VOL.01
You may recall we recently discovered Kowloon City, the Hong Kong ‘historical accident’, an urban enclave so densely populated by squatters that even the law lost its grip on the seven-acre plot crammed with 300 interconnected towers. It turns out we had one just like it right here in Paris. And unlike Kowloon, which was [...]
It was the most densely populated place on Earth for most of the 20th century, where a room cost the equivalent of US$6 per month in high rise buildings that belonged to no country. In this urban enclave, “a historical accident”, law had no place. Drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes lived and worked alongside kindergartens, [...]
This is the story of a French postman who spent thirty years of his life building his dream home– a palace made of pebbles and stones he found along his postal route…. Ferdinand Cheval allegedly first began building his “Palais Ideale” in 1879 when he tripped over an unusual stone. Inspired by its shape, he [...]
Sawn in half with a chainsaw, wheeled down the streets of San Francisco, stuck on a barge at Marina Green and moved across the bay to Belvedere– it’s safe to say it was no ordinary moving day for the Knowles-Moffitt Mansion on July 3rd, 1962. Sawn in half, the Victorian mansion sits on a barge waiting [...]
When was the last time you felt like complaining to your landlord? It seems there’s always something disgruntling about where we live (I’m currently annoyed with the workmen in the building who keep blanketing my mobylette in dust), but then you read about a place like the Ponte Tower and suddenly, wherever you’re shacked up doesn’t [...]
Okay so this is probably going to be more fun for my New Yaawker readers, who know the city’s streets like the backs of their hands, but if like me, you just love that sketch-booky/ void of perfectly straight lines/ children’s book nostalgia-kind of art, then I suspect you’ll fall head over heels for [...]
I just spent a wonderful weekend back in my hometown of London, England, where I enjoyed finding my way again through little mews streets and admiring the quaint houses painted in pastels. This unusual house in Windsor, just outside of London is a tea room, appropriately known as the “Crooked House”. Built in 1592, the house [...]
Forget the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and the Chartres Cathedral, I’ve got some alternative French attractions to see… La Maison Picassiete- “The House of the Plate Stealer” Built entirely by one man, it took Raymonde Isidore more than 25 years to complete his impressive Maison Picassiette. In 1936, the middle-aged Frenchman began covering his house located [...]
(c) André Gonçalves The Vatican, the leaning Tower of Pisa, the canals of Venice, Pompeii– you might think you’ve seen all Italy has to offer already, but have you heard about the town built with a style of architecture so old, it predates written Italian history? (c) Paolo Campioni (c) LorisZec Welcome to Alberobello, a small town with [...]
When I first stumbled across this picture, I assumed it was some clever photoshopping of a fairytale castle brought to life. But this is not a Disney set, this is the Neuschwanstein castle, a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace in Bavaria, Germany– the original Disney castle. Indeed, Neuschwanstein looks so much like a fairytale castle that Walt Disney himself was [...]
Here is a 3D printed doll, cloned from a real human’s head, that you can never unsee. She has
In : life is messy. Tags: 3d printingclonefutureJapanreplicatechnology.
You may recall we recently discovered Kowloon City, the Hong Kong ‘historical
In : Paris. Tags: architecturecitadelParisurban.
Alright, so you might have noticed I have a weakness for French real estate p0rn. [Sigh] I
In : C'est Chic. Tags: 1920sArt DecoBelle EpoqueF. Scott FitzgeraldFrancefrench rivieraGatsbyluxuryreal estate.
It was the most densely populated place on Earth for most of the 20th century, where a room cost
In : don't be a tourist. Tags: anarchyarchitectureChinacitadelHong Kongsquaturban.
This is the story of a French postman who spent thirty years of his life building his dream home–
In : don't be a touristhave you met. Tags: architectureDIYferdinand chevalodditypalacetemple.
Sawn in half with a chainsaw, wheeled down the streets of San Francisco, stuck on a barge at Marina
In : Nostalgia. Tags: 1960sarchitecturebizarrehistorichistoric homemovingpreservationsan francisco.
When was the last time you felt like complaining to your landlord? It seems there’s always
In : shock me. Tags: abandonedAfricaarchitecturebrutalistconcretedecayingdesignsegregationsouth africa.
In Paris, every first Wednesday of the month at noon, without fail you can hear the eerie wail of
In : Parisshock me. Tags: cityclonefakeParisreplicawarworld war I.
More abandoned p0rn to tie you over this Monday afternoon, this time, Victorian and Art Deco
In : don't be a touristNostalgia. Tags: abandonedArt Decoswimming pools.
Okay so this is probably going to be more fun for my New Yaawker readers, who know the
In : C'est Chic. Tags: architectureartbrownstonebuildingsillustrationNew York.
Forget the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and the Chartres Cathedral, I’ve got some alternative
In : don't be a tourist. Tags: antiquesarchitectureartboneyardbric-a-braccrockerydesignFrancehousesmuseumodditiespottery.
(c) André Gonçalves The Vatican, the leaning Tower of Pisa, the canals of Venice, Pompeii– you
In : don't be a tourist. Tags: AlberobelloarchitecturebuildingshistoricalhotelsItalyoff-beatpreservation.
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