Architecture - let's talk buildings!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

They just need a reaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll tall ladder to prop it up.

[Volkonski]

Who says Wichita Falls doesn't have any famous buildings? Mrs. V. visited this one yesterday.



Legend of the World’s Littlest Skyscraper

https://texascooppower.com/legend-of-th ... kyscraper/

In Wichita Falls, they’ve turned the state’s bragging art form on its head. Can you tell me another place in Texas where townspeople proudly boast of having the smallest tourist attraction?

Dallas and Houston may have sparkling skyscrapers so tall that they require oxygen in the penthouses, but has Ripley’s Believe It or Not ever paid them attention? Do travelers make special detours to gaze in wonder?

Visitors to the North Texas city of Wichita Falls are routinely given directions to the edge-of-downtown corner of Seventh Street and LaSalle where, since 1919, the World’s Littlest Skyscraper has stood. The four-story red brick structure, just 40 feet tall with 118 square feet per floor, has survived tornadoes and fire and years of neglect to stand as a monument to the greed and graft of the region’s long-ago oil boom days.



What the promoter failed to mention, legend has it, was that the scale of his blueprints was in inches rather than feet. Apparently too busy to keep an eye on construction, investors ultimately found themselves owners of a building that looked more like an elevator shaft than high-rise office space. The completed building’s outside dimensions were a closet-sized 11 feet by 19 feet. Stairwells that led to the upstairs floors occupied 25 percent of the interior.

And by the time construction was completed, McMahon was nowhere to be found. Duped investors unsuccessfully chased after the scam artist and sought legal remedy only to be told they had no case. McMahon had built exactly according to the blueprints they’d signed off on.

[roadscholar]

[RTH10260]

They just need a reaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll tall ladder to prop it up.

where to find them in this day and age ...

► Show Spoiler

[MN-Skeptic]

Visitors to the North Texas city of Wichita Falls are routinely given directions to the edge-of-downtown corner of Seventh Street and LaSalle where, since 1919, the World’s Littlest Skyscraper has stood. The four-story red brick structure, just 40 feet tall with 118 square feet per floor, has survived tornadoes and fire and years of neglect to stand as a monument to the greed and graft of the region’s long-ago oil boom days.

Obviously the sky was much closer to earth in 1919.

[Chilidog]

“neo-Andean” architecture



more examples

https://www.dezeen.com/2019/02/07/fredd ... e-bolivia/

[AndyinPA]

OMG, I love them! I've been to Tiwanaku, and I think this is delightful.

[Chilidog]

Some of you might not be aware, but the greatest architect of our time, Mike Brady, designed and built this house as a wedding present for his long time housekeeper, Alice, when she and Sam got married.


https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1814 ... zsWZ4A1NYM

[keith]

Some of you might not be aware, but the greatest architect of our time, Mike Brady, designed and built this house as a wedding present for his long time housekeeper, Alice, when she and Sam got married.


https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1814 ... zsWZ4A1NYM

At the bottom of the realitors ad it asks if you want to tour 'this home'.

That dump ain't no home, its barely a dwelling for crying out loud.

[Chilidog]

It has a bowling alley!!!!

[Volkonski]

Samantha Maldonado
@sssmaldo
Well this is quite the proposal

https://nytimes.com/2022/01/14/opinion/ ... xpand.html



More Manhattan!

[RTH10260]

From what I read there is much real estate standing empty cause businesses have moved out of New York (or folded). From commentary I take it that owners still let it stand empty and still expect new tenants to pay premium rental. I feel that redeveloping these structures into homes would also give room for several thousands of residents. Both projects, the Manhattan extension and my suggestion will not be cheap. Who are the New Yorkers that will be able to pay the rent?

[Estiveo]

OMG, this twitter thread!



The pics are great, but it's Ms Makkai's commentary & the backstory of the people involved that make this story just keep getting more ridiculous with each tweet.

[AndyinPA]

I can't believe they built this for $4.1 million dollars. I have friends in Hendersonville, NC, who built a house on the top of a mountain in a gated community, for about that much money. It's a large house with three floors and an elevator, but it's nowhere this size. The cherry on the top is that she's a landscape architect so that the otherwise difficult lot is stunning.

[johnpcapitalist]

OMG, this twitter thread!



The pics are great, but it's Ms Makkai's commentary & the backstory of the people involved that make this story just keep getting more ridiculous with each tweet.

I'm surprised that something so over-the-top would be built in relatively staid, buttoned-down Connecticut.

He's delusional if he's asking $45 million, marked down to $35 million. He's been trying to sell the place since 2014, and he's off his rocker to think the place would have appreciated 10x in the four years from when it was built in 2010 to when he first listed it four years later for 10x what he paid to build it.

Doing additional research on the owner turns up some fascinating tidbits. The guy's a train wreck... with money...

Also, they seem to have first upped the asking price to $60 million, and then pulled the listing from Zillow in response to the publicity:

[Chilidog]

either the facebook group “That’s it, I’m architecture shaming" has shut down or I have been blocked for some odd reason.

The moderator of that group is weird, so either one would not surprise me.

[johnpcapitalist]

either the facebook group “That’s it, I’m architecture shaming" has shut down or I have been blocked for some odd reason.

The moderator of that group is weird, so either one would not surprise me.

I had never heard of this group, but I looked it up and it's live for me.

If you're looking for the pinnacle of brilliant writing in the field of architecture shaming, be sure to check out McMansionHell.com. The author is absolutely brilliant.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... eal-estate

A Bel Air mega mansion marketed as “America’s most expensive residence” sold in an bankruptcy auction on Thursday with a winning bid of $126m, a fraction of its reported original asking price of half a billion dollars.

The 21-bedroom home – described as “twice as big as the White House” – has been derided as much as praised, making its sale a hotly anticipated event. The elite team of realtors behind the auction touted it as the ultimate dream estate but others called it a “giant white elephant” and “one of the ugliest homes I’ve ever seen”. The New York Post labeled it “the latest example of a hyped Los Angeles mega mansion that failed to perform”, and suggested its failure to meet the listing price meant that the city’s “cheeseball” taste in real estate might be starting to improve.

With a final sale price of roughly $141m, which included the winning bid plus commissions and fees, the property did not even bring in half of its listing price of $295m.

[MN-Skeptic]

If you have that kind of money, why not just build your own mansion to your own specifications?

[RTH10260]

I guess there are not too many mountaintops that one can purchase on the market, to grade flat, and that offer the same 360 degree view. I could mis.remember but I think the previous owner did ignore some zoning laws and regulations, all those illegalities one can avoid when buying second hand. With the spare change one can also redecorate to own taste if the previous owner (or his architect) was really off track.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I haz an important question. Is that astroturf on top of the house? That could hurt resale value.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

IMG_5320.jpeg (90.93 KiB) Viewed 2844 times

https://www.visitbirzai.lt/kirkilai-tower/

KARST LAKELETS IN KIRKILAI
-
In the region full of sinkholes, this area is unique because of the highest density of sinkholes (more than 200 items per sq. km) and in particular circular lakelets. A circular lake indicates that the lake evolved from a collapsed sinkhole. When a sinkhole collapsed to expose the water table at the surface, the sinkhole was filled with water forming a small circular lake. A footpath runs across area making it possible to have a close look at these exceptional water bodies. This is one of two habitats in Europe where green sulphur bacteria (GSB) and purple sulphur bacteria (PSB) are present, the second one is in Italy.
-
THE VIEW TOWER
-
In the territory of Biržai regional park, next to karst lakelets, a view tower is built; its form resembles a canoe or a sinking boat. The height of the tower is almost 32 metres. The width of the viewpoint, which is in 30 metres height, is almost 30 square metres. On the first floor there is a 27.75 sq. m. amphitheatre meant for gatherings, small events or just for relaxation.
-
The purpose of the view tower is to create favourable conditions to the visitors in order to acquaint them with one of the main values of the Biržai regional park – the terrain of karst ditch in Sanctuary of Kirkilai landscape. When you climb-up to the view tower, you can see wonderful views: 30 sink holes full of water. They are called the lakes of the Sanctuary of Kirkilai. Their diameter can be approximately 35 meters and more. Some times, when certain conditions are met, in Summer the lakes can be of different colors.

More pics at https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/ ... IgAQ%3D%3D

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Apparently Lithuanians like towers.

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/1 ... ian-nature

Eight observation towers for bird‘s eye view of Lithuanian nature

Lithuania is beautiful from all angles – and observation towers are a good way to take in breathtaking vistas of the country.

Here are eight of them, ranging from 15 to 45 metres, each a worthwhile destination for a hike or a ride.

963730-159882-756x425.jpg (115.93 KiB) Viewed 2838 times

[MsDaisy 2]

Wow! That's cool, but Bill Gates couldn't pay me to go up there. I have a real problem with high places and have to take a Valium to get on an airplane.

[Volkonski]

Not Pisa just some bologna.

‘Leaning tower’ in Italy on ‘high alert’ for collapse

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bolo ... index.html

It’s the ‘leaning tower’ that has stood tipsily – but steadily – for nearly 1,000 years. But now, the days of the Garisenda tower in Bologna, Italy, could be numbered. Following investigations last month, the city is instigating a civil protection plan for the “sudden and unexpected collapse of the tower,” which has dominated the Bologna skyline since the 12th century.

A protective metal cordon will be erected to “contain debris resulting from a possible collapse, to reduce the vulnerability of surrounding buildings and the exposure to the population, as well as blocking access to the off-limits area,” the city council said in a statement.

The cordon will be fixed into the ground, and will include specially designed rockfall protection nets, also made of metal and also anchored to the ground.

The warning of a possible collapse was issued in a 27-page report, shared with CNN, by the scientific committee which has monitored the site since 2019.

It puts the site on “high alert” and states that experts “believe that safety conditions no longer exist to operate on or around the tower, except within the framework of a civil protection plan.”

Monitoring of the site over the past month has revealed an “unexpected and accelerated trend” of “crushing” compression to the base of the tower, with gradual disintegration of the stone used to clad the base and cracks expanding in the brick above, it says.