The snake shape is seen in many architectural structures. It can provide strength as in snake-shaped walls, it can allow the façade of a building to extend in many directions or it can be chosen for purely aesthetic reasons.
At the University of Virginia, snake-shaped walls (wrinkled curved walls) extend the length of the main lawn at the University of Virginia and frame both sides of the rotunda. It is one of many structures created by Thomas Jefferson that combines aesthetics with practicality. The sinusoidal trajectory of the wall provides tilt protection, allowing the wall to be only one brick thick.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Baker House dormitory is snake-shaped, with most rooms overlooking the Charles River, and many rooms are wedge-shaped.
In San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Italy, designed by Francesco Borromini, is a snake-like façade built towards the end of Borromini’s life (1588 – 1593). The concave and convex façade of the church is unclassically undulating. Tall Corinthian columns stand on pedestals and support the main entablature; they define the basic structure of the two storeys and the tripartite division of the aisles. Between the columns, smaller entablature columns are woven behind the main columns and in turn frame many of the architectural features of the church.
London’s Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens parks contain The Serpentine, a lake that spans both parks. It gets its name from its snake-shaped, curved shape. The central bridge divides the lake into two parts and defines the boundaries between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.