LINKS:
opacity.us Search “urban exploration” on the web and you'll find thousands of sites documenting forays into abandoned buildings, subterranean spaces, and other fringes of the manmade world. A good one is opacity.us, where a Brooklynite who calls himself Mr. Motts posts haunting photographs of decaying structures he has visited.
ti.org/antiplanner A senior fellow at the Cato Institute who focuses on public land, urban growth, and transportation issues, Randal O'Toole has been criticizing government planning for decades. In 2007, he began this blog with the goal of “repeal[ing] all federal and state planning laws and the closure of all state and local planning offices.”
thebanmappingproject.com For 30 years, the Theban Mapping Project, now based at the American University in Cairo, has been building an archaeological database of Thebes, home to a rich trove of Egyptian history. Keep up with recent developments and reports, peruse photos and architectural drawings, or bone up on your Egyptology.
patentroom.com/architecture From the U.S. Patent Office's archives come designs for buildings, structural elements, furniture, and other types of architecture. The site offers glimpses of the expected, like a Frank Lloyd Wright Suntop Home, and the curious (is that a corncob-shaped diner?). You can also browse designs for cars, airplanes, toys, and trains.
