6. Neuschwanstein Castle

Germany

This castle, familiar to many of wallpaper for your desktop and postcards, fits perfectly into the surrounding picturesque landscape and looks like a fairy tale come. However, its construction has caused a scandal in society. Phlegmatic Bavarians, which is not easy to ruffle seriously doubted that their king has kept his mind.

The medieval castle was built to protect the suzerain, his family and servants, from enemy attacks. But Noyshvanshteyn was not built in the Middle Ages and in the XIX century, in 1869. And the goal of King Ludwig II of Bavaria pursued very different. He dreamed of a fairy-tale palace, which was able to spend time in solitude. For the construction of the King chose a secluded spot on the alpine hill (at an altitude of 6000 feet), where previously there were two fortresses. Amazing architecture of the castle was dictated by the love of Ludwig to the times of knights and operas, including Wagner, whom the king has friendly relations. Moreover, one of the halls of the palace, the Hall of the singer, as if a backdrop for Wagner's opera "Parsifal" - many wall paintings illustrate the theme of the legend of Parzival.

The luxurious interior of the castle reflects the eccentric nature of King Ludwig .  The interior of the castle play a major role illustrations for Wagner and ancient Germanic legends .  Swan motif can be seen in the architecture and artistic decorations of the castle .  Swan - heraldic bird strange kind of graphs Schwangau sort successor who considers himself the father of Ludwig Maximilian II of Bavaria .  Ludwig was so fascinated by the construction of the castle, which is quite abandoned public affairs .  After moving to the unfinished castle he demanded tax increases - the Treasury was not inexhaustible, and for the completion of the needed money .  It is said that Ludwig even planned a bank robbery Rothschild in Frankfurt .  Eventually, when the pressure of creditors and the popular indignation reached a peak, the king moved to the fully Noyshvanshteyn completely pulled away from running the country, preferring the life of a hermit .  In 1886, it would deprive the throne and declare crazy, but this prevented the death of Ludwig - his body was found in a lake under mysterious circumstances .  Contrary to the wishes of the king after his death Noyshvanshteyn not razed to the ground .  Today it is the most visited castle in Germany .

5. House by Frank O. Gehry

Santa Monica, USA

In 1978, architect Frank O .  Gary rebuilt house bought for him and his wife .  From an ordinary two-storey cottage in a quiet suburb of Santa Monica, California, Gehry has made a masterpiece of architectural postmodernism .  "It was an unremarkable house, though not devoid of the charm of the bourgeois, and I was fascinated by the idea of ​​how to make it more significant .  I decided to create around him a sort of envelope, "- said later Gehry .  So he did .  He surrounded the house with sheets oddly arched iron fence of chains .  As expected, the neighbors protested .  One of them said that the suit is a disgrace to his own house simply indecent, "If he was a poet, certainly would mottle some bawdy poems" .  But Gehry explained that just found an unexpected use of materials familiar from childhood, and turn an ordinary home into a work of art .  Architect continued to work on the cottage, but the neighbors were irreconcilable and even fired a gun in the house .  Subsequently House Gehry won several national architectural awards and is today considered a major local landmark that attracts thousands of tourists .