What’s in a design? Plenty — and we’re not just talking of clothes, handbags, and accessories here. Design, wherever it may be found, can range from the ridiculous to the sublime and elicit a wide range of responses from “Eew” to “Aaah” and even “Get out of here!”

Today, let’s take a break from suits, sunglasses, and handbags and take a look at one other area where design impresses, stuns, or brings about guffaws or giggles. Here are five of the most creative buildings in the world.

1. China’s The Piano House

This building gives new meaning to the phrase, “passionate about music.” Recently built in the An Hui Province, The Piano House comes with an escalator which is located inside the violin.

2. Czech Republic’s The Dancing House

Who says houses can’t dance? This one can, and from the looks of it, it can do plenty of gyrating, too. Designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunic and Canadian architect Frank Gehry, this unusually designed building had once upon a time been very, very controversial. Today, it sits quietly in downtown Prague, housing several multi-national firms and making life a living hell for the very same tenants who have to deal with the building’s forced air circulation.

Ah yes, groovin’ and movin’, while good for the physique, does not one happy building air circulation make.

3. The U.S’ Kansas City Library

Just how far could you take your love for books? Very, very far and all the way to a building’s facade, even. Meet the Kansas City Library, the only library in the world with a library car-park exterior that showcases - you guessed it - books. These are not just any books, mind you. They were not randomly picked. Rather, the residents of Kansas City chose them with care, picking out the ones that best represented their city.

4. The Netherlands’ Blue Building

Do you love blue? Do you love it so much you wish you could surround yourself with the color? Head for the Netherlands’ Blue Building, then. Not only can you wallow in feeling blue inside the Blue Building, you literally will be surrounded by blue - miles upon miles of it.

Before the blue makeover, the building had been one of the most unseen blocks in the Rotterdam. A layer of blue paint after, it went from wallflower to most photographed. Ah yes, blue is not only the color for sadness, it can also be the perfect vehicle for drama.

5. Thailand’s Robot Building

If you want to show the computerization of banking, would you go as far as making a robot out of your building? Architect Sumet Jumsai certainly would - and in fact, did. Meet the Robot Building, located in Bangkok’s Sathorn business district. This building is the headquarters of the United Overseas Bank’s Bangkok operations.

Completed in 1986, the building comes with antennae, eyes, and walls that look like they are progressively receding. It’s one of Bangkok’s last examples of modern architecture and has long since gained positive international attention.