See highlights from our digital travels this week…
Copycat China adds the Louvre to its ‘duplitecture’ collection
China’s known for being the king of knock-off-Nigel imitation, and that goes for architecture too. The country that gave us a mini-Paris, fake-Vegas and (less glamorously) Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire has gone one further… In Shijiazhuang, a movie set/theme park has added to its collection of global replicas with a 1:1 version of Paris’ Louvre Pyramid. Head to CLAD Global for the skinny.
‘Before and after’ hipster Brooklyn
Photographer Kristy Chatelain takes Wired on a tour of Greenpoint in her series Brooklyn Changing. The neighbourhood is now a hipster haven offering artisanal donuts, craft beers and beards in abundance – housed in what were once disused and dilapidated spaces. At least the graffiti has stayed put…
A whole new world…
If Modernism and Postmodernism had an architectural love-child, it would probably look something like this… These photorealistic structures were created by Geebird&Bamby for their series The New World, revisiting anonymous places of the 20th century that sit between the warring aesthetics. See more via Fubiz.
India’s ‘forgotten’ subterranean stepwells
Stepwells started appearing in India as early as the second century, but they’ve been largely forgotten in recent times. In true throwback style however, these ancient and ‘endangered’ subterranean relics could provide the answer to the country’s burgeoning water crisis. See more of these incredible structures via ArchDaily.
African architecture 101
Africa’s got it all. From Art Deco cinemas to mud hut homes, the continent has a rich and varied architectural tapestry that’s often overlooked. Architect Joseph Conteh has put together a ‘top 10’ list of highlights for The Guardian offering a glimpse of what we’ve been missing.
