This building is most definitely something – namely the world’s biggest pineapple building found in Bathurst, South Africa.
The Big Pineapple is described as one of the loveliest yet ‘weirdest’ buildings in Africa, and its interesting structure measures 16.7 metres tall, making it taller than the building it was actually inspired by.
Construction of the building began in 1990, and it was completed and opened to the public a year later. It was built in honour of the fruit’s role in the region’s agricultural economy and how it helped early farms in the area.
The building does sit on an actual working farm called Summerhill, which has an experimental pineapple field full of fruits of various shapes and sizes. Visitors are not allowed to eat the fruit and buy some great produce inside the Big Pineapple.
The four-storey building is home to a gift store which sells pineapple juice, jams, chutneys, and ice lollies, as well as pineapple-theme souvenirs such as tea towels, bags, t-shirts, and hats.
There is also a museum dedicated to the fruit, a room that presents a movie about the history of the fruit and an observation deck where you can view the farmlands on the upper floors.
Visitors are free to take pictures outside the building and enter the gift shop but to access the other floors it costs R25 per person, equivalent to £1.10.
A trip to the building also makes a great family fun day as children can meet the Big Pineapple’s mascot, and visitors can even book a tractor ride through the pineapple fields.
The Big Pineapple isn’t South Africa’s only interesting building; it is also home to one shaped like a shoe.
Located in the small town of Ohrigstad, The Shoe was built in 1990 by entrepreneur and artist Ron Van Zyl. Today, it is a museum which people can visit; it also has a guest house, restaurant, pool, bar and campsite.
To top it all off site of The Shoe also has an underground chapel where people can get actually get married.