Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as adv
Elephant of the Bastille, 1813–1846 Paris
Engraving of design for the head of the Statue of Liberty (1879) in the Champ de Mars, Paris, including diagram showing plans for human access
Teapot Dome Service Station in Zillah, Washington
The Longaberger Company headquarters in Newark, Ohio
The Elephant of the Bastille was a monument in Paris which existed between 1813 and 1846. Originally conceived in 1808 by Napoleon I, the colossal statue was intended to be created out of bronze and p
Novelty architecture
…follies are purely ornamental (albeit also often in eccentric form). Although earlier examples exist, such as the planned but never completed Parisian Elephant of the Bastille, the style generally became popular in the United States, and later to some other countries, as travel by automobile increased in the 1930s. New York…
Siderograph (steel engraving) of the plaster full-scale model, by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, 1830
1844 drawing showing rats running around on the statue
An 1865 illustration by Gustave Brion for Les Misérables