all other treehouses now pale into insignificance.

i received this picture from a reader a couple of weeks ago, along with the next 2, and couldn’t tear my eyes away for what seemed like hours.

after a quick bout of googling i discovered the origin of the larger photo: it was taken by darius kinsey, a guy i’d previously been unaware of, who was a ‘prolific photographer of logging activities in the pacific northwest’. this particular photograph shows a cedar stump house in edgecomb, washington, dates back to 1901 and has instantly become one of my favourites. the other 2 photos, i’m still not sure of - if anyone knows of a source to be credited, please let me know. i’m guessing the clearer photo is also by kinsey.

anyway, this got me wondering about other hollowed-tree residences and after much hopping i eventually came across tunneltree.com, a brilliant site rammed full of old photographs depicting exactly that and more. to cut a long and boring story short: the site’s now offline. hopefully it’s temporary. unfortunately i only saved a few of the pictures from the site and none of the info. i’m just gonna post the pictures below and hope the site comes back online, at which point i’ll update this post. in the meantime, if you happen to know anything relating to the pictures feel free to spout it in the comments section.

(below) as you may have guessed, the interior of the enormous tree on the left has been hollowed to hold a shop, as seen on the right, with a “ceiling 50′ high”.

(below) obviously not residences but a couple of incredible ‘drive-thru trees’.

in the late 1920s, early 1930s, before radio navigation was widely used, pilots of small planes were forced to use familiar landmarks on the ground as a way to find the runway they would hopefully land safely on. there was even a campaign started by the 99s (a women’s pilot group) in the early 1930s, the objective being to paint directions to the nearest airport on buildings and structures across the u.s., the result being thousands of enormous ‘road-signs’ for pilots scattered across the nation.

photo from skyscraperpage.com

when i first saw the photo above i imagined/hoped it would be pretty easy to find other brilliant photos of similar airmarks but it turns out that in the early 40s the u.s. war department demanded that all coastal airmarks be wiped out, all those inland to be left to deteriorate naturally. the result of that seems to be a frustrating lack of photos. if you know of any other enormous airmarks on local libraries, cinemas etc, let me know and i’ll try and get some photos together of the world’s largest directional signs. i’ve seen a few painted by the 99s on airfields themselves but i’d be more interested to find some more painted on huge structures like the tank above.

any ideas?

photo from airspacemag.com

here’s an incredible piece of wartime engineering - the grand shaft in dover. built between 1806 and 1809 during the napoleonic wars, this triple spiral staircase was used as a rapid route for soldiers making their way from the clifftop barracks to the town of dover and its harbour below. without it the troops had to navigate badly maintained winding roads from top to bottom.

a huge 140ft shaft was dug into the ground to house the 3 intertwined staircases, the inner shaft peppered with windows to ensure light from above reached the soldiers running down to possible battle. engineer william twiss was adamant that a single staircase wouldn’t provide a big enough route down for a huge volume of people so he wrapped 3 stairways around each other, the 3 exit points meeting at the bottom where a tunnel leads to the town of dover.

photo sources, clockwise from top: whibs, jelltecks and conundrum37

apparently at one point, after the wars had subsided and the shaft wasn’t needed by troops, each of the 3 staircases was only to be used by certain people, as pointed out by the sign at the top of each…

1. officers and their ladies

2. sergeants and their wives

3. soldiers and their women

below is the top of the grand shaft as seen on google maps. here’s the direct link.

sources: 1, 2

running under the river elbe in hamburg is a beautiful tunnel like no other. this 1/2 kilometre ‘technical marvel’, known as the ‘old river elbe tunnel’, was built in 1911, sits 24 metres below the river and connects central hamburg with the shipyard island of steinwerder. what makes the tunnel unique are the entry points on each side of the river: rather than just driving straight into the tunnel, vehicles enter a freight elevator which slowly descends to the tunnel below, the tunnel then taking traffic to a similar elevator on the opposite side which lifts them back to ground level.

[update] thanks to ‘tobi g’ for sending this elbe tunnel ticket.

the tunnel is still used to a lesser extent today by pedestrians, cyclists and cars but is now considered more a tourist attraction due to it’s quirky nature.

sources: 1, 2

from 1915 onwards these huge eerie concrete structures started popping up along the uk coast, all built with one purpose: to provide the military with an early warning system in relation to incoming aircraft. their construction was pretty much limited to the uk and arrived just before radar technology as we know it became widespread.

photo credit: get down

the majority of sound mirrors actually built were large concrete parabolic or hemispherical dishes tilted at a slight angle towards the sky, manned by an operator either behind or underneath the dish in a special chamber. the dish would reflect the incoming engine sounds onto a large movable microphone placed at the focus of the mirror and enable the operator to judge the distance and direction of the approaching aircraft.

photo credit: feersumendjinn

in 1930 the military also decided to build a massive 200ft long sound mirror wall at denge, a then raf base in kent. obviously its size resulted in greater accuracy and range with an unaided ear able to detect aircraft from 6.5 miles on a clear day. that coupled with the use of the microphones gave the operator a range of over 20 miles.

here’s the direct google maps link to the old air base where you can still see the mirror wall and 2 other more common sound mirror dishes. the original plan was to place the mirror walls along the entire coast, every 25 miles or so, with a couple of smaller dishes in between each one. in the 1930s radar reared its head and aircraft became too fast to make this method of detection advantageous so the military dropped the idea and left the mirrors intact. many of them remain to this day, scattered along the south east coast.

for more info about sound mirrors…

1, 2, 3, 4

this is incredible.

published in 1884, the diagram above shows the 77 tallest buildings of the old world (europe, asia and africa) at that time. strangely, the 78th and tallest structure shown is from the new world: the washington monument. it stood/stands at 555ft and was completed the year the diagram was made. the tallest of the old world was number 34, cologne cathedral, at 510ft.

the buildings were colour coded depending on the construction materials used…

red tint = brick ; stone colour = stone ; pink = granite ; purple = bronze, copper or lead ; yellow = gold

just as a comparison, here are the current tallest buildings on earth…

i’ve been meaning to finish this for quite some time but the huge amount of lighthouses on earth made it a slow process. the examples below have been chosen for different reasons (e.g. design, location, history) and, as always, they’re what i consider to be the best in the world. if you disagree, let me know.

many of the photos are from flickr and link to the user’s page where you can hopefully see larger versions. as for the google maps links, some of them i had to search for myself. that means some of them may be slightly incorrect due to the team at google maps selfishly not labelling every single structure on earth. again, if you notice a mistake, let me know and i’ll change the link.

first of all, i’m assuming you all know what a lighthouse is. just in case, here’s a quick definition from wikipedia…

‘an aid for navigation and pilot at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire. lighthouses are used to mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, safe entries to harbors and can also assist in aerial navigation.’

also, i’m only including lighthouses which are still standing. unfortunately that immediately excludes the pharos lighthouse of alexandria, at one time the tallest building in the world. check it out here.

so, in no particular order…

1. enoshima lighthouse, japan

google maps link

in 2003 the enoshima lighthouse in japan was renovated, the stunning results of which you can see in the photo above. the spiral staircase to the top is surrounded only by a steel frame which is lit in different colours that change throughout the night, making it pretty hard to ignore. it sits on enoshima island, a tiny peice of land just off the coast of japan

2. torre de hercules, spain

google maps link

the torre de hercules (tower of hercules) is the only roman lighthouse still in use and holds the title of ‘oldest active lighthouse in the world’. it was built by the romans in the 2nd century and renovated in 1791 by a team led by engineer eustaquio giannini. the 185ft lighthouse still stands today and looks as sturdy as ever.

3. madang lighthouse, papua new guinea

google maps link

this still active lighthouse, also known as the coastwatchers monument, was built in 1959 as a memorial to the coastwatchers during the 2nd world war. apparently intended to resemble a giant torch, the four-finned base makes it look more like a rocket. either way, it’s an incredible look. as for the light itself, the ‘flame’ encased lamp at the top can produce an impressive 1,000,000 candlepower beam.

4. yokohama marine tower, japan

google maps link

at a height of 348ft, the yokohama marine tower was, prior to its ‘temporary closure’, the tallest lighthouse in the world and could be seen by ships 20 miles away. built in 1958 as part of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the opening of the port of yokohama, the lighthouse immediately became a landmark, many people not realising it was actually a lighthouse due to it’s unconventional lattice tower design.

5. pigeon point lighthouse, u.s.

google maps link

pigeon point lighthouse is perched on the edge of a cliff in california and at 115ft is one of the tallest in the united states. each november the picturesque lighthouse is visited by photographers eager to capture the annual lighting of the lens, seen in the photo above, a spectacle which shows off an extremely powerful lens composed of 1008 hand-polished lenses and prisms which help in providing 500,000 candlepower illumination.

6. low lighthouse, u.k.

google maps link

at only 9 metres tall, the stunning ‘low lighthouse’ in burnham-on-sea is one of the smallest you’ll find. it was built in 1832 and is still used as a navigation tool, providing a white flash every 7.5 seconds from the window at the front in addition to a red, white or blue light, the colour differing depending on which direction it’s viewed from.

7. kiz kulezi, turkey

google maps link

the 2500 year old kiz kulesi (maiden’s tower) is one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world and sits on a tiny islet off the coast of istanbul. over the years the small piece of land on which it sits has been used as a burial chamber, customs area, quarantine area and more - these days the lighthouse is a hugely popular tourist destination with the body of the tower now housing a cafe.

8. cape hatteras light, u.s.

google maps link

around 1.25 million bricks were used to build the tallest lighthouse in america, a huge structure which lights up every 7 seconds to assist ships through the ‘graveyard of the atlantic’, the diamond shoals. on clear days it has been visible from 50 miles and just before the millenium was moved, in one piece, 2870ft inland to escape the eroding shore. photos of the mammoth operation can be seen here.

9. middle bay lighthouse, u.s.

google maps link

built in 1885, the middle bay lighthouse in alabama is an example of a screwpile lighthouse - those which are screwed into piles which sit on sea or riverbeds. this hexagonal beauty was recently refurbished, improvements including a new slate roof and a solar-powered red light on top.

10. promthep cape lighthouse, thailand

google maps link

one of the world’s newest lighthouses is this strange looking, gold topped example in thailand, built in 1996 to honour the reign of king bhumibol adulyadej. it can be found on the southern coast of phuket, a major tourist spot in thailand. i have no idea how much the construction cost but i’m guessing it wasn’t cheap.

11. sullivan’s island lighthouse, u.s.

google maps link

this incredible modern lighthouse originally contained a lamp capable of producing a whopping 28,000,000 candlepower. however this apparently proved too dangerous and was replaced with one with a comparitively modest 1′000′000 candlepower maximum. compared to other lighthouses, this is practically space-age, facilities inside including air-conditioning and an elevator.

12. knarrarós lighthouse, iceland

google maps link

in my opinion one of the most aesthetically brilliant lighthouses you’ll find, the stark white knarrarós lighthouse was built in 1938 and is the tallest building in southern iceland at 86ft. perched on top of a white base, the building is surrounded by grass, the colour contrast just adding to its mystical appearance. the light is still active and flashes for a 3 second period every 1/2 minute.

extra:

- the structure itself isn’t one of the best looking in the world but it had to be included purely for this photo. the building in the middle of the picture is seltjarnarnes lighthouse in iceland. of course, the beautiful light show is aurora borealis.

- the following photo is by jean guichard of the jument lighthouse in france. frightening.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

in order to celebrate tv remotes, here are some interesting, bizarre, sometimes ridiculous examples of a gadget used on a daily basis by most of the people reading this blog (it’s a safe generalisation. don’t start feverishly typing abuse just because a few of you don’t have a tv).

1. garod tele-zoom

manufacturer: garod

one of the first tv remote controls ever seen by the unsuspecting public was the 1948 garod tele-zoom: a small, round, heavily varnished, single button remote which was connected to the tv by a 20 foot cable. rather than enabling lazy viewers to do something useful like switch channels or adjust the volume, a press of the button would simply crop the image on screen and zoom in - a feature i’m sure most people were pining for.

2. zenith lazy bones

manufacturer: zenith

the first ever tv remote control that could actually change channels was the zenith lazy bones, released in 1955. as with the garod tele-zoom, the lazy bones was attached to the tv by way of a long cable, perfect for tripping up relatives and causing frustration due to entanglement. as the advert says, ‘it’s like something out of the arabian nights!’.

3. zenith flash-matic

manufacturer: zenith

created by engineer eugene polley (above) in 1955, the zenith flash-matic was the world’s first wireless tv remote control and looked a lot like a flashlight. a beam of light had to be aimed accurately at one of the 4 corners of the tv set for it to work, the remote enabling you to either turn the tv on/off, change channels or mute the sound. the flash-matic system was pretty frustrating in the daytime due to the fact that the sun had more chance of hitting the sensors than the remote-holding human and would cause the tv to sporadically change channel.

4. zenith space commander 200

manufacturer: zenith

no, this isn’t an old games console cartridge - it’s the world’s first ever functional wireless tv remote control that wasn’t affected by sunlight and was designed by ‘the godfather or remotes’, the late robert adler, in 1956. the available options for the viewer were simply ‘channel up’ & ‘mute’ and the system worked using ultrasound. depending on which button the user pressed, the control emitted a frequency which was detected by the tv set.

5. art lebedev pultius

designer: art lebedev

with a baffling but brilliant length of 20″, the art lebedev pultius would be the longest tv remote control in the world (no fact source needed as i refuse to believe there’s a longer one) if produced - at the moment it’s just a concept. much of the remote’s body is covered with buttons numbered 1-99 meaning you would hardly ever need to press a combination of buttons to get your desired channel. also, running out of battery power would never cause a problem as you could probably prod the relevant buttons on the tv set from quite a distance.

6. pogo ezpower universal remote control

manufacturer: pogo

one of my pet peeves is the death of the remote’s batteries at a crucial time. many times during ad breaks i’ve found myself rolling duracells in my hands, putting them in the fridge, licking the ends (i possibly confused a couple of tips) - all just to get a couple more hours from the remote. the environmentally friendly ezpower remote doesn’t require batteries to work and can control up to 6 devices. all you need to do is wind it up and a full charge will power the remote for 7 days.

7. bang & olufsen beo5

manufacturer: bang & olufsen

welcome to the mother of all remote controls. obviously, this ‘remote control’ isn’t just for your tv - it’s programmed to order and can control your tv, stereo, dvd player, security system and even air-conditioning. it’s probably got more processing power than my pc and at around £350 is definitely more expensive. as of yet i’m unsure whether it comes with a remote control.

8. invoca voice activated remote control

manufacturer: brookstone

if, like me, you’re tired of having to either reach for the remote or use finger and wrist power to change channels whilst lazing around on the couch, this product could be for you. it can learn up to 25 commands, chosen by you, which will subsequently be carried out as you bark orders from your seat. it also sits in a charging station which means as long as you pay your electricity bill on time, the power won’t run out.

9. innovage jumbo universal remote

manufacturer: innovage

the innovage jumbo remote is possibly the best remote control on earth. just look at it and try not to smile. intended for those with impaired vision or dexterity (but extremely muscular arms) and measuring 11″ x 5″, this beast would also be suitable for humans with very beefy fingertips or paw bearing, tv watching animals such as yogi bear or scooby doo.

10. curitel pt-l1800 mobile phone remote

manufacturer: curitel

the curitel pt-l1800 is a south korean mobile phone and the reason it’s featured is because utterly bone-idle owners of the device are supplied with a remote control for video playback. surely, with a screen that small (unless you have the eyesight of a superhero) you will always be sitting close enough to the phone to either turn up the volume or change channel?

bonus product…

multimedia remote control wrangler

designer: rodd miller

to finish, i’d like to draw your attention to a remote control accessory known as the ‘remote wrangler’, an invention that’ll probably cause you to kick yourself in the face for not thinking of it first.

the next time you misplace the remote and then scratch your head in bemusement you’ll instantly solve your problem. the good news is, the wrangler can also hold mp3 players, meaning you have an excuse to wear this sexy device outdoors.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9