6 animal-shaped architectural wonders

Nature has long been a source of inspiration for architects and designers, whether they aim to blend a building into its environment or use only local materials during construction. The process generally emphasizes plants and landscapes, but the growing interest in <a href="http://inhabitat.com/biomimicry/">biomimicry</a> is drawing developers to fauna as well as flora. From the familiar to the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/5-bioluminescent-species-that-light-up-the-world/">fantastic</a>, here are six architectural projects that look like living creatures.

Sea shells have influenced the form of buildings in <a title="Organic Japanese shell house" href="http://inhabitat.com/organic-japanese-shell-residence-wraps-around-a-centenarian-fir-tree/">Japan</a>, <a title="shell pavilions Monte Carlo" href="http://inhabitat.com/richard-martinet-of-affine-design-designs-five-shell-like-pavilions-in-monte-carlo/">Monte Carlo</a>, and Mexico, to name a few. This nautilus-shaped home in Mexico City, imagined by <a title="Javier Senosiain Organic Architecture" href="http://organicarchitecture.weebly.com/">Javier Senosiain</a>, was inspired by <a title="Gaudi" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=Gaudi">Gaudi</a> and <a title="Frank Lloyd Wright" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=Frank+Lloyd+Wright">Frank Lloyd Wright</a> and features a stained glass door, a spiral staircase built over a living floor, and an artificial stream. Home sweet home is right.

The <a href="http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?cat=6">Institute for Computational Design (ICD)</a> and the <a href="http://www.itke.uni-stuttgart.de/">Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE)</a> at the University of Stuttgart have robotically produced a series of research pavilions that explore the limits of <a title="biomimicry" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=biomimicry">biomimicry</a>. In 2014, the campus debuted a glass-and-carbon-fiber structure inspired by beetles. The animal’s geometric, double-layered shell proved to be an ideal model for efficient construction.

Visionary designer <a title="Vincent Callebaut " href="http://vincent.callebaut.org/">Vincent Callebaut </a>has a thing for fantastical forms. Having already based the concept for a New York vertical garden on a <a title="Vincent Callebaut dragonfly" href="http://inhabitat.com/dragonfly-urban-agriculture-concept-for-ny/">dragonfly</a>, he then revealed plans for a whale-shaped garden that would float through the world’s rivers, purifying the water as it swims. The self-sufficient ecosystem runs off solar panels and <a title="hydro turbines" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=hydro+turbines">hydro turbines</a> and brims with gardens built for <a title="biofiltration" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=biofiltration">biofiltration</a>.

At the center of a new dining and shopping promenade in Zhuhai, China, <a title="RMJM" href="http://www.rmjm.com/">RMJM</a> designed a 330-foot tower that looks like a giant fish jumping out of the Pearl River Delta. Perforated aluminum panels sheath the building in a scale-like skin, protecting the structure from the sun. The jumping fish shape symbolizes the rapid growth and prosperity of Zhuhai. From the top-floor observation deck, visitors can count their fortunes.

It’s fitting that a prehistory museum would be inspired by an ancient slithering creature such as the snake. But the chrome-coated attraction is also futuristic, featuring double wall glazing that regulates heating and cooling and a reflective skin that mirrors the landscape of the Jeongok district. At night, light shines through the serpent’s metal pores.

Outside-the-box architecture brought us this mythical bridge over Vietnam’s Han River. Not only is the steel bridge the longest dragon-shaped bridge in the world (at 545 feet), it’s also covered in 2,500 LED lights, so the fictional creature glows while occasionally spitting water and breathing fire.

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