Comments on: Displaced places

Displaced places

blahblahblah — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:00:14 -0800

This house at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn has been replicated around the world to odd architectural effect: Montreal, Sao Paulo, New Jersey, Buenos Aires, Milan, Tel Aviv, and seven other locations. Why? Because it was the home of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This sort of geographic dislocation is not unique to 770 Eastern Parkway, however, as photographers Andrea Robbins and Max Becher show: German buildings in Namibia, the Old West in Almeria Spain, the last French colony off Newfoundland, the town in Washington that was transformed into Bavaria, and others.

By: TedW

TedW — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:23:09 -0800

They need to come visit Bavaria in Georgia as well.

By: Sk4n

Sk4n — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:23:47 -0800

This is astonishingly cool, thanks.

By: grouse

grouse — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:24:50 -0800

Wow.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:27:57 -0800

I'll see your Brooklyn rowhouse, and raise you the Parthenon. Oops, I me an this one. No, wa it, that one. Nope, this is the one.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:30:12 -0800

In true Montreal style, the front door is nearly on the second floor. Awesome. Also, great post!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:44:23 -0800

Awesome post blahblahblah, as usual. Fascinating about the Rabbi's house being replicated. Always found British Colonial architecture in Indian cities both disconcerting and amusing. Here's an example of British country architecture, especially fun when unexpected Indian or other cultural decorations are included. In this case, Indo-British with Scandinavian wood paneling. Victoria Station in Bombay.

By: milestogo

milestogo — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:44:34 -0800

The copy of 770 in Jerusalem is actually one of the only buildings given an exeption to the rule that every buliding must be faced with Jerusalem Stone.

By: jouke

jouke — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:45:59 -0800

For 2 centuries Dejima, Nagasaki was a little piece of Holland in Japan. Inspired by that history the japanese built a village with all the greatest Dutch historical architectural hits for around 2.5 billion dollars. It's disconcerting to see the Domtoren of my hometown there, or the stadhuis of Gouda, or the Nieuwe Kerk of Delft, or Kasteel Nijenrode etc etc. All of them in one place, unlike in the Netherlands... btw I'm really looking forward to David Mitchells next novel. Apparently the history of Dejima will play a major role in it.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:50:09 -0800

There's a little neighborhood outside of Philadelphia that was built in the 1930s to look like Hollywood. Street names are Pasadena Ave., Los Angeles Ave., etc. Happily the Google Street View van has captured the whole thing. Drive around and enjoy!

By: jouke

jouke — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:50:12 -0800

And then there's the larger Ivory Coast copy of the Vatican Basilic of St Peter.

By: JBennett

JBennett — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:52:22 -0800

fascinating! What a funny, great idea for a modest building.

By: chinston

chinston — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:59:09 -0800

Very cool; thanks.

By: wannalol

wannalol — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:07:07 -0800

Little Paris in China slideshow.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:13:40 -0800

Great post. This one in particular is spooky.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:22:45 -0800

Catholic cathedral in Qingdao, PRC. Western architecture in Shamian, Guangzhou, PRC.

By: public

public — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:48:46 -0800

Oh yeah when it's some Rabbi's house getting copied everyone is like "OMG WAU!" But when it's Venice in a Las Vegas people call it obscene. Screw you guys. Bunch of hypocrites.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:54:46 -0800

Ah, yes, Helen, GA, home of the Hansel and Gretel Candy Kitchen. Remember the story of Hansel and Gretel? Yes, famous for their cooking skills, they were.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:29:17 -0800

when it's Venice in a Las Vegas people call it obscene Those people have never been to the Venetian. It's rad. Plus the maids will fold and arrange the clothes and shoes you leave strewn about the room. It's like having your very own house-elves. Also, speaking of Vegas, the NYNY is surprisingly awesome to walk through. I wouldn't eat the pizza, of course, but it's certainly a sight to see. I dig this sort of thing (a couple of the pictures in the "Bavarian by Law" link look uncannily like pictures I took this summer in Berchtesgaden).

By: Avenger

Avenger — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:39:54 -0800

And then there's the larger Ivory Coast copy of the Vatican Basilic of St Peter. From the link: "The basilica was met with some controversy globally when construction began. The lavishly-built basilica sits in the middle of the African bush in an impoverished city where only a minority of homes have running water and adequate sanitation. The cost of the basilica doubled the national debt of Côte d'Ivoire, but many of the country's Roman Catholics are proud of the church." I know this is a derail but, damn, we like us some religious buildings, don't we?

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:04:09 -0800

I Lubavitch NY.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:10:18 -0800

I love Dejima. There is French colonial architecture to some interesting effect in Laos. (if not more interesting how the government alternately promotes it as a draw for tourism and reviles it as a reminder of its "western imperialist past")

By: DrGirlfriend

DrGirlfriend — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:27:52 -0800

re: the old west in Almeria, Spain.... There's a Spanish movie named 800 Bullets that takes place in the remnants of the spaghetti western movie sets that were put up in Almeria. Old stuntment who were in the original films take over the ruins to stage their versions of Clint Eastwood-movie stunts. It's a comedy, not a documentary or anything, but it's interesting to see how these movie sets become part of the landscape.

By: meehawl

meehawl — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:44:31 -0800

The former Richmond Surgical Hospital on Brunswick Street in north inner city Dublin was built in 1900 by British administrators but was obviously designed for a warmer climate - legend says either Australia or India. It was built on the site of the former Hospital dating from 1803-ish and built on the site of an former "Channel Row" nunnery.

By: rollbiz

rollbiz — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:52:47 -0800

Not nearly as interesting, but my parent's house (in CT) is an exact replica of an old ship captain's house in Northern Maine. I visited it and the current owners were nice enough to let me inside. It was positively bizarre to be in someone else's house that was exactly the same, down to the nails and the size and cut of the floorboards

By: pupdog

pupdog — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:09:38 -0800

Aw c'mon MrMoonPie, Hansel and Gretel made the the best candy... Sweet, witchy candy... Helen always frightened me a little, things were just slightly off there.

By: bink

bink — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:23:22 -0800

Woohoo, namedropping time! Max and Andrea are friends of mine, and one of the Political Spectrum drawings is mine. They also did a neat series on Cuban cigar labels and their non-Cuban counterparts.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:25:09 -0800

welcome to holland, michigan

By: jb

jb — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:33:19 -0800

The article describes the 770 house as "neo-Gothic", but it's almost exactly like a house I know that is said to be in the Cotswolds style (it's of a similar age, but in Britain). They are so alike, they could be sisters, if houses had sisters. Further, the style is nothing like Gothic - of any historical architecture, it most reminds me of Elizabethan. Most of the copies are terrible though - they have the basic features, but all the proportions are so out of whack - the original house is quite elegant looking.