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    Graz Art Museum, Graz, Austria

    Nicknamed "The Friendly Alien," the Graz Art Museum looks like an enormous, undulating blob -- or slug -- with a series of protruding arteries. It's in stark contrast to the neighborhood's Baroque architecture. The exterior skin is composed of blue acrylic panels that can be illuminated in patterns by a computerized system; the "arteries" are, in fact, windows.

    Built as part of the 2003 European Capital of Culture celebration and designed by London architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, the museum houses a collection of contemporary art.