odditiesoflife:

The Abandoned Sanzhi UFO Houses

These colorful flying saucer-style buildings, located in the Sanzhi district of New Taipei City in Taiwan, were built in 1978 but were forsaken before anyone ever stayed in them. They were originally targeted towards U.S. military officers stationed in East Asia who were on leave, but investment losses and deaths due to accidents during construction caused the project to be abandoned in 1980. The misfortune of the UFO houses is said to have been caused by the unfortunate act of bisecting the Chinese dragon sculpture located near the resort gates for widening the road to the buildings, cursing the project.

For almost thirty years, these strange pod-like structures were left to crack, crumble and decay due to acts of nature and vandalism. Smashed, broken buildings and debris were all that remained of Pod City. It’s sad that such unique architecture and design was never enjoyed by any residents. Unfortunately, this favorite of urban explorers and travelers no longer exists.

The UFO houses were demolished in 2008. A petition to try and save at least one of the buildings failed. Apparently a new beach resort and water park are being developed in its place.  Looking just like pop culture depictions of alien space pods, they were at least around long enough to serve as a minor tourist attraction and a ghost town for urban explorers.

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(via adhocratic)