abandoned architectural wonders of modern asia

Modern Asia,with its new found wealth and confidence has been the the dynamo of world construction industry. But here are few occasions where things did not exactly worked out the way they were originally intended. This is especially so in Asia where dictators and autocratic governments sometime bite more than they could chew up.

"Abandoned buildings, properties and places take on remarkably different aesthetic character and are treated differently from one culture to the next – particularly in Asian nations where beliefs about the cultural role of architecture or the whims of a dictator can vary greatly. From South Korea to North Korea, Cambodia to Thailand and Azerbaijan to Hong Kong here are seven amazing oriental and subcontinental abandonments from the Near East to the Far East, from skyscraper hotels and pod cities to shopping malls and amusement parks and everything in between – fascinating remnants of past buildings."

The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea - The hotel that never was,

Walled city of Kowloon, a modern day distopia

Read on..
via Amazing Design and Art Gallery

13 failed urban design ideas

These 13 retro urban design ideas for the future, from perfectly symmetrical egalitarian communities to the egotistical demands of a deranged dictator, will probably never become reality – and in many cases, we’re better off that way. Read more...
via web urbanist 

the architecture of happiness (book #18)

One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings and streets we’re surrounded by.

And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be - and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.

Alain de Botton
@ amazon 

designing theory and theorizing design

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