deputydog

times they are a changing

2009-09-09T14:39:00.000+01:00

hey,

it's been a while. i won't apologise for the absence again as it starts to get boring, but let it be known that this site isn't completely forgotten. at the moment i have too much other stuff to tinker with, hence the blog suffering, and won't be able to update that regularly. i'll be working on other things which i shall be sure to point you towards as and when they happen.

in the meantime, visit my new side-project and read some interesting letters. if you know of any other corkers, be sure to contribute.

i'll be back.

shaun / deputydog

fascinating aircraft nose art

2009-07-06T17:24:00.000+01:00

'nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of a military aircraft, usually located near the nose, and is a form of aircraft graffiti' - wikipedia

it's not difficult to understand why a pilot would choose, or feel the need, to apply nose art to his or her aircraft prior to entering a warzone. after being stripped of your individuality and trained to follow commands for months on end it must be immensely refreshing to have the opportunity to personalise the machine with which you'll spend most of your time, in turn boosting your own morale and that of your fellow pilots. add a lick of paint and title to a deadly lump of metal and the plane soon becomes a character with a unique name, not so much a weapon as a companion during one of the most stressful times imaginable.

if you're looking to read up on the history of nose art i'd recommend the following sources: century of flight, noseart.ch, ace pilots. however, if you're just interested in photos, look no further. well, a little bit further, down this page. be warned: there are cartoon breasts ahead.

li'l lass :: b26 marauder (wiki)

source

she devil :: b24 liberator (wiki)

source

betty boop :: b17 flying fortress (wiki)

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hells belle :: b17 flying fortress (wiki)

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the devil himself :: b17 flying fortress (wiki)

source

flying tiger :: curtiss p40 (wiki)

source

sentimental journey :: b17 flying fortress (wiki)

source

glamorous gal :: p-51d (wiki)

source

briefing time :: b25 mitchell (wiki)

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two one :: s3 viking (wiki)

source

the dragon and his tail :: b24 liberator (wiki)

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cocktail hour :: b24 liberator (wiki)

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miss dolly :: erco ercoupe (wiki)

source

intensive care :: l5 sentinel (wiki)

source

mitch the witch 2 :: b25 mitchell (wiki)

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witchcraft :: b24 liberator (wiki)

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various :: tornado gr1 (wiki)

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tiger :: a-7e corsair II (wiki)

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dragon's breath :: bac 167 strikemaster (wiki)

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japanese f15 (wiki)

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acemaker :: t-33 shooting star (wiki)

source

let's roll :: a10 thunderbolt (wiki)

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princess leia :: f104 starfighter (wiki)

(presumably fake but awesome nonetheless)

source

also worth looking at is the nose art flickr group here, and obviously the source links under each photo.

god has some explaining to do...

2009-07-02T08:36:00.002+01:00

i think i just found a good enough reason to enter a church. on the other hand, if you already think religious buildings are slightly creepy you may not agree.

ladies and gentlemen: eglise saint-merri, paris...

source

yeah, that's the ceiling, and to say this is awesome is an understatement. i would love to know the reasoning behind a) the chairs attached to the roof and walls, and b) the person trapped in the seemingly huge disc above the aisles. and who the hell is that meant to be? god? a sinner, imprisoned in a pane of glass, much like zod in superman? if so, maybe the chairs are just collateral damage from the ass-kicking.

more photos...

source

if you know anything about it, please speak. i truly love this holy interior, whatever the explanation, and believe it should be rolled out worldwide. hopefully this is a permanent fixture and not just a temporary piece of art.

(by the way, regarding the source of all this: i randomly found that first photo whilst searching for another picture to go in the ceiling porn post and couldn't believe my luck)

ceiling porn

2009-07-01T17:57:00.001+01:00

(put your trousers back on little fella. it's not what you think)

i'm a big fan of ceilings and it never fails to amaze me how drastically they can change the appearance and atmosphere of a space yet at the same time be completely ignored by most of the room's occupants. it's incredible how some people live their lives looking either straight ahead or down at the ground, the only ceiling they ever notice being the one above the bed.

luckily it hasn't stopped people designing stunning ceilings. here are 10 of my favourites, new and old, in no particular order.

the senedd, cardiff

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the undulating ceiling of the senedd (the welsh assembly) was designed by richard rogers, the architect chosen to develop tower 3 of the world trade center reconstruction.

tokyo international forum, tokyo

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the incredible steel and glass roof of tokyo international forum is an engineering masterpiece and was designed by rafael vinoly in 1996.

temppeliaukio church, helsinki

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'rock church' was completed in 1969 after being carved from an enormous lump of natural granite. the ceiling, the central disc of which is made from copper wire, was designed by the suomalainen brothers, as was the rest of the building.

british museum's great court, london

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the british museum's great court was opened in 2000 and was designed by norman foster. it features a stunning tessellated roof which consists of 6100m² of glazing.

dc metro station, washington

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chicago-based architect harry weese was responsible for designing the washington metro system in the 1970s and the brutalist architecture, especially the tunnel walls and ceilings, still look remarkable to this day.

allen lambert galleria, toronto

source: left/right

santiago calatrava, the spaniard responsible for a ridiculous amount of inspired architecture, designed allen lambert galleria and its beautiful ceiling/roof in the late 80s.

erzurum holy mosque, eastern anatolia

source: left/right

source

the holy mosque in the eastern anatolia region of turkey was originally constructed in 1179 but has since been restored on five occasions, resulting in a mixture of architectural styles. the inside of the mosque's main dome is absolutely fantastic.

bahá'í house of worship, illinois

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the interior of the baha'i house of worship in wilmette was designed by alfred shaw. the intricate stylings of the dome's ceiling are breathtaking.

mosteiro dos jerónimos, lisbon

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i believe spanish architect joão de castilho was responsible for the amazing ceiling in jerónimos monastery, back in the 1500s. the result is a ribbed, gothic masterpiece.

alcázar of seville

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the hall of the ambassadors' phenomenally impressive domed ceiling in the alcázar of seville, built in 1427. stunning.

[update] while you're here, have a look at this bizarre church ceiling. you won't be sorry.

death never looked so good

2009-06-30T17:13:00.001+01:00

i've been to one cremation in my lifetime and i must admit: it was a boring affair. effective (everyone turned up, extreme heat engulfed the deceased), but boring (solemn faces, no dancing, no pyrotechnics). when i die, assuming i do, i want my loved ones to follow the lead of the balinese and ensure that the burning of my corpse results in a spectacle of extremely bad-ass proportions.

something similar to this burning-wing-filled brilliance...

above: a balinese cremation, or ngaben. no-one cries as the corpse burns within an animal shaped sarcophagus.

source

the ceremony's called ngaben and whilst i'm not religious and don't agree with the fundamental beliefs of balinese hinduism i find it extremely difficult to disagree with the celebration shown in the photo above. i could definitely be waved off in that fashion. failing that though and assuming a more 'traditional' cremation was the only option, there's only one place where i'd want to it to happen...

treptow crematorium, berlin

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the 'hall of condolence' at treptow crematorium is one of the most visually striking rooms you'll see, mainly due its 29 concrete pillars randomly spaced throughout, seemingly detached from the ceiling and haphazardly surrounding a small pool of still water, above which floats an egg. in fact, due to its undeniably futuristic appearance it was used as a location during filming of sci-fi mega-flop æon flux; an interesting movie if only for its inspired filming location choices around berlin. the building was designed by axel schultes & charlotte frank back in 1996. more info here.

finally, while i'm on the subject of death/awesome, for those of you who've never seen it before, below is the anatomical theatre in padova, italy...

source

the room was built in 1594 and was used to teach anatomy by way of human dissections. these would take place on the table in the centre of the room as students looked on from the many circular balconies which were arranged steeply to avoid the kind of headblock annoyance regularly experienced by cinema-goers. it's a uniquely beautiful and faintly creepy room.

sleep well.

"what the fuck is this?" #5

2009-06-29T14:48:00.002+01:00

update: mystery solved by ronjooby. see the giant envelope on gmaps here. translated japanese article here and another photo here.

'tis time for another competition. the brief...

i have a folder on my desktop called 'huh?'. it's full of photos (hundreds) i've come across over the years whilst surfing the intertubes, photos which all have two things in common - 1. they intrigue me beyond belief, and 2. i have no idea what the subject matter actually is. the reasons for me having no clue about the photos' origins are numerous, but the majority are due to me excitedly saving them only later to find out i didn't also bookmark the relevant page. i've been storing them in that folder fully intending to one day work out what they're of but today i realised it's never gonna happen, so i decided i'd let you lot tell me, one picture at a time. the first person to let me know, with linked proof of some kind, exactly what each photo is of, gets a tenner via paypal.

what the fuck is this?

how to get to the top of a forest

2009-06-26T01:05:00.001+01:00

the as-300 carrying a hexagonal canopy raft. it's the world's largest thermal airship.

source

approximately 37 million km² - or around ¼ of the world's land mass - is covered by natural forest, a habitat which is home to the majority of the planet's wildlife, so it's no surprise that scientists are eager to study as much of the planet's forest canopy as possible before the population does away with trees altogether. however the problem they face in their quest to sit at the top of these masses of greenery is that access to the uppermost layer isn't always easy to come by, whether it be due to safety concerns on the part of researchers, their inability to physically reach the heights necessary, or the dangers presented to the canopy itself when interrupted by humans.

below are some of the methods and structures used by those very humans in order to get to the top.

canopy rafts

the solvin bretzel in action .

source

as you can see from the photos, canopy rafts are extraordinary things. they're basically enormous nets attached to an inflatable frame and are dropped onto trees from airships, resulting in a viewing platform like no other which can also be used as a base from which to hang using climbing gear. the raft above is the solvin bretzel, a new design by gilles ebersolt which due to its pretzel-inspired shape is both safer to use and more effective than older versions. researchers can spend days at a time on the raft (hence the tent) and due to its extremely light weight the trees are left unharmed.

cranes

canopy cranes in washington and queensland.

sources: top/right/left

dotted around the world's forests, peeking over the top of the treeline, are 14 enormous tower cranes similar to the ones seen every day on construction sites. they're called canopy cranes and although expensive to run offer scientists an extremely convenient way to study the canopy due the fact that the crane's gondola can be raised/lowered as well as extended out the length of the crane's jib. the world's largest canopy crane (250ft tall) is called the wind river canopy crane (see video), can be found in washington and due to its huge dimensions has 300 trees within its reach. the world's first, the panama canopy crane, was erected in 1990.

walkways

clockwise from top left: ecuador, malaysia and costa rica.

sources: left/right/bottom

one of the first methods used to reach and study the canopy was the trusty walkway, basically a series of bridges between trees enabling access to higher parts of the forest for sustained periods. the downside is that walkways can only be installed so far up the tree and other methods have since negated the need for them. but there are plenty around and a great crowd-pleaser amongst tourists so i can't see them ever disappearing. as for the longest in the world: i've no idea. the amount of claims to that title is just too large to even begin attemtping to verify it.

dirigibles

top: the white diamond airship. bottom: cinebulle.

sources: top/left/right

a popular way for researchers to examine and film the forest canopy is by using light aircraft - usually in the form of airships and balloons - and in recent years versions of each have been designed specifically with forests' exploration in mind (see graham dorrington's 'white diamond' airship, the subject of werner herzog's documentary of the same name. see also dany cleyet-marrel's 'cinebulle', an incredibly versatile seated air balloon with rear propeller which has been used by the bbc to film their fucking brilliant, groundbreaking nature documentaries). other canopy dirigibles exist, such as canopy gliders and canopy bubbles. google 'em.

footage of graham dorrington's 'white diamond' airship, taken from the herzog documentary...

aerial tram

left: aerial tram, costa rica. right: another tram in costa rica. bottom: the awce

sources: left/right/bottom

forest-based aerial tram systems are a fairly new feature, but only in their current form. back in 1978 dr. donald perry decided to build a relatively basic system involving ropes, pulleys and a platform which would eventually evolve into the the award-winning awce (automated web for canopy exploration), an automated version which allowed 2 people to travel the canopy simultaneously without the physical hardship of having to pull your bodyweight around. then in 1992 he designed the first rain forest aerial tram in costa rica at a cost of $2m and the rest is history.

rope

various canopy scientists explore the forest using ropes and harnesses.

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the most low-tech method used to get to the canopy would have to be old fashioned climbing. a number of companies now offer training specifically for canopy scientists, the most prominent being canopy access ltd who have also worked behind the scenes on many of the bbc's award-winning nature programmes. the downside is that the uppermost layer of the canopy is difficult to reach when using ropes due to the fact that there's very little which is sturdy enough to hang from.

and that's that. there are a couple of other methods (e.g. specialist tree houses and the baumvelo) but i'm too tired to type. goodnight.

the world's largest man-made explosion crater

2009-06-22T17:36:00.001+01:00

in terms of size, sedan crater is merely a hair follicle in comparison to the enormous acne scars we call impact craters. however it's still a monster in its own right and is a reminder of the u.s. government's attempts back in the 60s to research the peaceful and constructive non-military use of nuclear explosives. as a result of 'operation plowshare', the yucca flats region of the nevada test site is still to this day peppered with craters similar to, but smaller than, the one below.

we'll start from above.

above: sedan crater sits above just a few of the dozens of man-made craters around the nevada test site.

photo source: google maps

above: the crater is a result of storax sedan, an underground test which saw a nuclear device buried in a shaft 635ft underneath the ground.

photo source: google maps

above: the crater has a maximum diameter of 1280ft and depth of 320ft. over 11'000'000 t of soil was displaced.

photo source: google maps

above: to give a sense of scale i've circled the viewing platform shown in the next 2 photos. approx 10'000 people visit the site every year.

photo source: wikipedia

above: the crew of apollo 14 trained for their upcoming moon landing in and around sedan crater.

photo source: nasa

above: two dudes in shorts and shades.

photo source: flickr user hazmathmy

here's a video of the 104-kiloton nuclear explosion that caused such a mammoth crater, set to dramatic music...

finally, here's an embedded version of the area as seen on google maps for you to tinker with...

crowd control, poland

2009-06-19T13:32:00.002+01:00

oh dear...

source

ahh, the beautiful game. you know you've got problems when you have to lock up spectators.

i found the hideous photo above by chance whilst looking for pictures of a polish conveyor belt (trust me, it's interesting. you'll see) and decided to post it quickly to brighten up your friday. the cage can be found at the ground of znicz pruszków in poland and i believe it houses supporters of the visiting team on match days. if you do know any specifics let me know. also, where's the toilet?

football attracts an unhealthy amount of hooliganism (especially in poland) and most stadiums contain enclosed areas for away fans but i suppose seeing an enclosed area this tiny really brings home the absurdity and depressing reality of the situation.

oh, and one tip for future designers of these cages: paint them using neutral colours. locking them up like animals is probably enough torture.

source

have a fucking lovely, violence-free weekend people.

impressive industrial towers

2009-06-18T13:11:00.001+01:00

i just took a disturbing and lengthy walk through the dusty corridors of my firefox bookmarks (the 'to do' annex) and discovered there must be close to a thousand folders of shit i've at one point decided to write about but as of yet haven't got round to. right at the bottom, just below an empty folder by the name of 'highway tube', i happened upon a folder of bookmarks entitled 'industrial towers'.

this is them. a few of the sites are now disused, the others still functioning. all are interesting.

the hoover dam's intake towers

source

source: left/right

unfortuntely most people don't realise just how tall and impressive these towers are due to the fact that they're always surrounded by deep water; water which has thankfully been held back in the resevoir and contained by the dam wall. the 4 towers are there to control the flow of water down and around the dam wall towards the powerhouse where that same water will eventually generate power. these towers are 395ft tall and in total 'contain 93,674 cubic yards of concrete and 15,299,604 pounds of steel'. incredible statistics about a piece of the hoover dam which no-one is really able to appreciate.

lauchhammer bio-towers, lauchhammer

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24 of these decommissioned towers sit menacingly by the road in lauchhammer, germany, huddled around central staircases in sets of four. back in their day the towers were used to purify wastewater from the town's coking plant by way of internal trickling filters, the remnants of which - slag bricks - can still be found inside. these days the structures are used to educate people about the area's industrial history through guided tours and exhibitions and recently a glass sided viewing box has been attached to the top of one of the columns to offer an elevated view of the complex. more info here.

ps10/ps20 solar towers, southern spain

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i love these beasts. in front of the two towers sit a total of 1879 heliostats (mirrors), all positioned so as to reflect the spanish sunlight toward a reciever at the top of each structure. meanwhile, water is constantly pumped to the top of the towers where it's quickly boiled by the heat, resulting in steam which then drives an electricity generator via a turbine. that means masses of clean energy. the ps20 (further back in the second photo) was opened in april this year and is the world's most powerful solar tower. more info here. also see the 'super chimney', a proposed 3 mile tall structure which woud, if ever constructed, eclipse all towers ever built.

coops shot tower, melbourne

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a shot tower is (or was depending on the tower as most are now disused) used to manufacture lead shot. inside the top of the tower sits a copper sieve through which molten lead is poured, the action of which results in droplets of lead falling the remaining height of the tower. by the time they reach the cooling water at the bottom, the majority of the droplets should've become both spherical and solid enough to then be sorted by size and polished. following its closure in 1961 the beatiful 9 storey coop shot tower in melbourne now sits inside a shopping centre underneath an impressive conical roof, presumably surrounded by fast food outlets and rabid shoppers. more shot tower photos here.

express lift tower, northampton

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whilst certainly not the tallest or sleekest elevator test tower on earth, the 418ft tall parabolic tower that's known locally as 'the northampton lighthouse' has bags of charm and since 1997 has boasted the honour of being a listed building. strangely this unmissable, looming hunk of concrete was even opened by the queen back in 1982, presumably as it was, and still is, the only such structure in britain. or maybe the queen can't get enough of lifts. or shafts.

this dog's 2 years old

2009-06-16T13:40:00.001+01:00

i was just putting together an archive page for deputydog (which is here by the way) when it came to my attention that back in april the site hit the 2 year milestone without fanfare.

happy birthday.

in fact, thinking about it, i missed the first anniversary aswell; i'm a terrible terrible father.

it's been a sporadic pleasure building this site up and anyone who's a regular will realise that i've been inconsistent of late with posts. last week, following 2 years of blogging, i moved into an office soon after realising that writing fulltime from home requires something the experts call 'willpower' - something i have a severe deficiency in - and already i feel like a professional. the upshot will be more posts inbetween the other shit i do.

check out the archives and marvel at the crap i used to post. seriously, some of it makes me taste vomit at the top of my throat. it's like watching yourself on camera. i'd also just like to take this opportunity to apologise for my inability to reply to emails. it's nothing personal. i'm the same with text messages. and with vocal communications. i can blank people like no other. i'm just plain rude.

now, what better way to belatedly celebrate a birthday than with a photo from 1957 of an airship, crippled by the shockwave from a 19-kt blast 5 miles away. click on it for a gigantic, 3.5mb version. more info here.

the madness of temporary ski jumps

2009-06-15T18:18:00.000+01:00

holy shit.

i've been looking at these ski jumps all morning and still can't believe how awesome they are.

above: empire stadium, vancouver, april 30th 1958. source.

my intention today was to write about modern ski jumps (e.g. this beauty, designed by zaha hadid and this one from mr2) but then i came across the photos above and, in an instant, everything else paled into insignificance. there's just so much to love. look at the height of the thing (165ft by the way). look at the width. look at the amount of scaffolding (14 miles of it). how did people get to the top? imagine actually standing at the top. the mind boggles.

turns out these temporary ski jumps were all the rage back in the black and white days, especially in stadiums, and i'm just so glad because they made for stunning photos. another case in point: soldier field, 1954...

above: soldier field, chicago, 1954. source.

the enormous slope was covered with tons of crushed ice rather than snow. also, this was the second version of the soldier field jump; the original, built in 1937, was made entirely of wood. here's a frustratingly miniscule photo of it...

source.

can you see it?

then there's the 165ft tall jump in the coliseum, los angeles...

above: l.a. coliseum, 1938. source.

and the 167ft tall structure at dodger stadium in 1963...

above: dodger stadium, los angeles, 1963. source.

and finally, multnomah civic stadium in portland, oregon...

above: multnomah civic stadium, portland, 1953. source.

they're all brilliant, hilarious and frightening in equal measure.

i'd love to see more of these beasts so let me know if you can feed my new habit. the taller and more rickety the better.

6 extraordinarily stubborn 'nail houses'

2009-06-10T17:51:00.005+01:00

above: carl friedrickson's defiant 'nail house' in up [source]

near the start of up (pixar's latest gold-plated effort) we come to learn that carl fredricksen's house, or the land beneath it more specifically, is in demand by hungry developers due to its location amongst a sea of half-built, multistorey building projects, a fact that seems to make him all the more reluctant to let go of the nest he made with his late wife regardless of the offer slapped on the table. the result, until the house floats away at least, is the depressing but somehow uplifting landscape in the picture above.

watching the film reminded me of a few very similar (but non-rendered) stubborn homeowner situations i've read about over the past couple of years, the rememberance of which resulted in me researching a fascinating and surprisingly common property (especially in china) i now know to be called a 'nail house'; so called as 'they stick out like nails in an otherwise modernized environment' and are hard to remove...

edith macefield, seattle, u.s.a.

above: edith's mighty little house in ballard, seattle [source]

above: a publicity stunt for pixar's latest saw balloons attached to the house [source]

we'll start with edith macefield's brilliant little home in ballard as it's the first example of a nail house i'd ever read about and really reminds me of carl friedriksen's own abode. edith, who passed away last year, moved into this house in 1966 - long before the area's construction boom - and since then had turned down numerous offers from developers wishing to build a complex on her land, the highest of which is rumoured to be $1m. the developers decided to build the complex anyway and surround the house with sharp, sleek, characterless surfaces. read more here and here. see edith's house on google maps here (it's an old shot and you can still see her blue car outside the property).

wu ping, chongqing, china

above: an aerial shot of wu ping's isolated nail house [source]

above: property to rent - not suitable for sleepwalkers [source]

perhaps the most famous nail house in history was situated on a huge mound of dirt in chonqing until april 2007, at which point it was demolished by exhausted developers after battling for 3 years and eventually parting with ¥1m. the house's owner, mrs wu ping, was the only person from 241 properties who refused to leave when asked in 2004 in order to make way for a new shopping centre. she really dug her heels in and the story quickly spread around the world by way of the intertubes. there's an interesting interview with mrs wu here. following some searching, see what i believe to be the site of wu ping's old house here on google schnapps.

various farmers, narita airport, japan

above: narita's 2nd runway, dissected due to a defiant landowner - only the north end is usable [source]

above: the red lines indicate the parts of runway which haven't been built due to immovable landowners [from google maps]

in 1966 plans for a new airport were revealed by the japanese government, much to the annoyance of the public and especially those who owned the land upon which it was to be built. for the next 20 years a combination of regular (and sometimes fatal ) riots and defiant farmers who own land amongst the proposed runways forced developers to ditch the idea of a 3 runway airport. to this day, the middle of what was to be the 2nd runway is home to a farm and various smaller properties still sit around the terminals blocking construction of a 3rd runway. have a look around on google maps here. read more about the disputes here.

austin spriggs, washington dc, u.s.a.

above: the house as it was in 2006, pre-shadows [source]

above: coming soon? [source]

above: what's supposedly to be a pizza joint, 2008 [source]

in 2006, austin spriggs was happily living in a house that would soon become a thorn in the side of local developers. such a thorn in fact that mr spriggs was offered more than $3m for the property in 2008 even though the property was previously only worth an estimated $200k. needless to say, he turned the offer down and then proceeded to take out a loan to convert the building into a pizza joint. as you can see, the building is absolutely dwarfed by the surrounding developments. read more here.

various properties, changsha, china

above: high street chains loom over a gutsy nail house [source]

above: at least the shop is unmissable to passers-by [source]

above: ragged brickwork is a reminder of the demolition of previously connected buildings [source]

this dilapidated shop/home sits continues to do business outside a sparkling, relatively modern-looking shopping centre in changsha city and the contrast between the two buildings is shocking. i don't know much about this house but if you look at the first photo, there are a couple more old properties which also seem to have weathered the development storm. the photos themselves are from october 2007 so i'm unsure whether they held up for much longer and a search on google maps proved fruitless. read a translated article about the buildings here.

cai zhuxiang and zhang lianhao, shenzhen, china

above: ultimately an extremely expensive building sits alone in shenzhen [source 1, source 2]

in 2006, cai zhuxiang and zhang lianhao, proud and determined owners of this 7 storey building in luohu, shenzhen, were approached by local developers who were on a mission to convert the surrounding area into an extremely profitable financial centre. as you can see from the photos, the couple refused and their 10yr old building and the land beneath it became the focus of a bidding war. eventually developers made an offer they couldn't refuse and in 2007 the couple gathered their belongings and moved on. although the final amount is unconfirmed, estimates point to compensation in the region of between ¥10-20m (over us$1m). read more here.

fascinating stuff. there are plenty more of these properties to look at, a few of which are mentioned on boing boing here. you can also search for the word 钉子户 on google, or bing, (it means 'nail house') or just click here instead.

as always, let me know of any others in the comments section. failing that, act like a twat and slam me for some reason. i love you all.

oh, and please digg this little bastard if you can bring yourself to.

the tridge: the bridge's mutated cousin

2009-06-05T16:46:00.001+01:00

tridges are - maybe unsurprisingly - a rare breed of bridge which are - again unsurprisingly after cleverly dissecting the name - notable by the presence of 3 spans rather than the usual 1. basically they're bridges which are Y-shaped instead of I-shaped and are usually found at confluences where 3 land masses need connecting (example one, the y-bridge in zanesville - example two, the tridge in midland).

today, after following links for what seemed like hours, i somehow ended up 'reading' a japanese blog and saw the tridge below, easily the best example i've seen of such a structure. it's called the kikko bridge (亀甲橋, which i think translates as 'turtle bridge' but feel free to correct me), was built in 1991 and is a stress ribbon pedestrian bridge meaning there's no need for a support column beneath the middle point due to the decks being pulled taut by the three foundations. by the way, the building on the left in the first photo is the clubhouse at aoyama kohgen golf club and the bridge connects golfers to the holes on either side of the water.

photo source

photo source

photo source

stunning engineering. if you want to read more technical details, go here.

also, after another bout of link-clicking i found the photo below without any context whatsoever, even in japanese. turns out it's called kokonoe yume ootsurihashi, can be found in oita prefecture and with a length of 390m & height of 173m claims to be japan's highest and longest pedestrian suspension bridge. true or not, it's an absolute monster.

click here for enormous version :: photo source

click here for enormous version :: photo source

finding these two by chance makes me wonder just how many incredible pieces of engineering exist in asia that i'm blissfully unaware of.

have a nice weekend.

and you think your garbage is overflowing?

2009-05-13T22:47:00.001+01:00

the other morning i walked out into our front garden to find various plastic bags, sweet wrappers and a cigarette packet strewn amongst the flower beds, either thrown from the pavement by a random lazy bastard or blown over the gate from the street by wind. needless to say it really really pissed me off to the point where i was muttering under my breath. a few hours later - by coincidence - i found the photo above which i'd bookmarked last year of a polluted river in indonesia and immediately felt thankful, and then pretty depressed.

remember, the photos below aren't unique. there are many, many places on earth where the infrastructure needed to ensure that such seemingly basic systems are put in place either just don't exist or are compromised for various reasons - the main one being poverty. a huge amount of people have been born into this kind of environment and subsequently know nothing else than to walk out of their homes to be faced with seas of litter and be subjected to a serious threat to their health on a daily basis.

note: these photos aren't necessarily a representation of the areas today. hopefully they've since been cleaned up.

naples, italy, early 2008

[above] naples is an unlikely place to see streets covered in litter but for over a decade the area has been victim to a 'garbage crisis' resulting from the actions of the camorra, the local mafia, who control the local garbage industry. read more here. i believe this situation has been cleaned up for the time being due to pressure from the EU.

estero de paco, manila, philippines

[above] according to photographer dennis villegas, 'the garbage in the river (estero de paco) has become so thick that rats are able to run on top of it - chased by cats. the river and its surrounding areas has a very hideous odor'. apparently the 'pasig river rehabilitation commission' plan to rid the river of litter by moving all homes so that they sit more than 3 metres from the river bank. read more here.

dharavi, mumbai, india

[above] 'because water in mumbai, india is prohibitively expensive, many residents of this slum rely on leaks found - or created - in the massive tubes that carry water to more affluent neighborhoods. the poor of the city avoid the garbage and human waste surrounding their dwellings by walking on top of the pipelines'. read more here.

citarum river, west java, indonesia

[above] 'rapid urbanisation over the last 20 years has seen a rise in untreated household sewage, solid waste and industrial effluents, affecting public health and threatening the livelihood of poor fishing families. a new industry has sprung up - collecting the plastic waste in the river for recycling'. more here,

yoff, dakar, senegal

yoff is a town in dakar. that's all i know, apart from the fact that it's heavily polluted. fill me in in the comments.

photo sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

taiwan's cutting edge solar powered stadium

2009-05-12T12:50:00.002+01:00

i remember reading about the stadium featured in the video above a couple of years back, just after construction had begun. fast forward what seems like a week and whaddya know, it's finished. and stunning. practically every square inch of its dragonesque roof is covered by 8'844 solar panels, ready to supply the enormous record-breaking building with clean power.

at the moment it's called (in english at least) the 'world games stadium', can be found in kaohsiung, taiwan and was built to coincide with the opening of the world games - the unpopular but cool family member in the sporting events calendar - which are to be held in taiwan this july. it can hold 55'000 spectators, was designed by the brilliant japanese architect toyo ito, and cost upwards of US$150m to build. now, according to wikipedia, this structure is 'the first stadium in the world to provide power using solar energy technology', but i beg to differ, as at least one stadium i know of already has a similar, albeit smaller, rooftop setup which provides the venue with a large percentage of its power. however as far as i know this taiwanese effort does hold the record for 'largest solar-powered stadium in the world' as a result of its incredible 14,155m2 roof which could potentially generate 1.14 gigawatt hours of electricity every year; enough electricity to power up to 80% of the surrounding neighbourhood after being fed into the grid on the days when the stadium is unused.

hopefully it won't be too long before all stadiums have similar systems. apart from manchester that is. you'd be better off using piezoelectrics to harness energy produced by the relentless rainfall around here. not that i'm bitter.

read more about the stadium here, here, and here.

pictures below, all at various stages of construction (earliest to newest). found at the links just mentioned, plus here.

a surprising medium

2009-05-11T15:45:00.000+01:00

did everyone just have a weekend stolen from under their noses or am i the only victim? thieving bastards.

what do the following pictures have in common?

what? who said 'leg over'? incorrect.

they've all been drawn using a ballpoint pen.

you know, a biro. the one you have trouble writing with smudge-free. that's right, the pens that leak in pockets indiscriminately. i find these pieces absolutely incredible and i'm not too bad at ballpoint drawing. these pictures though are flawless, hardly a patch of cross-hatching in sight. the top 3 are by an english chap named james mylne, the bottom 3 by a spaniard called juan francisco casas. check out their websites for more biro-art. there are a few biro-art groups on flickr too, here's one of their photostreams on flickriver.

oh yeah, did i mention how big juan's pictures are?

graffoto: photorealistic graffiti to make you drool

2009-05-07T17:56:00.001+01:00

[this page contains a lot of pictures. apologies if your computer cries due to the hard work but i'd rather that happen than have to split the fucker into seperate pages, resulting in the annoying kind of multi-page article i personally cannot stand. thanks]

a huge amount of people don't realise just how artistically and technically incredible graffiti can be these days, and a depressingly large section of society still believe this kind of street art consists purely of text and tags, crudely sprayed onto public toilet walls. after seeing a piece by belin here in manchester, i've spent the past year or so pretty much addicted to the subject of photorealistic graffiti (aka graffoto), whether it be on walls, floors or canvas, and thought i'd point you in the direction of some incredible artists and collectives. the fact that these people are able to produce designs of this quality using a spraycan absolutely astounds me and i have a huge amount of respect for all those who manage it.

where possible i've included links to the artist's website/myspace/flickr page but in some cases i'm still unaware of them. if you happen to know any that i've missed, let me know and i'll add them. also, if i haven't included a 'photo source' link it means the picture is from the artist's site.

onto the talent.

1. belin

[website]

larger version

2. ma'claim

[website]

larger version

3. tasso

[website :: myspace]
photos' source

4. herakut

[website]
photos' source

5. fate

[website]

larger version

6. neve

[myspace :: flickr]
photo source

7. trans

[flickr]

larger version

8. berok

[website :: flickr]

pretty good huh?

it's maybe worth noting that ma'claim (no.2) is a collective of graffiti artists of which tasso (no.3) and akut (one half of herakut, no.4) are members. tasso was also the person originally responsible for the word 'graffoto'.

these 8 are just the tip of an exquisitely sprayed iceberg - i'll post some other artists' work in the near future.

paris' multicoloured towerblocks

2009-04-23T16:18:00.000+01:00

just a quick post as i complete another more substantial one.

i wanted to bring these residential high-rise buildings to your attention due to the initially horrific exterior paint job which for some reason, after the shock sinks in, gives them a certain amount of charm. the group of towers are located in paris, were built in 1977 and go by the name of tours aillaud. if buildings could go paintballing, this is what the shit players would look like.

enjoy.

image source

image source

image source

you can even spot the paint job on google maps. quite impressive...

google maps link

"what the fuck is this?" #4

2009-04-23T12:47:00.001+01:00

[update] it's already been identified by toby as a langley aerodrome. i'll post a new one soon.

seeing as the blogging's back on track, let's restart the game.

here are the rules, copied and pasted from previous games...

i have a folder on my desktop called 'huh?'. it's full of photos (hundreds) i've come across over the years whilst surfing the intertubes, photos which all have two things in common - 1. they intrigue me beyond belief, and 2. i have no idea what the subject matter actually is. the reasons for me having no clue about the photos' origins are numerous, but the majority are due to me excitedly saving them only later to find out i didn't also bookmark the relevant page. i've been storing them in that folder fully intending to one day work out what they're of but today i realised it's never gonna happen, so i decided i'd let you lot tell me, one picture at a time. the first person to let me know, with linked proof of some kind, exactly what each photo is of, gets a tenner via paypal.

what the fuck is this?

happy hunting.

how to confuse a rollercoaster

2009-04-22T11:08:00.000+01:00

first of all, build it on top of a discount store in the middle of downtown tokyo and promise it thousands of excited riders every year, both local and from afar, eager to try one of the world's few roof-based half-pipe thrill-rides.

and then never open it. just leave it standing, looking foolish.

obviously that wasn't the intention. engineers were called in to attach the bright yellow half-pipe in 2005, and by the end of the year, everything was set. but then problems arose that would ultimately paralyse the ride forever and result in an extremely expensive pair of horns being left on the don quijote store for tourists to speculate about for years to come. depending on who you listen to, there are a couple of different reasons as to why the coaster never rolled. the first, and most common: local residents and fellow shopkeepers mounted an enormous attack on the plans, citing potential noise, pollution, and hi-speed death as unacceptable by-products from a discount store. the second reason, apparently from intamin, the ride's manufacturers: 'while the building is capable of handing the weight of the roller coaster, the lateral forces presented an unexpected problem'.

over 3 years later, it's still attached and unused. there are positives to look at. the store now stands out from the crowd, and no-one's recently been flung from its roof by accident. as far as i know.

image source

record-breaking jet sleds and rooftops

2009-04-21T09:13:00.003+01:00

ok, so that took a bit longer than expected.

point your eyes towards this image..

image source

i had this bookmarked for over a year but it got buried at the bottom of my ever-increasing list of things to blog. there are a couple of interesting things about the photo. first off, these 5 enormous tracks are not parallel to each other. it just so happens that the angle at which the photo was taken resulted in an illusion of sorts, kinda like magic. check the area out on google maps here and then come back immediately. deceiving huh?

then there's the site's function.

in order for a plane to safely land on an aircraft carrier without racing off the end, its tailhook needs to be 'caught' by arresting cables attached to the carrier's deck (see here). these cables need to be extremely strong and durable but also flexible enough so as not to stop the plane too quickly. these 5 test tracks, located at navair in lakehurst, are dedicated to testing these very systems and the emergency barricades.

image source

the photo above shows an F/A-18 airframe sitting on a sled. on the back of that sled are 4 jet engines which, when fired up, will produce 42'000lbs of thrust and ultimately send the jet down the 2.8km track at a speed of 460km/h, into an arresting cable or barricade. if the plane stops: great. if not, the plane usually ends up in the clearing behind the track or amongst the trees. either way, an enormous, expensive amount of fun.

unfortunately i couldn't find any footage of a test in progress but instead here's video of the test track at holloman air force base, being used by a rocket sled travelling at 10'325km/h and breaking the world land speed record in the process. more info here.

seeing the lakehurst tracks reminded me of another unique test track i read about years ago, so i thought i'd dig up some photos...

image sources: top / right / left

for those who've never seen it, this is the old 5 storey lingotto building in lingotto, turin. at one time, when owned by fiat, it was the world's largest car factory but that wasn't its only claim to fame. car production started at ground level and as each car reached another stage of completion, it was moved up another floor until it reached the rooftop, hopefully finished and ready to be raced around the test track on top of the factory. unsurprisingly a track of that size has still not been seen on a building since. apparently the factory has now been converted into a (presumably) hideous shopping and entertainment complex. i believe the track is still intact but criminally disused.

[edit] here's the track being used in the italian job..

there was actually a similar track, on a smaller scale, above the imperia factory in nessonvaux, near liege, belgium. in 1928, following complaints from the locals about noise due to cars being tested on the roads, a test track was instead built within the premises. one end actually went through the factory, the other looped over one end of the building's roof.

for more of these photos, go here. for a nice write-up about the factory in liege, go here.

and that's that. let me know of any other similar tracks if you can be bothered. wired posted some nice aerial shots of a few regular test tracks last year, if you fancy looking at 'em, go hither.

bon voyage.

this place is cold

2009-03-13T12:02:00.001Z

blogging of the highest quality shall recommence next week.

a house-move initiated a series of events which only served to metaphorically paralyse my stubby little typing fingers. to all those who've emailed me concerning the absence and not recieved a reply: thankyou for caring enough to type your kind words. to those responsible for the unkind words: good to see you retards are still around, waiting for a blog post so you can pepper the comment section with illogical bilge. i've missed you all.

this ship has not sunk but merely scraped a small iceberg. i have a large, festering, incredibly intriguing backlog of shit to show you and i'm gonna start delivering it next week.

in the meantime, here's a crane in china, sitting 1200ft above a river on the unfinished deck of what will be the 2nd highest bridge on earth when completed. my balls hath retracted.

pics from here.

have a delicious weekend.

p.s. video embeds are now enabled in the comments section. as with normal comments, no shite will be tolerated so don't try and be a twat.

3 reasons to take your clothes off in the city

2009-01-06T14:03:00.000Z

apparently it's 2009. happy new year.

if i was king of england - fuck it - the world, my first job would be to organise the formation of an urban bathing department, the result being the rapid construction of unique structures similar to the ones below on the waterways of every city on earth. why? because they look brilliant and are extremely hard to dislike, even for the grumpiest of twats. they bring life to areas of water that preivously wouldn't have been touched by as much as a human toe. obviously, with the world being as rotten as it is these days, each bathing structure would be home to a discreet but effective 'dirty pervert detection unit' in order to stop the whole thing becoming one big scandal.

seriously. urban bathing is the future.

kastrup sea bath

this circular wooden beauty can be found hovering off the coast of kastrup, copenhagen, its main body perched just a metre above the water and connected to the shore by a wooden pier. the sea bath's shape goes some way to shielding all human flesh from the breeze and its design also caters for wheelchair users. see more photos here.

copenhagen harbour bath

another wooden urban bath can be found in copenhagen city centre, this one called copenhagen havnebad. although not as elegant as kastrup's sea bath, this one appears to be more akin to a waterpark, kids and parents queueing up to fling themselves off a huge wooden staircase as quickly as physically possible. the whole thing is like a waterbased extension of the harbour park and takes advantage of the harbour's incredibly clean waters. see more photos here.

berlin badeschiff

in 2004 berliners were treated to a new attraction on the spree river, in the form of a floating swimming pool attached to wooden decking at the water's edge. the 'badeschiff' was initially an art installation but the locals fell in love with it, the result being a permanent pool that is even covered during the winter, is home to a bar and stays open until midnight. the whole thing looks incredible, especially at night, and is a reminder that a small amount of creativity can go a long way. someone please bring this to manchester. see more photos here.

"what the fuck is this?" #3

2008-12-05T13:25:00.003Z

[update] this one was solved in record time by 'ozza'. check the comments for the answer.

it's that time again. the same old rules apply...

i have a folder on my desktop called 'huh?'. it's full of photos (hundreds) i've come across over the years whilst surfing the intertubes, photos which all have two things in common - 1. they intrigue me beyond belief, and 2. i have no idea what the subject matter actually is. the reasons for me having no clue about the photos' origins are numerous, but the majority are due to me excitedly saving them only later to find out i didn't also bookmark the relevant page. i've been storing them in that folder fully intending to one day work out what they're of but today i realised it's never gonna happen, so i decided i'd let you lot tell me, one picture at a time. the first person to let me know, with linked proof of some kind, exactly what each photo is of, gets a tenner via paypal.

what the fuck is this?

good luck. have a fucking incredible weekend.