Like the colossal headquarters of the Tyrell Corporation in Blade Runner, this proposed pyramid will dwarf those in Egypt’s Gizeh plateau. The base alone would cover 2.3 square kilometers, providing enough room for the “carbon neutral” construction to house over a million people.
Revealing the pyramids of the future [World Architecture News]
Reuters’ Madeline Chambers writes on newly discovered warrens beneath Berlin, which reveal just a little of the incredible plans that Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer had for the Third Reich’s capital.
“The 16-metre (50-foot) deep tunnels were constructed in 1938 as part of an underground transport network beneath a series of bombastic buildings … The overground plans, never completed because of World War Two, included boulevards, squares and huge buildings, such as an arch dwarfing the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the 290-metre high Great Hall, with room for 180,000 people.”
From a french graphic novel series from the 1980s and 1990s, spotted by Feanne.
“Issued of the collaboration between François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters, the “Les Cités obscures” series is now up to twelve albums published in French by Casterman, and translated into most other European languages.
Although references to our world abound, especially in regard to architecture, those various books relate in fact to a parallel universe; one whose coherence is constantly growing with time.
This appears to be the publisher’s catalog — if anyone knows where it may be gotten in English, do tell.
Limpopo, South Africa, has a pub inside a gigantic Baobab. The 6,000 year old tree has a 155 ft circumference, and is said to be one of the biggest living things on Earth.
Worlds Only Bar INSIDE a Tree [Life in the fast lane, via BoingBoing]
A team of scientists is using muon detectors to locate secret rooms inside Mayan ruins. From BLDGBLOG:
‘In the new issue of Archaeology, Samir S. Patel describes how “an almost featureless aluminum cylinder 5 feet in diameter” that spends its time “silently counting cosmic flotsam called muons” – “ghost particles” that ceaselessly rain down from space – will be installed in the jungles of Belize.
There, these machines will map the otherwise unexplored internal spaces of what the scientists call a “jungle-covered mound.”‘
The idea of undiscovered chambers, within the pyramids of Giza, haunted me as a youngster. Back in the day, they’d send little robots trundling down tiny vents hoping to discover new rooms — but it turns out that they tried the muon technique there, too, to surprising effect:
“Suspicion of the research team ran high – here was a group of Americans with high-tech electronics beneath one of Egypt’s most cherished monuments. “We had flashing lights behind panels – it looked like a sci-fi thing from Star Trek,” says Lauren Yazolino, the engineer who designed the detector’s electronics.”
Don’t miss the full fascinating article, which images muon-scanning strange places as far abroad as Manhattan and Scara Brae.
Mayan Muons and Unmapped Rooms [BLDGBLOG]
Beneath Leavenworth in Kansas is an “underground city,” reports local news affiliate KCTV, and no-one known who built it–or why. The catacombs can be accessed from a title company at the intersection of South Fourth and Delaware streets, and fan out for several blocks.
“Some speculate the underground town was created in the 1800s and could have been used during slavery or for fugitives.
“We know that it was pretty secretive, whatever it was that was down here, because not too many people know anything about it,” said local Jennifer Lemons.
Katy Ryan is the editor for LV Magazine and has been researching the mysteries below.
“You know, you just think of the underground as such a dark, spooky place, but to think that this could have maybe been some kind of vibrant economic center is just kind of baffling really,” Ryan said.”
Sounds like a great plot for a creepy movie. More practically, they should move to preserve it and make it into a tourist attraction!
Oddee presents a selection of the world’s most amazing ghost towns. Namibia’s Kolmanskop is neck-high in drifting sand-dunes, and yet much remains unreclaimed by nature. Craco, a medieval city in Italy, remains an uninhabited ruin despite its size and splendor. And, of course, there is Prypiat in Ukraine, the radiant city on Chernobyl’s doorstep.
Pictured is Gunjanjima, Japan’s forbidden island.
10 Most Amazing Ghost Towns [Oddee]
More scenes from this astonishing sewer system in Saitama, Japan, after the jump.
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