Category:
Architecture

Bridge Color and Suicide

There's a popular hypothesis that the color of a bridge can influence how many people commit suicide from it. Dark bridges are said to attract more jumpers than brightly colored ones.

The most widely cited example of this effect is Blackfriars Bridge in London. It originally was black, but in 1928 it was repainted green with yellow trim. In fact, it was repainted with the specific intention of reducing suicide attempts. And sure enough, the suicide rate reportedly dropped by 30%. (More info: "The influence of color," Penn State)

Blackfriars Bridge is no longer green, but it's still brightly painted (red and white). I can't find info on how many people still jump from it. So I don't know if the color effect is still working.

Yonkers Herald Statesman - Sep 15, 1928



Blackfriars Bridge (source: wikipedia)



Another example is the Clifton Suspension Bridge near Bristol, England. In 1957 its color was changed from dark red to a light silver-gray — again with the specific hope of deterring suicide jumpers. Unfortunately I can't find any follow-up data to know if the color change worked.

Toronto Daily Star - Mar 13, 1957



Clifton Suspension Bridge (source: wikipedia)



The connection between bridge color and suicide seems a bit dubious to me. It would be nice if there was more substantial data to back up the hypothesis.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 03, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Architecture, Suicide

The man who cut his house in half

The story goes that, in 1976, Eugene Schneider cut his house in half with a chainsaw as a spiteful way of complying with the divorce requirement that he split his assets evenly with his wife.

But as you can see from the photos below, he didn't actually succeed in cutting the house in half, although he did a lot of damage with the chainsaw. It was all eventually repaired, and the house is still standing, in one piece, today. You can view it on Zillow or Google Maps.

Calgary Herald - Mar 30, 1978



Central New Jersey Home News - Aug 6, 1976





New York Daily News - Aug 3, 1976



Charges were filed against Schneider, but somewhat surprisingly (at least, I find it surprising) a jury cleared him of all wrongdoing.

Central New Jersey Home News - Feb 16, 1977

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 02, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Divorce, 1970s

Flagpole of Freedom

Plans are afoot to build the world's largest flagpole, flying the world's largest American flag, in the small town of Columbia Falls, Maine, "where the rays of the sun touch America first every day." It would stand 1,461 feet tall, higher than the Empire State Building, and cost over $1 billion.

According to Wikipedia, America currently isn't even in the top 10 in the list of the world's largest flagpoles. It only comes in at #16, with the Acuity Flagpole in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (height: 390ft).

The Flagpole of Freedom, if it actually gets built, would more than double the current world's tallest flagpole. But it remains to be seen if it ever gets built, since many of the residents of Columbia Falls aren't keen on the idea.

More info: Oakland Press



Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 12, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Architecture, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough

House of Tomorrow:  1969

Watch the video below the screenshot.





Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 09, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Architecture, Domestic, Hobbies and DIY, 1960s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

UPenn Gargoyles

Read about these weird architectural embellishments here, with more pix.

And also here.

In the 1890s and the first couple decades of the twentieth century, Penn engaged Philadelphia architects Cope and Stewardson to design several University buildings. With their design for the Quadrangle, whose first section opened in 1896, Cope and Stewardson emulated several vintage eras of English architecture in a style that became known as Collegiate Gothic. In a delightful homage to Elizabethan architecture, they incorporated several dozen bosses into their design. They worked with sculptors Henry Plasschaert and John Joseph Borie (a Penn architecture alumnus) and stone carvers Edmund Wright, Edward Maene and assistants to turn these uncut stones into sculpted figures. Cope and Stewardson approved elevation views and clay models of each proposed boss, which was then carved over a period of three to four days from a fourteen-inch square piece of Indiana limestone that had been incorporated into the Quadrangle.

Mr. Plasschaert and his carvers kept the mood of these bosses whimsical. Parodic figures are abundant, such as a grotesque animal biting the corner of a block of stone, or an architect dressed in an elf costume carrying a basket of fruit. A variety of mythical creatures and bizarre monsters are on display, as is the occasional reference to academic activity, like the creatures brandishing tragedy and comedy masks atop the Mask and Wig clubhouse, or a monkey clutching a scroll labeled “diploma.”




Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 07, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Architecture, Regionalism, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century

Building houses with diapers

Concrete uses sand, and this is a problem due to a growing shortage of sand. However, Siswanti Zuraida, a researcher at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan, has proposed that cleaned and shredded diapers can be used in concrete as a sand replacement:

To make the first prototype, Zuraida reused diapers from her own young children. The team washed, sterilised and dried the diapers, before shredding and mixing them with different amounts of other materials, such as gravel or sand. This served as the aggregate that the team mixed with Portland cement and water to create concrete.

More info: New Scientist

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 30, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Babies, Excrement

Page 1 of 10 pages  1 2 3 >  Last ›




weird universe thumbnail
Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

Contact Us
Monthly Archives
March 2024 •  February 2024 •  January 2024

December 2023 •  November 2023 •  October 2023 •  September 2023 •  August 2023 •  July 2023 •  June 2023 •  May 2023 •  April 2023 •  March 2023 •  February 2023 •  January 2023

December 2022 •  November 2022 •  October 2022 •  September 2022 •  August 2022 •  July 2022 •  June 2022 •  May 2022 •  April 2022 •  March 2022 •  February 2022 •  January 2022

December 2021 •  November 2021 •  October 2021 •  September 2021 •  August 2021 •  July 2021 •  June 2021 •  May 2021 •  April 2021 •  March 2021 •  February 2021 •  January 2021

December 2020 •  November 2020 •  October 2020 •  September 2020 •  August 2020 •  July 2020 •  June 2020 •  May 2020 •  April 2020 •  March 2020 •  February 2020 •  January 2020

December 2019 •  November 2019 •  October 2019 •  September 2019 •  August 2019 •  July 2019 •  June 2019 •  May 2019 •  April 2019 •  March 2019 •  February 2019 •  January 2019

December 2018 •  November 2018 •  October 2018 •  September 2018 •  August 2018 •  July 2018 •  June 2018 •  May 2018 •  April 2018 •  March 2018 •  February 2018 •  January 2018

December 2017 •  November 2017 •  October 2017 •  September 2017 •  August 2017 •  July 2017 •  June 2017 •  May 2017 •  April 2017 •  March 2017 •  February 2017 •  January 2017

December 2016 •  November 2016 •  October 2016 •  September 2016 •  August 2016 •  July 2016 •  June 2016 •  May 2016 •  April 2016 •  March 2016 •  February 2016 •  January 2016

December 2015 •  November 2015 •  October 2015 •  September 2015 •  August 2015 •  July 2015 •  June 2015 •  May 2015 •  April 2015 •  March 2015 •  February 2015 •  January 2015

December 2014 •  November 2014 •  October 2014 •  September 2014 •  August 2014 •  July 2014 •  June 2014 •  May 2014 •  April 2014 •  March 2014 •  February 2014 •  January 2014

December 2013 •  November 2013 •  October 2013 •  September 2013 •  August 2013 •  July 2013 •  June 2013 •  May 2013 •  April 2013 •  March 2013 •  February 2013 •  January 2013

December 2012 •  November 2012 •  October 2012 •  September 2012 •  August 2012 •  July 2012 •  June 2012 •  May 2012 •  April 2012 •  March 2012 •  February 2012 •  January 2012

December 2011 •  November 2011 •  October 2011 •  September 2011 •  August 2011 •  July 2011 •  June 2011 •  May 2011 •  April 2011 •  March 2011 •  February 2011 •  January 2011

December 2010 •  November 2010 •  October 2010 •  September 2010 •  August 2010 •  July 2010 •  June 2010 •  May 2010 •  April 2010 •  March 2010 •  February 2010 •  January 2010

December 2009 •  November 2009 •  October 2009 •  September 2009 •  August 2009 •  July 2009 •  June 2009 •  May 2009 •  April 2009 •  March 2009 •  February 2009 •  January 2009

December 2008 •  November 2008 •  October 2008 •  September 2008 •  August 2008 •  July 2008 •