This Bold New Chinese Media Building Is a Penis-Shaped Skyscraper That Shoots Fireworks
The southeastern Chinese province of Guangxi recently unveiled the Guangxi New Media Center (above), a skyscraper that, its designer says, is supposed to resemble the terraced rice paddies of the Chinese countryside. But anyone with eyes in their skull can see that it clearly resembles a penis with two prominent testicles at its base. If this weren’t brazen enough, at a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration this Monday, the building shot fireworks from its tip. Interestingly, it’s just the latest of several penis-shaped buildings from around the world, as you’ll soon see.
Here’s a video of the Guangxi New Media Center shooting fireworks from its tip:
Here are five other penis-shaped buildings from around the world:
Erected in 2013 by architect Zhou Qi, he claimed the building’s spherical form rising from its square base was inspired by the Chinese belief in a “round sky and square earth.” Uh-huh.
2. The Ypsilanti Water Tower in Michigan
Erected in 1890, this 147-foot water tower holds a 250,000-gallon steel tank and, according to local legend, will collapse if a virgin ever graduates from the nearby Eastern Michigan University. Locals refer to this building as “the brick dick.”
3. Torre Glòries in Barcelona, Spain
The 466-foot Torre Glòries building (once known as the Torre Agbar) is a 38-story office building unveiled by French architect Jean Nouvel in 2005. Though some locals refer to it as “the suppository,” Nouvel says its shape and LED lights on the side are supposed to represent a blowing geyser.
4. The Oriental Pearl TV & Radio Tower in Shanghai, China
We don’t actually think this building looks like any penis we’ve ever seen (not on Earth, anyway). But The New York Times once called it a “great phallic monster of truly monumental ugliness.” Way to body shame, NTY. We think it actually looks cool in a futuristic kind of way.
5. King Triton’s castle from The Little Mermaid
There’s a popular myth that a disgruntled Disney illustrator secretly drew a penis into the poster art of their 1989 animated musical The Little Mermaid, but it ain’t true. Rather, hysterical penis-obsessed adults spotted the phallic spire among the castle’s other phallic spires, and Disney removed it from the DVD cover art years later.
