Sanzhi UFO houses

Two of the colorful pod-style buildings.

The Sanzhi UFO houses (Chinese: 三芝飛碟屋; pinyin: Sānzhī Fēidiéwū), also known as the Sanzhi pod houses or Sanzhi Pod City, were a set of abandoned pod-shaped buildings in Sanzhi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The buildings resembled Futuro houses, some examples of which can be found elsewhere in Taiwan.[1][2][3][4] The site where the buildings were located was owned by Hung Kuo Group.[5]

Construction and abandonment

The UFO houses were constructed beginning in 1978.[5] They were intended as a vacation resort in a part of the northern coast adjacent to Tamsui, and were marketed towards U.S. military officers coming from their East Asian postings.[6] However, the project was abandoned in 1980 due to investment losses and several car accident deaths and suicides during construction, which is said to have been caused by the unfortuitous act of bisecting the Chinese dragon sculpture located near the resort gates for widening the road to the buildings.[5][6] Other stories indicated that the site was the former burial ground for Dutch soldiers.[7]

Abandoned Sanzhi UFO houses

The pod-like buildings became a minor tourist attraction due in part to their unusual architecture.[6] The structures have since been subject of a film,[8] used as a location by MTV for cinematography, photographed by people, and become a subject in online discussions, described as a ghost town or "ruins of the future".[9] The houses are referred to in the title of a track on the experimental German pianist Hauschka's 2014 LP Abandoned City.

Demolition

The buildings were scheduled to be torn down in late 2008, despite an online petition to retain one of the structures as a museum.[10] Demolition work on the site began on 29 December 2008, with plans to redevelop the site into a tourist attraction with hotels and beach facilities.[5]

By 2010, all of the UFO houses had been demolished and the site was in the process of being converted to a commercial seaside resort and water-park.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ archINForm Archive: Futuro House, retrieved 2011-06-13
  2. ↑ Hive mind search for 'Peggie Scott', retrieved 2011-06-13
  3. ↑ Photos by flickr user 'city tales', retrieved 2011-06-13
  4. ↑ Photo Archive 2008-12-17 for flickr user Peggie Scott, retrieved 2011-06-13
  5. 1 2 3 4 Chuang, Jimmy (2009-01-29), "FEATURE: Taipei County looks to rebuild site of weird UFO houses", The Taipei Times, retrieved 2010-01-02
  6. 1 2 3 黃, 其豪 (2008-01-21), 網友以訛傳訛 三芝飛碟屋變鬼屋, Liberty Times (in Chinese), retrieved 2009-11-28
  7. ↑ Chang, Leo (2008-09-22), "Taiwan's deserted "UFO houses"", The Observers, France 24
  8. ↑ First-ever Taiwan-Sweden co-production film to begin shooting in Sanzhi, retrieved 2012-12-02
  9. ↑ 黃, 其 (2008-12-25), 三芝飛碟屋 下周一開拆, 聯合報 udn.com (in Chinese), retrieved 2009-11-29
  10. ↑ 洪, 哲政 (2008-12-28), 三芝飛碟屋明天拆 網友求情「留1棟」, Apple Daily (in Chinese), retrieved 2009-11-28
  11. ↑ 洪, 哲政 (2010-03-14), 飛碟屋剷平 三芝闢水上樂園, 蘋果日報 (Apple Daily) (in Chinese)
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Coordinates: 25°15′39″N 121°28′40″E / 25.2609591°N 121.4776754°E / 25.2609591; 121.4776754

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