quarterliving

[ By Steve in Gadgets & Geek Art, History & Factoids, Various Uncategorized. ]

Bernard Pras has anamorphosis and he wants to give it to you… well, show it to you at least. Anamorphosis is the art of stacking objects on a piece of canvas or a photograph, and Pras is a master at creating sum-thing special from a whole lotta parts.

(images via: Bernard Pras Official Site and If It’s Hip It’s Here)
Bernard Pras (b. 1952) is a French artist whose bold re-imaginings of our artistic heritage force us to re-examine the way we look at visual art – which is itself a prism through which the artist channels a unique way of translating thoughts, emotions and ways of interpreting the world around us. Pras adds an extra dimension to familiar paintings, photos and images, often choosing materials that enhance certain aspects of his source material and allow the viewer to re-evaluate their original impressions of said source.

(image via: GuiseppeArcimbolo.org)
Pras is not the first assemblage artist – for that, you have to go back about 450 years to Milan, Italy, and a talented painter named Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-93). Arcimboldo, unusual for his time, painted portraits that seemed normal from a distance but upon approaching, revealed themselves to be skilfully composed congeries of objects. The most famous examples of his technique are four generic portraits from 1573 named for each of the four seasons and assembled from plants and other items corresponding to the time of the year.

(image via: Wikipedia)
Arcimboldo was exposed to a new generation of admirers in the mid-1970s when his painting Water was used as the cover art for the album Masque, the third studio album by the rock group Kansas.

(image via: If It’s Hip It’s Here)
Just how much did Arcimboldo influence Pras? Only he can say, but it’s certain that Pras thought enough of Arcimboldo to produce a composition based on one of his iconic works. Above you’ll see Arcimboldo’s “Summer” on the left and Pras’ homage to its right.

(images via: CubeMe and Smart Canucks)
While Pras’ technique is most often described as anamorphosis, it can embody aspects of Assemblage Art and Collage. Pras also allows his sense of humor to shine out from his creations… was his use of toilet paper rolls in the above portrait of the French ruler Louis IV inspired by Royale brand bathroom tissue? Was a Cashmere bathroom tissue ad inspired by Pras’ take on the Sun King? Mon dieu!

(images via: CubeMe and VVdM)
Modern pop culture has proven to be a fertile field for Pras as he has gone to the well time and again in recent years, revisiting cultural icons such as Bruce Lee and the Catwoman from the Batman comics and films. Pras also takes advantage of his medium, often producing multiple takes on a single subject’s image source. Check out the four variations on Catwoman above – clockwise from upper left: Catwoman in Red, Catwoman, Catwoman-Africa, and Catwoman-Caddy.

(images via: ArtNet and Variety)
Even Che Guevara, thought to be an untouchable symbol of the 1960s counter-culture, undergoes the Pras treatment. Note the artist’s use of toy guns and a red toy sheriff’s star in the Che collage, which evoke the violence of the communist revolutionary’s death as well as the innocence of the times in which many of his admirers lived.

(images via: If It’s Hip It’s Here and Andreas.com)
An older masterpiece like the Hiroshige woodblock print “The Breaking Wave Off Kanagawa”, usually referred to as The Great Wave, loses little if any of its immense visual impact when remade by Pras. That’s Pras’ version above top, Hiroshige’s original just below it.

(images via: RiverDaughter, VVdM and Free Canuckistan!)
It doesn’t get much more iconic than the 19th century poster child for fear and anxiety, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”. Pras’ choice of multicolored electrical wiring, transistor circuit boards and a .45 caliber revolver aimed up at a Halloween ghoul mask add an extra undercurrent of frisson to Munch’s original angst-laden imagery.

(images via: If It’s Hip It’s Here and Global Gallery)
Mao and Marilyn – cultural opposites made equal in the eyes of Bernard Pras. The source photos Pras bases his anamorphosic reproductions on also couldn’t be more different: the official Red Chinese photo portrait of Mao Zedong and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych, his 1962 tribute to Marilyn Monroe.

(images via: VVdM and Creative Deconstruction)
The work titled “Geisha” shows Pras at his most playful, employing Japanesque objects such as fans and seashells to enhance the atmosphere of his chosen subject: a classic Japanese geisha girl. One of the most startling features of the piece is the use of a vinyl phonograph record to act as a portion of the girl’s hair – the multiple parallel grooves of the deep black vinyl ape the textured lacquer hairdo.

(images via: VVdM and If It’s Hip It’s Here)
Everything’s relative, one must admit, even esteemed physicist Albert Einstein’s much publicized 1951 photo showing the scientist pranking pursuing paparazzi (yes, they were a scourge in the Fifties as well). Pras version, though still easily recognizable, appears to trade Einstein’s humorous intent for a darker, more ominous quality that reflects today’s more distressing geopolitical reality.

(image via: If It’s Hip It’s Here)
Some might say Bernard Pras’ works masterfully combine The Good, The Bad & The Ugly while others are sure he could sell them For A Few Dollars More and happily retire with A Fistful Of Dollars. Enough Sergio Leone references then, and on to Pras’ take on everyone’s favorite Man With No Name, Clint Eastwood.

(image via: If It’s Hip It’s Here)
The top image performs a split-screen move on Pras’ composition and the original photo of Eastwood from his poncho-wearing, gunslinging days. If “Blondie” could talk, what would he say to Bernard Pras? Maybe something like, “You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who create. You create.”

[ WebUrbanist - By Steve in Gadgets & Geek Art, History & Factoids, Various Uncategorized. ]

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban & Street Art. ]

Jumbles of beheaded bodies, limbs entwined, torsos twisting, hands reaching out – in compositions that are both glaringly Asian-influenced and psychedelic – call to mind some orgiastic body painting experiment, until you focus on the strange perspective and profusion of hands in various sizes.

This is no ordinary example of beautifully crafted body painting, and as stunningly realistic as the images appear, they’re actually computer-generated. Contemporary Korean artist Kim Joon uses 3D animation software to assemble the perfect body for each piece, building the form and grafting on skin texture before moving on to the intricate designs.

One piece, entitled ‘Neverland’, pays respects to Michael Jackson, but deeper behind this lies an homage to what Kim admits is his idea of the perfect male body: ebony-skinned and powerful. But the real star of each digital work is the body decoration, which Kim identifies as tattoos. To Kim – who says his single biggest influence is Jimi Hendrix – tattoos are sensual markings that simultaneously represent desire and repression, beauty and scars.

“I would like people to be able to think about their own tattoos and re-examine their lives through seeing my work. Tattoo or tattooing symbolizes the multi-layered composites of desire and will, emotion and action, pain and pleasure of self and other (tattooist) which can be translated as a complex system of complicit activities,” Kim told Art Radar Asia.

“This is much like the way in which our lives are conducted in the larger social matrix. I want people to be able to feel the tension between human (in)ability to control desires and situations. That we have less control than we think in defying forces in capital driven society.”

[ WebUrbanist - By Steph in Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban & Street Art. ]

[ By Delana in Architecture & Design, Guerilla Marketing & Ads, Subvertising & Counter-Ads. ]

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but there are times when the packaging matters just as much as what’s inside. When you’re shopping for anything from a bottle of juice to a new pair of shoes, the package is what catches your eye long before you consider the merits of the actual product. That’s why designers spend so much time and energy designing the perfect container for every product imaginable. Some are perfectly sensible and some are so far out that you can’t help but wonder what they were thinking. These packaging designs are some of the most eye-catching and wonderfully inventive from recent years.

Fast Food Fun

(images via: TheDieline)

Eating at a fast food restaurant is always fun for kids, but what about grown-ups? This Burger King concept from designer Bernadette Coughlin would let adults have fun creating their own Burger King from their various food packages, and switching his appearance by changing out the pieces.

(images via: TheDieline)

Just as fun is this suite of interactive, modular takeout packages for the Food City chain. The boxes are totally waterproof and free of glue, and the customer transforms them from box to eating tray. Add-on containers hold sides and sauces, making for a customizable experience without any excess waste.

Healthy Foods Can Be Fun, Too

(images via: TheDieline)

On the other end of the spectrum is this brilliant brand of healthy snacks called VitaMeal. They’re aimed at reducing childhood obesity by putting appropriate serving sizes of healthy foods into places where kids congregate, like schools and recreation centers. Each product has a “personality,” making them easy for kids to get excited about. The vending machines themselves are modular in nature so they fit into the available space, and they’re designed to work with special “credit” cards that bear the likeness of one of the snack characters. Parents put credits onto the card and decide which snacks their little ones can and can’t buy.

(images via: Toxel & Gajitz)

Making healthy foods more appealing is often just a matter of the way they’re presented. Above, fruit juice is packaged in boxes that look and feel like real fruit skin, making them interesting to the touch as well as delicious to the taste buds. Just below that, a new concept for packaging healthy foods puts carrots, celery and blueberries into packages usually reserved for very unhealthy products. Carrots are packed like cigarettes, celery comes in a French fry container, and blueberries are in a blister pack like chocolates…all in the hopes that consumers will want more fresh, healthy foods if they come in unusual packages.

The Packaging Is the Product

(images via: Treehugger 1, 2)

As beautiful as some packaging is, sometimes it’s simply excessive. With some products coming wrapped in two or three layers of plastic, paper and cardboard, it’s enough to drive any environmentally-minded person crazy. So when a company integrates their packaging into their product design, it’s a win on every level. At the top, Hangerpak is a box to ship tee shirts that transforms into a hanger once in the customer’s hands. Below that, Lite 2 Go is a modular hanging light kit that’s packaged inside its own shade, greatly cutting down on the amount of waste generated by each individual product.

(images via: Treehugger)

One of the worst parts of bringing any new product home from the store is having to deal with all of the wasted packaging – this is especially true of carefully-packed items like televisions. They usually come with layers upon layers of styrofoam, cardboard, plastic and plenty of little paper leaflets. But this packaging design from Tom Ballhatchet is different: it’s actually functional. The box formerly used to hold a television transforms into a stand for that television; the cavity that once cradled the TV and kept it safe turns into shelves for your DVD player and other accessories.

Smells Like Creativity

(images via: The Dieline 1, 2)

Women’s perfume is often packaged in lovely curved bottles, but men’s cologne is usually stuck in plain square or rectangle containers. These two concepts take men’s fragrance to a whole new level of packaging design. At top is Scent Stories, a concept from Polish design studio Ah&Oh. The bottles are all based on classic literature, featuring quotes from Poe, Orwell, de Sade and Laclos stories, along with tops that resemble characters from memorable pieces by each author. Below that is Levelus, a tongue-in-cheek package for a manly fragrance; the level is functional and can actually be used to straighten picture frames in the bathroom while you get ready for a big date.

It’s All About the Shoes

(Images via: LovelyPackage, Gizmodo, Treehugger)

It’s often said that you can’t improve on the design of the mousetrap – and the same goes for the humble shoebox. But that doesn’t stop some designers from trying to cut down on shoe packaging waste or simply make the box more interesting. At top is Milli, a concept from student designer Jenny Kim. Milli stands for both millimeters – the unit of measurement used for bullets – and milliseconds – the unit of measurement that often decides the winner of a race. Her bullet shoebox represents the speed and power needed by runners. Bottom left is a brand new packaging design from Puma that incorporates a less-wasteful box with an exterior bag, eliminating both the laminated cardboard box (which is often hard to recycle) and the single-use exterior plastic bag. Bottom right: Newton shoes are packaged in 100% recycled cardboard (rather like cardboard egg carton material) and instead of being stuffed with paper, the shoes are stuffed with a pair of socks and a reusable shoe bag.

Drink it Up

(images via: TheDieline, LikeCool, TheDieline and DesignYearbook)

Beverages – from sodas to sports drinks to alcoholic beverages – already come in a wide variety of packages. But often, when we go into a store not sure of what we want, a unique package can be the deciding factor for our purchase. Above, beverages packaged in these incredible bottles would be sure to catch any shopper’s eye.

(images via: Reuben Miller and TheDieline)

Not all packaging innovations are for the sake of aesthetics only. These unique packages were designed with a desire to make lives easier. Above, a resealable soda can would prevent bugs and dirt from contaminating an open soda while allowing advertisers a brand new spot to reach their audience. The rectangular soda bottles would be the first major change to the shape of plastic beverage bottles, but it could save untold amounts of money. Packaging beverages this way would allow them to stack more closely and save room, thus drastically reducing transport costs.

(images via: LovelyPackage, TheDieline, VisualAdvice, PackagingoftheWorld)

Although most of us don’t want to admit it, a product’s packaging has a huge impact on what we purchase. Would you rather have a package on your shelf with a boring plain label or one that has clearly been designed to please the eyes and be useful? Above: flavored vodka comes in astonishingly cool flasks, the design of which won a bronze award at the 2009 German Art Director’s Club Competition. Lower, the 360 Paper Bottle could dramatically cut down on plastic bottle waste and still give the consumer a fun drinking experience. The “Milk” package is a two-liter carton which was designed as an experiment in unique packaging and communication. Bottom, a visual representation of what’s inside: a spoonful of sugar.

Playful Packages

(images via: TheDieline 1, 2)

It can be almost painful to throw away the coolest packaging – when you select a product based on how it’s packaged and bring it into your home because you like the way it looks, tossing the package into the trash is a little heart-wrenching. These products allow you to keep the wrapping around. Top, a set of dice help you decide what to be for Halloween while the canister they come in is an endlessly entertaining toy. Below that, a package containing rolls of film also works as a pinhole camera. It comes complete with instructions to help you construct your own photographic masterpiece.

You’ve Got the Music in You

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld 1, 2)

Music, being creative and highly subjective, lends itself well to creative and innovative packaging. Here, Peter Gabriel and the band Marrow both went with unusual packaging ideas for their music.

(images via: Azltron)

Science vs. Witchcraft did something a little different with their CDs and packaged them in old floppy diskettes, complete with retro labels and paper sleeves. As an added bonus, users can play a text-based game when they insert the diskette into a computer.

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld)

You wouldn’t use just any earbuds to listen to all of that creatively-packaged music, right? Audiovox designed these packages knowing that many people choose their earbuds as a fashion accessory rather than an electronics accessory. They put them in these personality-rich packages to help consumers decide which personality fits their lifestyle and their needs the best.

Power Up: Health Products

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld and Gajitz)

Any parent knows that getting kids to take vitamins can be a rather difficult task. These Omega-3 supplements come in kid-friendly packaging that might once and for all end the battle over taking or not taking vitamins. Below, creative first aid packaging whispers, rather than shouts, what’s inside – leaving the product to speak for itself.

Beautifully Creative Packaging

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld and Freedom of Creation)

There’s really no question that we’re simply drawn toward creative, attractive packaging. Even if the product is exactly the same as the one next to it, we simply want the one that looks more interesting. Whether it’s Mr. Clean packaged in dumbbell-shaped bottles or L’Oreal skin cream nestled in a golden sphere, many of us will buy a brand other than our usual when a different product offers a more attractive outer wrapping. Even though the packaging often just ends up in the trash, that first impression in the store makes all of the difference. Most of us decide in a split second, right when we see a product for the first time, whether we’re going to buy it. Since we can’t test out every product in the store, we rely on the packaging to tell us part of the story and draw us in.

[ WebUrbanist - By Delana in Architecture & Design, Guerilla Marketing & Ads, Subvertising & Counter-Ads. ]

[ By Angie in Abandoned Places, Architecture & Design, Travel & Places. ]

Crypts are stone chambers or vaults beneath a church usually used as burial vaults. In more modern times, family vaults were built aboveground in cemeteries and are usually referred to as mausoleums. When a cemetery or a church is abandoned, these decrepit crypts and the people buried in them are all but forgotten. In a tribute to Memorial Day, with the help of urbex, urban exploration photos, we will virtually visit and pay out respects to these 15 abandoned and creepy crypts.

Spooky Crypt Hunters

(image credits: GraemeKelly, GraemeKelly)

Although not the most common places to hunt, crypts are explored by urban explorers and ghost hunters. Imagine creeping through a cemetery as darkness approaches, armed with a camera, and with the intention of infiltrating an abandoned church and traveling below ground into a crypt. Here we go with this special brand of spooky crypt hunters for a few moments of remembrance and to pay our respects.

Abandoned Crypt, Memphis, Tennessee

(image credit: naslrogues)

This abandoned chapel in Memphis, Tennessee, is boarded up and practically shouted to a few urban explorers to go inside and see what is there. The disused crypt portion had no coffins in the shelves, but the inside was in complete disarray. Old broken coffins were broken open and scattered throughout the place. Although there were no signs of any dead laid to rest here, and no corpses, it was still very creepy.

Calvary Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois

(image credit: orngejuglr)

This very old mausoleum in Calvary Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois, is far beyond abandoned. The decrepit vault is crumbling. The front gate or door might have fallen off as time passed or it might have been opened by grave robbers. Nature is reclaiming this mausoleum with a bush growing beside it and a tree growing on the inside and up through the roof. Although there is no sign of a coffin inside the mausoleum, there is musty dirt, dried up mortar and plenty of spiderwebs.

Vampire’s Crypt

(image credit: Svenstorm)

This is an ultra spooky but true tale that happened at Chestnut Hill Baptist Church Cemetery in Rhode Island. Mercy Brown, age 19, died in January of 1892. The winter ground was frozen and a grave could not be dug, so she was kept in this aboveground crypt. When consumption started killing off her family, her brother and others went into the crypt. She appeared to have moved and still looked “fresh.” Believing her a vampire, her brother cut out her heart and burned it against a wall inside the crypt. Then he gave the ashes as a treatment to his sick son. The son soon died. Poor Mercy Brown was later buried in the cemetery with a traditional tombstone.

Ice Crypt in Koohrang, Iran

(image credit: milad3010)

Due to aridity in Iran, due to super hot summers and very cold winters, crypts were carved into the mountain. In archaic times, people lived in them as well as buried their dead in them. This ancient ice crypt is also a tunnel located near Chelgerd City. It took 15 years for about 5 million workers to cut through the mountain at the time of Shah Abbas (1587-1629). This ice crypt tunnel of Koohrang was meant to divert more water to Karoon River.

Heidelberg Thingplatz

(image credits: opacity)

The grounds of the Heidelberg Thingplatz cover 25 meters of sloping land, which is situated atop Heiligenberg (Holy Mountain) Germany. The mountain is full of ancient burial grounds. At the summit was a Roman temple dedicated to the god Mercury. The location of this temple later became the St. Michael Monastery in 1023. Heiligenberg Thingplatz was built in 1934 around these ancient crypts and burial grounds. It was used for Nazi propaganda plays, speeches, and entertainment. Then the radio took over as the more preferred medium for promoting Nazism.

St Cuthbert’s Burial Grounds, Edinburgh

(image credit: bthomso)

There is really nothing left in which to pay respect inside this decrepit crypt. Nature is slowly reclaiming the burial chamber. Located in Edinburgh, this is only one of three old damaged crypts in St. Cuthbert’s burial grounds.

Collegiate Church Crypt

(image credit: rojabro)

The castle at Warkworth, Northumberland, has a passage under the foundation which leads to the Collegiate Church (as seen at left). On the right is the crumbling remains of a crypt which is hidden away under the church. The church was abandoned and left uncompleted after Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, was murdered in 1489.

Grave of Joseph Lenné

(image credit: Morgennebel)

Peter Joseph Lenné was a famous Prussian landscape gardener and architect from Bonn who worked in the German classicist style. Bornstedt Cemetery has remarkable tombstones, mausoleums and crypts. It was a popular burial place of Prussian court employees. Located in Potsdam, Brandenburg, this is the gravesite of Lenné who died in 1866.

You Never Know What Might Be Waiting Inside The Crypt…

Urban explorers never know what might be waiting on the inside of whatever they are exploring. The same is true of going down and under into abandoned crypts. The sign above reads, “To my wife, we’ll never forget you.”

(image credits: Jago Pauwels, Jago Pauwels, Jago Pauwels)

In the same abandoned and derelict crypt, a diseased spider hangs dead on the wall. Nearby, beautiful decay marks the face of an angel statue.

New Guest

(image credit: Bousure)

Just in case you don’t find it creepy enough exploring abandoned crypts, this forgotten crypt in Belgium has a ghoulish “new guest.”

Tales From The Crypt

(image credit: e³°°°)

Laeken is a residential suburb in north-west Brussels in Belgium. The neo-gothic Church of Our Lady was initially built as a mausoleum. The church contains a royal crypt where the members of the Belgian Royal Family were buried. The Laeken cemetery behind the church is known as the “Belgian Père Lachaise” because it used to be the burial place of the rich and the famous. Inside the crypt are the graves of famous individuals and also features an original cast of Thinker by Auguste Rodin.

Crypt of family “Müller”

(image credit: Morgennebel)

Again at the abandoned Potsdam graveyard in Germany, this grave seems less like an elaborate tombstone and more like a dungeon cell leading to the dead. This is the crypt for the “Müller” family. Nature is moving in to reclaim the decaying crypt.

Crypt of Barons*

This family crypt is in an England town cemetery, which is very well maintained except for this resting place. Barons from a nearby castle are laid to rest inside, with dates starting in the early 1800’s and ending with urns that were entombed around 1960.

The crypt was laid out in an L-shape. Each casket rests inside a niche with enough room for about 15 bodies. A duke born in the 1700s has a crown and a plague atop his casket. On another duke’s casket, ornate metal crests and shields and jewels glint from the meager light that shines into this cave-like crypt.

(image credits: opacity)

Some of the caskets in Crypt of Barons* are warped with age. Old wooden doors, thick cobwebs and mildewed stones give this crypt an eerie atmosphere like something out of a horror movie. The real name of this crypt is not used, since the doors are unlocked. Urban explorers do not want to mark the way like a map for vandals and grave robbers.

La Crypte des Fleurs*

One cemetery in Belgium is very well maintained except for a small chapel-like structure. Inside, a spiral staircase leads down to a dark, dank crypt and gallery of tombs that have not been visited at all for years except by urban explorers. Three tunnels form this crypt, following the cemetery paths aboveground.

The dates of death range from 1885 to 1978. The walls are damp to the touch. Mementos, plastic flowers and cracked portraits have layers of mildew, moss, rust, and cobwebs.

(image credits: opacity)

In the early days of this crypt, caskets were constructed of cheap wood. These soon decomposed in this damp underground crypt and created a horrendous stench of liquefied wood and rotting flesh. The city council issued an order that future coffins to be buried in this tomb were required to be zinc based. This was to reduce the putrid stench of decaying bodies which were shelved in the crypt.

Mount Rose*

Built in 1837 to alleviate overcrowding in the smaller local cemeteries, Mount Rose Cemetery* helped to provide a more remote location for bodies that were infected with contagious diseases such as smallpox and cholera. There are ornate Victorian crypts, monuments, and mausoleums on the hills of this cemetery.

(image credits: opacity)

There are also two old abandoned Gothic chapels. The one built in 1863 was a receiving vault. The other chapel added a crematory in 1912. Mount Rose is the final resting place for more than 1/3 of a million people . . . it is also not the cemetery’s real name to protect the innocent and the dead.

Father de Coma – Crypt Works

A French priest, Father Louis de Coma, created many great monuments above and below ground in Baulou, France. On the left is the chapel on the hill: The 12th Station of the Cross and the start of the Father de Coma Alignment. Behind the chapel are two ancient tombs.

(image credits: andrew gough)

On the upper left a Water Gorgon guards the entrance to the de Coma Family Crypt. On the right is Magdalene crypt, the burial tomb of the De Coma family. Magdalene presides over a pool of water that de Coma believed to possess magical powers. The evocative underground mausoleum is symbolically connected via an alignment that bisects all of the primary religious structures aboveground in Baulou. The Statue of Jesus is turned away from Louis de Coma’s tomb.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend! Please consider sparing a few moments in remembrance to those who died fighting for your country. Please pay your respects to your loved ones who have passed away before you.

[ WebUrbanist - By Angie in Abandoned Places, Architecture & Design, Travel & Places. ]

[ By Steph in History & Factoids, Travel & Places. ]

Whether they contain spiritual secrets or mere mundane accounts of daily life, the ancient texts that today’s scholars just can’t seem to decipher could be keys to understanding civilizations that have long since passed from this world. Many of these 10 dead languages will never be understood, yet they live on as a cryptic reminder of the complexity not just of the world we live in but of our own history as a species.

Liber Linteus

(images via: wikimedia commons)

As if a linen book from a long-gone civilization weren’t fascinating enough, the origin of the Liber Linteus makes it even more morbidly amazing: it was once the wrappings on a mummy. Most of the Liber Linteus writings, which were removed from the female Egyptian mummy and later made into a book in the 19th century, can’t be translated because they were written in the little-understood Etruscan language. But what little scholars can understand reveals it to be some sort of ritual calendar.

The Rohonc Codex

(image via: wikimedia commons)

On 448 paper pages are transcribed – from right to left – unique symbols that total 10 times higher than any known alphabet in the history of the world. But nobody knows for certain just what the Rohonc Codex says, or who created it. Discovered in Hungary, the text has been studied by numerous paleography experts and scholars and appears to be religious in nature, with the code accompanied by illustrations and symbols of Christian, pagan and Muslim origin. Many Hungarian experts believe it’s a hoax, but if it is, it’s not gibberish – the  patterns of the text follow those of authentic languages.

Codex Seraphinianus

(image via: abe books)

It’s been called the weirdest book in the world, but the Codex Seraphininianus is much more than just a bizarre collection of lurid and surreal art. Created by Italian artist Luigi Serafini in the late 1970s, this is no ancient tome inscribed with some undeciphered language of old – but it does contain its own unique and unreadable alphabet which codebreakers have been unable to crack.

Rongorongo

(image via: wikimedia commons)

Could the Rongorongo be an independent example of the invention of writing, separate from those of which we already know? It wouldn’t be surprising, considering that this system of glyphs was found on the already incredibly mysterious and captivating Easter Island, known for its massive stone statues. The roughly two dozen wooden tablets, now located in museums across the world, can’t be confirmed as such – because experts can’t even determine whether the markings on them actually count as language.

The Singapore Stone

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Standing at the mouth of the Singapore River, the massive 10-foot-high sandstone slab known as the Singapore Stone is connected to a 14th century legend about a strongman named Badang, who was said to have hurled the stone into place. The stone was covered in a worn inscription that may now never be deciphered, given the fact that an engineer building a fort had it blown to pieces in 1843. One of the fragments was saved and is displayed at the National Singapore Museum.

The Voynich Manuscript

(image via: wikimedia commons)

The Voynich Manuscript handily won its place among WebUrbanist’s 10 Most Amazing Ancient Objects of Mystery in History: “Is the Voynich Manuscript evidence of a forgotten civilization, or merely an elaborate hoax? This handwritten book full of text that the world’s top cryptographers and codebreakers have never been able to decipher dates to the 15th century and was discovered in 1912 by book dealer Wilfrid M. Voynich. If it is a hoax, it’s incredibly convincing, given how fluidly the text was written and the fact that statistical analysis has revealed patterns similar to those found in natural languages.”

Linear A

(image via: wikimedia commons)

It’s the key to deciphering numerous writings from the Minoan era of ancient Crete, but language experts just haven’t been able to discover the language of Linear A, a script found on many artifacts. Used around 1900-1800 B.C.E., Linear A was the official script of Cretan palaces and cults but it and any other Minoan language has been lost to history.

Vinca symbols

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Are the Vinca symbols the earliest form of writing in the world? Some archaeologists think so, while others maintain that they don’t represent writing at all. Perhaps they were just “proto-writing” – meaning they convey a message but don’t encode language – but either way, they have fascinated historians since they were unearthed by an archaeologist in Hungary in 1875. They were probably created between 4500 and 4000 B.C.E., and most scholars believe they were used for religious purposes.

Indus/Harappan Script

(image via: wikimedia commons)

Over 4,000 items bearing the mysterious Indus script have been found but to this day, nobody knows what they say; the language encoded within them has never been deciphered. Many have tried but none have succeeded, mostly because the average length of the inscriptions is so short, at about five characters each. Some scholars believe it represents a proto-Dravidian language, meaning it’s the forebear of the languages spoken today in places like India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Proto-Elamite Script

(image via: wikimedia commons)

Why was the Proto-Elamite script used for such a brief period, and then abandoned? This early Bronze Age writing system used by the oldest civilization of Iran over a large geographical area, but only for about two hundred years. It’s difficult for experts to even guess at what symbols may represent since they’re mostly abstract.

[ WebUrbanist - By Steph in History & Factoids, Travel & Places. ]

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places, History & Factoids, Travel & Places. ]

Antarctica – this huge, frozen continent is bitterly cold, inhospitable as Mars and as far from civilization as any place on the planet. Just getting there has been a struggle; staying there has been near impossible. These 10 amazing Antarctic abandonments, frozen in time as well as in place, bear mute testimony to mankind’s perseverance in mastering what is literally the last place on Earth.

Shackleton’s Hut, UK, Abandoned 1909

(images via: Fogonazos and Noah Strycker)

Sir Ernest Shackleton participated in a number of Antarctic exploration expeditions in the first two decades of the 20th century, including the 1907-09 Nimrod Expedition. Upon arriving at McMurdo Sound, Shackleton selected a landing site about 20 miles away from Hut Point, established by rival explorer Robert Falcon Scott during the 1901-04 Discovery Expedition.

(images via: Icecubicle and Antarctica2000)

Though Shackleton pushed to within 97 miles of the South Pole, setting a record, he and his party were forced to turn back. When the expedition departed Antarctica in March of 1909, he left the fully stocked, pre-fab hut behind – where it still stands, not much the worse for wear, to this day.

Take a video tour of Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica:

Conserving Shackleton\’s Historic Hut in Antarctica, via AntarcticPortraits

(images via: Luxury Insider and Whisky News)

In 2006, a team from the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust paid a working visit to Shackleton’s hut and made an exciting discovery: several cases of Australian brandy and Scotch whisky! The scotch, “Chas Mackinlay & Co’s ‘Rare and Old’ Whisky”, is a true treasure as the original recipe was lost.

Scott’s Hut, UK, Abandoned 1913

The heroic yet ultimately doomed Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott in 1911 was based at Hut Point, the original base set up by Scott when he first arrived in Antarctica. Though Scott and his 4 companions reached the South Pole on January 17th, 1912, to their great disappointment they found that Roald Amundsen of Norway had beat them by nearly a full month.

(images via: Nomadwarmachine, NHM and Cool Antarctica)

As history records, Scott and his team (Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Evans) did not survive the return from the Pole but their hut on Ross Island remains, preserved by frigid cold and low humidity.

Mawson Station, Australia, 1914

(image via: Rafsanchez)

The 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) led by Sir Douglas Mawson set a number of scientific goals plus one rather surprising one: making the first flight over Antarctic territory. Unfortunately Mawson’s flying plans were scuttled when the aircraft, Vickers Monoplane No.1, suffered damage to its wings in transit and was used, wingless, as an air tractor.

(images via: Alliance Travel Partners and Australian Government)

Mawson Station was abandoned in 1914 though Mawson returned for short visits in 1929 and 1931. Remains of the Vickers aircraft’s metal frame were discovered on January 2nd, 2010, by a team from the Mawson’s Huts Foundation. The original huts at Mawson’s base at Cape Denison can be seen above, nearly subsumed by decades of snow and ice.

Whaler’s Bay, Norway/Chile/UK, Abandoned 1931

(images via: David Zaks and Dark Roasted Blend)

Ring-shaped Deception Island off the Antarctic Peninsula offered whaling expeditions of the late 1800s a sheltered harbor and shores – Whaler’s Bay – where they could process their catches. The island is also the site of an active volcano which last erupted in 1970.

(image via: David Zaks)

Deception Island is strewn with rusted relics of uncounted whaling expeditions as well as several abandoned scientific bases sponsored by Norway, Chile and Great Britain.

New Swabia, Nazi Germany, 1938-39

(images via: Echoes Of Enoch, Gnostic Liberation Front and Greyfalcon)

One of the most mysterious episodes in Antarctic exploration involves Nazi Germany, who claimed and explored a large area of Antarctica in the late 1930s. The expeditions included Dornier flying boats that mapped and photographed extensive areas of “New Swabia”. The planes dropped a series of Nazi flag pennants and boundary poles over the territory, none of which have been recovered… yet.

(images via: CG-IMDB and Barista)

Certain parts of the former New Swabia (Neuschwabenland) are clear of ice due to geothermal heating, fueling speculation the Nazi’s set up a wartime base there supplied by U-boats. In 1946-47, the United States sent a 13-ship task force that included an aircraft carrier and numbered 4,700 men to New Swabia, ostensibly to practice arctic warfare techniques. Operation Highjump was (and still is) shrouded in secrecy (many official documents pertaining to it are still classified), leading to even more speculation as to what the Nazi’s were really up to in Antarctica, if anything.

Bust Of Lenin, Soviet Union, 1957/1967

(images via: NPI/NSF and Paul Landry)

Antarctica features not only the South Pole and the South Magnetic pole, but also the Pole of Inaccessibility: The point on the Antarctic continent that is the most distant from any coast. Not the sort of place you’d want to leave anyone important, even if it’s a statue – yet that’s just what the Soviet Union did.

(image via: Paul Landry)

A truncated pyramidal building topped with a bust of Lenin was built at the P of A in 1957 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Though the Soviet Union ended up, as Ronald Reagan famously predicted, “on the ash heap of history”, this monumental bust of Lenin continues to cool his non-existent heels in a much, much colder place.

Base W, UK, Abandoned 1959

(images via: Antarctic Fury)

British Survey Base W was established in 1956 at the head of an ice-free bay on Detaille Island. At least, it was thought to be ice-free – the original surveyors arrived during an unusually warm summer.

(images via: Antarctic Fury)

When the last provisioning ship of the season arrived in 1959, the base personnel were told they had just one hour to pack up their belongings and abandon the base. Just over a half century later, Base W remains pretty much the way it was left over a half century ago.

Dobrowolski Station, Poland, Abandoned 1959/1992

(image via: Luminous Landscape)

Located relatively close to where the New Swabia expedition landed in 1938, Dobrowolski Station was first set up by the Soviet Union in late 1956 and was transferred to the Polish government in 1959. The area around the base was described by Admiral Richard E. Byrd in 1947 as “one of the most remarkable regions on earth, an island suitable for life had been found in a universe of death”.

(image via: The Age)

Evidently the Poles did not share Byrd’s sentiment, as they abandoned Dobrowolski Station after only a few weeks. It was last occupied by Soviet scientists from nearly Oasis Station in the early 1990s.

Almirante Brown Station, Argentina, Abandoned 1984

(images via: Canuck01, Dark Roasted Blend and Waymarking)

Whomever named “Paradise Bay” in West Antarctica must have read about Eric the Red’s naming of Greenland. Argentina set up a research station at Paradise Bay and named it for Admiral Guillermo Brown, father of the Argentine Navy.

(image via: Waymarking)

The story goes, a researcher was so upset at the thought of being left at Almirante Brown Station over the long, dark Antarctic winter that he set some of the buildings on fire as the supply ship was preparing to leave. The base burned, the researcher left on the ship, and Argentina was too broke to do anything about it.

Leningradskaya Base, Soviet Union, Abandoned 1991

(images via: Cool Antarctica, Wikipedia and Kaibab Journal)

The Soviet research station “Leningradskaya”, located in Oates Land, was set up in 1971 and abandoned in 1991 in the wake of the fall of communism and the accompanying fiscal crisis that beset the country.

(image via: Cool Antarctica)

Today the remnants of the old station lie scattered around its remaining outbuildings – some of the metal surfaces barely display a hint of rust. Cleaning up the base is somewhat problematic… it sits at the edge of 100-ft high stone cliff looking out to the desolate Oates Coast of Antarctica.

(image via: Australian Antarctic Division)

It’s easy to be smug and chastise a century’s worth of explorers for not cleaning up the messes they made in one of Earth’s most pristine environments. Take a walk in their shoes, however, and you might gain some understanding of how harsh a place Antarctica really can be… at the cost of a few fingers and toes abandoned to howling, 200mph katabatic winds that never, ever stop.

[ WebUrbanist - By Steve in Abandoned Places, History & Factoids, Travel & Places. ]

[ By Steph in Architecture & Design. ]

It’s all too easy to accidentally poke a hole into an eggshell – but few people can do it in such a controlled way that it can be called art. Slovenian artist Franc Grom turns these incredibly delicate objects into diminutive, stunningly precise and detailed eggshell sculptures with a steady hand, a sharp eye and a tiny electric drill.

Grom can spend months on a single egg, patiently poking thousands upon thousands of holes into the fragile shell. Grom has created more than three hundred of these masterpieces, many of which have – of course – an Easter egg theme.

Inspired by traditional Slovenian designs, Grom’s work ranges from asymmetrical botanical motifs to cutouts that glow brilliantly when illuminated from the inside. In some works, the remaining bits of eggshell that connect one part of a design to another are little more than a millimeter wide.

(image credits:damnfunnypictures,ragandbone,a-pic.co.tv)

Growing up in a small village in Slovenia, Grom never considered turning his interest in art into a career. It wasn’t until he retired that he began a new life as a respected craftsman, discovering an unusual skill which has gained him no small amount of attention, putting the tiny town of Vrhinka on the map. You can’t find art like this anywhere else in the world, and Grom even has a thank-you letter on official White House stationary from pleased collector Bill Clinton.

[ WebUrbanist - By Steph in Architecture & Design. ]

[ By Delana in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors. ]

In the modern home, chairs are more than just a place to plant your seat. They’re part of an overall design scheme, statements about your personal style and a way to complement your other furniture and art pieces. From ghosts and monsters to teddy bears and musical instruments, these modern chair designs are all about the unusual, the quirky and the totally unforgettable.

Seating Spectres

(images via: Dezeen)

It’s not easy to design a chair that both grabs attention and looks like it isn’t there at all. Design Drift presented their “Ghost Chair” collection in 2008: the furniture is made of clear plexiglass with laser-formed ghostly shapes inside each piece. In the right lighting, the plexiglass forms are invisible, and all one can see is the organic shapes inside which appear to be made of motionless smoke.

The Nesting Phase

(image via: Best Modern Chair)

If you’re looking for a space-saving chair that doesn’t economize on style, the Nesting Chair from Dripta Roy is just the thing. The solid wooden chair slides into several hollow chairs (and one solid center) when more seating is needed, then smoothly slides back together when the party is over and the house needs to get back to normal.

Furniture That Makes a Splash

(image via: Yanko Design)

Designer Michael Wendel was inspired by macro photographs of liquid droplets that looked comfortable enough to nestle into. He took this kernel of an idea and turned it into a human-sized liquid droplet lounge chair. The painstaking process of making a scale model, plotting the full-size version, and building the chair layer by layer was obviously worth it, because the finished product is a stunning and impressive work of modern furniture art.

Roll With It

(images via: Dornob)

Furniture that seems to defy gravity is always amazing, and this transforming chair from Uros Vitas is no exception. The wooden slats are held together with bands of metal that allow the chair to be rolled up when not in use. When the chair is in its fully extended position, it seems to magically hold itself there with no support other than the thin metal strips.

Duck! It’s a Lounge Chair!

(images via: I New Idea)

For people with exceptionally long legs, or for those who just like to stretch out, the Ducking Lounge Chair has more than enough room. Resembling both a duck’s open bill and a swimming pool’s diving board, this unique chair provides just enough “give” to be comfortable without toppling over.

Musical Chairs

(image via: Joon&Jung)

They may look like musical instruments, but these chairs are more an exercise in relaxation. They’re designed to be filled with sand which shifts and sways with every rock of the chair, making a beautifully organic beach-like sound. Meant to be both urban and natural, these beach sounds chairs allow a leisurely nature experience in the comfort of one’s home.

No Ordinary Origami

(images via: Dornob)

If origami is the art of folding paper, and modern furniture design is the pursuit of creating bold new pieces for the home, this chair is the perfect marriage of the two. The clever folding mechanism uses thin, movable plastic to collapse the full-size chair into a far more compact size, leaving you with some extra storage room and bedecking your home with a truly unique and sophisticated dining chair.

Bowing to Clever Design

(images via: Jennifer Heier)

Designer Jennifer Heier wanted to shift the subject/object roles of humans and their furniture, so she created, among other unusual furniture items, the ReLegs Chair. It functions just like a normal chair, but it features “knees” that allow its legs to function in a way similar to human legs. The designer says that the upright position is for regular sitting, and while the reclined position is more comfortable for the sitter, it is not so for the chair, which has to prostrate itself for human use. Whether or not the chair knows it’s kneeling is not up for debate; all that matters here is this incredibly unusual design.

Ruby Rocks

(image via: Ruby Rocking Chair)

Designed to both resemble and pamper the human body, the Ruby Rocking Chair includes water-filled “smart pillows” to cushion the back and bottom. The cushions are available in different sizes to fit every body type, and they help keep the skin cool in warmer environments. The chair’s designer, Pouyan Mokhtarani, wanted to create a piece of furniture that would offer unparalleled comfort, and he claims that sitting in it once will make you feel like you can rule the world.

Scrub-a-Dub-Dub, Relax in the Tub

(images via: The Baek)

Bathtubs are often a refuge in the home, a place where we go to relax and get away from the hassles of everyday life. It only seems logical to turn this oasis of comfort into a lounge chair. That’s exactly what designer Baek Ki Kim did with this elegant reworking of the classic bathtub aesthetic: smooth rounded lines and a sense of being enclosed in a (temporarily) private world.

Cuddly Seat

(images via: Matti Klenell)

Do you ever miss the warm embrace of your favorite childhood teddy bear? This giant stuffed bear armchair from artist Matti Klenell takes the comfort of a favorite stuffed animal and blows it up to massive proportions.

Chairchitecture

(image via: Klick_It)

Designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, the Cross Check armchair was inspired by the woven apple crates Gehry used to play with as a child. The smooth, flowing lines of the interwoven lightweight maple strips make this chair seem more delicate than it actually is.

Monster Chair Hacks

(images via: Tricky)

Old office chairs just seem to have monster-sized personalities – at least that’s what one artist thought. These conceptual office chair hacks take a staple of the furniture world – the classic Eero Saarinen office chair – and turn it into a fun and hilarious new product using the pre-existing characteristics.

Tanks for the Seat!

(images via: Dezeen)

American recording artist Pharrell Williams designed this eye-catching chair, which consists of a leather seat and plexiglass base. Williams wanted to create a design that would address the theme of war; indeed, the base of his “Tank” chair is reminiscent of tank treads. According to Williams, he thought about the reasons behind young people serving in the military and pictured what it must be like “to sit in the seats of [their] youth.”

No Use For a Chair

(images via: Dornob)

This chair concept is so modern and forward-thinking that it doesn’t even require a seat at all. The clever invention is little more than a strap that you wrap around your legs and body, holding your legs up into a natural folded sitting position. As long as you don’t mind perching on a floor or sidewalk wherever you happen to be, this has to be the most compact seat design ever.

[ WebUrbanist - By Delana in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors. ]

[ By Angie in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Travel & Places. ]

Don’t you hate it when someone tells you that you don’t know diddly squat, don’t know jack? Does it make you more determined than ever to succeed? Do you not tell anyone and continue building your dream in secret? Are those dreams ever as big as building a castle? Each of these 14 castles were constructed primarily as the DIY work of one man, except for perhaps a few family members or friends who also didn’t know jack but pitched in. Sometimes not knowing jack comes back to bite us, while sometimes the drive and desire to attain the dream is aided by not knowing how impossible the DIY task should be. Here are 14 fabulous DIY castles built by people who did not have a clue about construction, who did not know jack about building castles.

Bishop Castle

(image credits: wikipedia)

Bishop Castle is proof of the power of suggestion. Jim Bishop might not have known jack about building, but he knew enough to construct his family cottage and to cover it with rocks. In 1969, neighbors remarked that the cottage looked similar to a castle. Upon hearing that, Bishop acted as sole builder and constructed Bishop Castle near Rye, Colorado. It has several towers, but the main tower is over 160 feet tall.

Le Palais Idéal – Ferdinand Cheval

(image credits: wikipedia)

Although some people may say Ferdinand Cheval didn’t know jack, he knew enough to be inspired by one beautiful stone in the road and then to build the castle of his childhood imagination. By day, Cheval worked as a mailman. By night, he worked in secret to construct Palais Ideal. Palais Ideal, the Ideal Palace, “Started in 1879 and finished in 1912; it took over 10,000 days, 93,000 hours, and 33 years of toil.” Cheval wished to be buried there, but French authorities more or less said Cheval didn’t know jack about the law and refused. Cheval spent the next eight years building a magnificent mausoleum in the cemetery of Hauterives. He lived one more year before he was buried there at the age of 80.

Fidler’s Castle

(image credits: Daily Mail)

If you had neither the training nor the lawful building permits, how do you hide a self built castle for four years? Behind 40 feet tall bales of hay. Robert Fidler and his wife built their dream castle, complete with ramparts and cannons. After four years, thinking the time for objections had passed, they removed stacked hay and tada! Fidler’s Castle. Neighbors and the Redhill Surrey planning council were not impressed. In fact, after years in court, Fidler lost the battle. His dream of a castle was jacked and it is to be knocked down.

Cathedral of Justo Gallego Martínez

(image credits: wikipedia,citynoise)

No money, no formal training, but rich with faith, former monk, farmer and bull fighter, Justo Gallego Martínez built his very own Cathedral near Madrid, Spain. People make promises when they are close to death, but few follow up on them and build a “castle.” When he was struck down with tuberculosis, Martínez promised he would build a shrine in honor of the Lady of the Pillar if he recovered. The Cathedral, his castle, has no formal plans and is still under construction. He works mainly alone and it might take him another 15 – 20 years to complete. Most of the structure was built from recycled materials like the columns which were molded with old petrol drums. The domed cathedral stands over 131 feet. Pretty impressive for someone who doesn’t know jack about building.

Rushton Triangular Lodge

(image credits: wikipedia)

15 years in prison might cause anyone to go a little crazy, but how many might it inspire to build their own castle? Upon his release of prison in 1593, Sir Thomas Tresham designed and constructed his castle, the Triangular Lodge. He was jailed for refusing to convert from Catholic to Protestant, so Tresham built Triangular Lodge to reflect the Holy Trinity. It has three walls, each of which are 33 feet long. Each wall has three triangular windows and surmounted by three gargoyles. The structure is three stories high and has a triangular chimney. The three outside walls have three Latin texts, each 33 letters long.

Mystery Castle

(image credits: Atlas Obscura)

After being diagnosis with tuberculosis, but telling no one about it, Boyce Luther Gulley abandoned his life and family. He moved outside of Phoenix, Arizona, and started building Mystery Castle. The self built castle took 15 years, has 18 rooms, 13 fireplaces, and was constructed of reclaimed materials like car parts, stones, salvaged rail tracks, telephone poles, and adobe. It’s held together with mortar made from goats milk and cement. Upon his death, his daughter, also his princess, learned she now was the owner of Mystery Castle.

Quigley’s Castle

(image credits: smokeyangel,Atlas Obscura)

Perhaps her husband told her that she didn’t know jack, but whatever set her off, Mrs. Quigley found one very unique way to get her own castle. While her husband was away, she demolished their house so he would help her build Quigley’s Castle. It is located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Mrs. Quigley’s rock and bottle sculptures fill the indoors and cover the castle’s facade. Inside one of the bedrooms, there is a wall of butterflies next to trees growing indoors.

Grotto of the Redemption

(image credits: wikipedia)

The Grotto of the Redemption is a self constructed “castle” built upon a promise. Father Paul Dobberstein became critically ill with pneumonia and promised to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. After he recovered, Dobberstein started building the religious monument located in West Bend, Iowa. The Grotto is actually a conglomeration of minerals, fossils, shells, and petrifactions. They are built into nine grottos depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. It is believed to be the largest grotto in the world. Dobberstein might not have known jack, but he knew Jesus.

Loveland Castle

(image credits: wikipedia,lovelandcastle)

In 1929, Boy Scout troop leader Harry Andrews began building Loveland Castle. Also called Château Laroche, Loveland Castle is located in Loveland, Ohio. It is now a museum. Andrews built his castle as “an expression and reminder of the simple strength and rugged grandeur of the mighty men who lived when Knighthood was in flower.”

Broken Angel House

(image credits: wikipedia,gothamist)

The Wood family took a 4-story brick tenement building in Brooklyn, New York, and improvised construction to build their castle. Broken Angel house is a castle of broken dreams and broken hearts. For 27 years, Arthur and Cynthia Wood built the structure up until it reached about 9 stories above the sidewalk. A fire broke out in 2006, inside the huge cathedral of beautiful arches and stained glass windows. The Wood family was ordered to vacate, but Arthur defied the order and was arrested. Cynthia was arrested while outside with their dog. Arthur, his wife and their pets lived in a car outside their own castle during the cold winter months that followed. Faced with foreclosure and medical bills from Cynthia’s cancer, the plans to renovate Broken Angel were never realized. This tragic tale of broken dreams gets worse; Cynthia died of cancer and Arthur has a broken heart, but not his Broken Angel castle.

Tower of Eben-Ezer

(image credits: wikipedia,musee)

This castle in Liege, Belgium, was built by Robert Garcet. The tower-museum is called the Tower of Eben-Ezer. It has seven floors and stands 108 feet high. The four turrets at the corners are topped with magnificent statues. In the Bible, Eben-Ezer is the stone of help, so Garcet chose to top his castle with the four cherubs of the Apocalypse: Taurus, north-west, Man, south-west, the Lion, south-east, and Eagle, the northeast. Garcet might not have known diddly about constructing a castle, but the stone cutter knew enough to enlist help from other visionary friends.

Taródi Var

(image credits: Curious Expeditions)

Stephen Tarodi, with the help of his family who also did not know jack about building, toiled since the 1950s to build Tarodi Var. The castle in Sopron, Hungary, is complete with towers, turrets, rope bridges and arches. Mr. Tarodi died in 2009, but his sons will continue his legacy. Part of Tarodi Var is open to the public. The castle is filled with antique furniture and paintings.

Braylsham Castle

(image credits: homebuilding)

Braylsham Castle in East Sussex was a DIY labor of love built by orthodontist and physiotherapist John Mew. It took John and his wife Jo Mew eight years of backbreaking work to construct this castle from scratch. Both of Braylsham Castle’s towers are faced in reclaimed stone. The round tower leads down to the dungeon (basement), but that is not where their innovation ended. Braylsham Castle and the medieval manor house stand on an island which was also created by the Mews. Their castle comes complete with a moat. Not bad for a man who didn’t know jack about building a castle.

Sutyagin House

(image credits: seyituyanik)

One gangster’s self built castle is another man’s fire hazard. Nikolai Sutyagin spent 15 years of his life constructing his 13-story, 144-foot-tall, wooden “castle.” The house which he considered his castle, which he didn’t know diddly squat about building, was considered an eyesore and glorified barn by many of his neighbors. Sutyagin House was reported to be Russia’s tallest wooden house, perhaps the tallest in the world. While Sutyagin was in prison for racketeering charges, the city jacked him up. His castle had deteriorated to the point of being condemned. Sutyagin house was demolished.

[ WebUrbanist - By Angie in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Travel & Places. ]

[ By Marc in Guerilla Marketing & Ads, History & Factoids. ]

Old fashioned values are often espoused as something we’d like to aspire to, whether in our personal lives, or in business. When a deal used to be sealed with a handshake, the world must have been grand. Take a quick glance at advertisements from long ago, and those that are frightfully recent, and you can see how far society has come (and in some cases, how short a distance). From bogus remedies and health claims, to outright abusive and misogynistic images, here are 33 disturbing vintage advertisements we’re glad are gone:

(Images via joannecasey, vintagecatalog, kitschy-kitschy-coo, foundshit)

If only we lived in the past, when cigarettes weren’t bad for you, as proved by scientists and doctors alike! Even Santa lit up a smoke on those long sleigh rides on Christmas Eve. These are some of the most humorous ad examples, as they stand in such contrast with today’s attitudes toward tobacco products.

(Images via pzrservices, ngc2632, funnyphotos, breakupgirl)

Domestic abuse is a violation of any moral code, and not something that should be mocked, but it is especially inappropriate as the content for an ad campaign. Some of these ads were not created that long ago, and it’s startling to see how casually abuse and disrespect were celebrated with a wink and a smile.

(Images via kitschy-kitschy-coo, giovannicalabro, mamamona)

Imaging living in an age where cigarettes and tape worms were touted as effective weight loss aids. I’m sure a lot of the bogus weight loss supplements we sell today are no more effective than a sugar pill, but I feel confident saying none of them were as outright ridiculous as intentionally infecting yourself with intestinal parasites.

(Images via popularwealth, saynotocrack, darkroastedblend, juicetheblog)

Children are quite effective when used in ad creatives, as who can resist the grin of a toddler? It’s clearly taken marketing teams quite a while to come up with their current formulas, as these examples hit far from the mark. In a society that likes to keep children innocent, it’s interesting to see how different views used to be.

(Images via jezebel, hpg123, patdollard, stephaniehillberry)

Housekeeping is unequivocally women’s work (or so these advertisements would have you believe). What greater joy could a woman get from life than the crispness of a clean sheet on the bed, or surveying the shining counter-tops of her kitchen? I’m quite certain women are glad to have shed these biases and such blatant misogynistic messages… but there’s still a lot of progress to be made.

(Images via herodesignstudio, neatorama)

It’s safe to say ad campaigns were not always incredibly sensitive. Consumers today would have a fit if a store tried to classify their children as “chubbies” and child protection groups would get chills if they saw ad images that glorified the “sexiness” of innocence.

(Images via katnip, weirdomatic, boingboing, theretroblog)

The image of the smiling, happy go lucky kid next door with the gap toothed grin has been prevalent in ad copy for decades. With so many ads being produced, some were bound to come off as strange. Even the slightest angle can change a child’s face from cherubic, to scary.

(Images via bakersfield, graphicmania)

Yet another example of a “what were they thinking?” ad image, and strange medical remedies. It’s no wonder older generations are always trying to fatten their granchildren up, as plumpness was clearly a sign of good health and a robust disposition.

(Images via emilyswindowseat, midnighttoke, biancasunshine)

Women are supposed to submit to their husbands, and please them in every way possible. It’s important then, to be sure you keep yourself and your clothing in perfect repair, or you might lose his respect, and love. This kind of messaging would be hilarious, it’s so ridiculous, if these ads had never been real. Since this is a glance into history, and not fiction, it just becomes disturbing.

(Images via pzrservices, fooffa, popularwealth)

It’s interesting that their aren’t any ads about the guy spreading disease, or being “good time guys”, but, unfortunately, this is a bias that’s still a very real presence in modern media. World War II spurred a lot of safe sex advertising, out of the fear of the troops becoming infected with debilitating illnesses that would leave them unable to fight effectively.

[ WebUrbanist - By Marc in Guerilla Marketing & Ads, History & Factoids. ]