Photo: Joe Nadin
The National Theatre, Beijing, China, 2007. Architect: Paul Andreu.
Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
The Worrell, Weekes and Walcott stand at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, 2007.
Photo: Jenni Konrad/Tom Hodgkinson
The “Mobile Art” exhibition pavilion in Hong Kong, 2008. Architect: Zaha Hadid.
Photo: Kin Cheung/AP
The Beijing National Stadium known as the “Bird’s Nest”, Beijing, China, 2008. Architects: Herzog & de Meuron.
Photo: Bullit Marquez/AP
The Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, Germany, 2009. Architects: Delugan Meissl Associated Architects
Photo: Thomas Kienzle/AP
The Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China, 2010. Architect: Zaha Hadid.
Photo: Lian Chang
The Flame Towers in Baku, Azerbaijan, 2012. Architects: Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.
Photo: Nigel Treblin/dapd
The new Festival Hall in Erl , Austria, 2012. Architects: Delugan Meissl Associated Architects.
Photo: Kerstin Joensson/dapd/AP
The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, 2012. Architect: Zaha Hadid
Photo: Carlos Osorio/AP
Galaxy Soho, Beijing, China, 2012. Architect: Zaha Hadid.
Photo: Ningbo Ningbo
The EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2012. Architect: Delugan Meissl Associated Architects.
Photo: Joe Nadin
Pierres Vives government department, Montpellier, France, 2012. Architect: Zaha Hadid.
Photo: Jean-Baptiste Maurice
The Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2012. Architect: Zaha Hadid.
Photo: Wikipedia
The Peoples Meeting Dome, Allinge, Bornholm, Denmark, 2012. Architects: Kristoffer Tejlgaard & Benny Jepsen.
Photo: Kristoffer Tejlgaard & Benny Jepsen