GRANNY'S BOTTLE VILLAGE

A message in bottles

Tressa 'Grandma' Prisbrey is the creator of the very flamboyant 'Bottle Village' in Simi Valley California. Tressa began to create her unusual home in 1956 when she was 60, she worked on the house up until 1981. Tressa transformed her 1/3 acre lot into a world of shrines, wishing wells, walkways and 15 life size structures. The name 'Bottle Village' comes from the materials she used. She paid daily visits to the dump where she collected unearthed bottles – she collected tens of thousand of bottles throughout the years. Tressa's hobby eventually turned into a small gold mine – a tour of the house will cost you 25 cents, and the tourguide is Tressa herself.

Bottle Village is not only a colorful and fun approach to recycling, it is also a bold and personal statement to the importance of the creative act in everyday life. Six of Tressa's seven children had sadly passed away, Bottle Village was, literally, a constructive approach to transforming discard and sorrow into something wonderful.

home.roadrunner.com

See also:
BEER CAN HOUSE

DEAD INSECT STATUE IN JAPAN

What's bugging Buddha?

Japan's Gunma prefecture is home to a very unique Buddha sculpture. Wat makes the this sculpture so unique is that it is made from 20 000 dead bugs. Inamura Yoneiji, a 89-year-old local of the area, created the statue in tribute to the souls of the insects, most of which are beetles. The insects in return pays homage to Buddha. The statue took the artist over 6 years to create, and while it might be the creepiest religious icon we’ve ever seen, we admire the artist’s incredible use of natural eco-friendly materials.

www.inhabitat.com

INDIA'S FISH HOSPITAL

A Fish Out of Water

If you ever wondered if such a thing as a fish hospital exists, wonder no more. These are pics from a fish hospital in Chandannagore, India. Patit Paban Halder, the 'fish docter', turned his home into a unique 32-aquarium facility where he and his family helps tend to suffering pet fish.

www.life.com

For more interesting stuff going on in India, see
INDIA'S LIVING BRIDGES
MODERN-DAY TREE HOUSES IN INDIA
THE WORLD’S LARGEST RELIEF SCULPTURE
LUXURIOUS KERALA HOUSE BOATS

For more fishy stuff, see
FISH WITH TRANSPARENT HEAD
AQUARIUMS THAT FISH FOR COMPLIMENTS

GLASS HOMES FOR HERMIT CRABS

Hermit crabs come out of their shells

There are over 60 species of hermit crabs living on New Zealand shorelines. They live in a shell because unlike normal crabs they don't have a hard exterior. In order to study the internal workings of a Hermit crab without damaging their external shell, New Zealand scientists came up with a see-through solution. A hand-blown transparent glass shell is used as a stronger and more attractive substitute for their habitual shell. Hermit crabs often resort to discarded shells of other creatures to offer protection for their soft, vulnerable bodies. Some of their legs have become specially adapted to grasp the shell tightly from the inside. Adelle O'Neill, curator from the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre and Aquarium said that it took between seven to ten days after placing a glass shell in the tank, for the hermit, that is always on the look-out for a better shell; to move into the more attractive glass home. The man-made glass shells opens up a new world for both man and crab.

www.3news.co.nz
www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk
madscientistnz.wordpress.com

THE THAMES SEA FORTS

Remnants of war become vessels of peace

The Maunsell Sea Forts was erected in the mouths of the Thames and Mersey rivers during the second world war. Today these striking war machines are mere remnants of a past mostl want to forget. The forts were designed to protect the ports of London and Liverpool, the two most important ports is the United Kingdom. Designer Guy Maunsell took on the task of creating these sea forts. Seven interconnected steel structures were erected in a semi-circle with the control tower in the middle. Walkways between the structures allowed the men to move around between the forts.

The preservation of these historical artifacts have not been taken seriously until recently. Project Redsand was created to rehabilitate and preserve the Redsand Towers. A new safe access system has been installed and materials to assist the project are being donated. The towers will be restored one-by-one and after each one is complete, it will be put to immediate use. There are many ideas about what the towers may be used for – such as a platform for marine biologists to conduct experiments such as the effect of global warming on local marine ecosystems. Other suggestions made were to use them as a war-museum, a wedding venue and for assault training.

scienceray.com

INDIA'S LIVING BRIDGES

The Living Bridges of Cherrapunge

In India, the wet climate of the Khasi and Jaintia hills is the ideal habitat for a specie of Indian rubber tree with an incredibly strong root system. The War-Khasis, a tribe in Meghalaya first discovered that the roots of the Ficus elastica can be used as bridges to cross many rivers. A root-guidance system, made out of hollowed betel nut trunks, is used to ensure that the roots grow in the correct direction. It takes ten to fifteen years to grow a single extraordinarily strong bridge that can support the weight of fifty and more people at once. The bridges also becomes stronger and stronger with time, since they are alive and still growing. The people of the villages around Cherrapunjee still use the bridges today and some villagers states that some of the bridges are well over a hundred years old.

atlasobscura.com

For more cool bridges see also:
AMAZING WATER BRIDGE IN GERMANY

HOMES THAT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD: 5 Unique 'spaceship' homes

Robert Bruno’s Steel House





Robert Bruno’s steel house – a creation that he worked on for more than three decades – rises tall above the surrounding landscape to give those inside a spectacular view of the nearby lake. Bruno began building his home near Lubbock, Texas in the mid-1970s. Today, its impressive form – part 1950s Chevy, part airplane, part sci-fi spaceship – it is one of the most unique homes in the world. Bruno used 110 tons of steel to complete his vision.

Hollywood's Chemosphere





This futuristic 'chemosphere' home in Beverly Hills is the creation of architect John Lautner. The house was built in 1960 – it was one of the worlds most modern homes at its time. John Lautner didn’t believe that his work was futuristic, his opinion was that good architecture exits out of time. Also called 'the flying saucer house' because of its shape and the fact that it was built the year Kennedy launched the challenge to fly to the moon.

www.dailyicon.net

Bart Prince House






This home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that most people calls 'the spaceship house' or 'bug house' was designed and built by architect Bart Prince in 1983. Prince is renowned for his incredibly creative approach to designing structures. The homes he has created looks nothing like the boxy houses you and I live in; they’re quirky, organic and most definitely one-of-a-kind.

Tennessee’s Flying Saucer House



Beam me up Scotty!

This house in Chattanooga,Tennessee, is a good example of extremism from the swinging seventies – built in 1970 by Claude King. King was inspired by the recent moonlanding of Neil Armstrong and by the original "Star Trek" TV series. The house is only accessible with an retractable electric staircase. It is the ideal holiday pod for Captain Kirk because he can always pick up chicks by saying: ‘hey, baby, let's go back to my spaceship for a drink’.

roadsideamerica.com

Pensacola Beach Flying Saucer House




Take me to your leader

At 1304 Panferio Drive, Pensacola Beach one would find a house so alien that it has it’s own website. Currently it is just an unoccupied space. However the house is in the process of being renovated to look like it’s old unearthly self.