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EUR, Roma (Esposizione Universale Roma)

EUR is a residential and business district in Rome, Italy located south of the city centre. The area was originally chosen in 1930s as the site for the 1942 world’s fair which Benito Mussolini planned to open to celebrate twenty years of Fascism. The project was originally called E42 after the year in which the exhibition was planned to be held. EUR was also designed to direct the expansion of the city towards the south-west and the sea, and to be a new city centre for Rome. The planned exhibition never took place due to World War II.

The Ancient Ghost City of Ani

Situated on the eastern border of Turkey, across the Akhurian River from Armenia, lies the empty, crumbling site of the once-great metropolis of Ani, known as “the city of a thousand and one churches.” Founded more than 1,600 years ago, Ani was situated on several trade routes, and grew to become a walled city of more than 100,000 residents by the 11th century. In the centuries that followed, Ani and the surrounding region were conquered hundreds of times – Byzantine emperors, Ottoman Turks, Armenians, nomadic Kurds, Georgians, and Russians claimed and reclaimed the area, repeatedly attacking and chasing out residents. By the 1300s, Ani was in steep decline, and it was completely abandoned by the 1700s. 

Rediscovered and romanticized in the 19th century, the city had a brief moment of fame, only to be closed off by World War I and the later events of the Armenian Genocide that left the region an empty, militarized no-man’s land. The ruins crumbled at the hands of many: looters, vandals, Turks who tried to eliminate Armenian history from the area, clumsy archaeological digs, well-intentioned people who made poor attempts at restoration, and Mother Nature herself. Restrictions on travel to Ani have eased in the past decade, allowing the following photos to be taken.

Great Art in Ugly Rooms

Paul Kremer’s ongoing series title says it all. Great Art in Ugly Rooms is a visual experiment consisting of pictures of “great art” placed in “ugly rooms.“ Started in 2013 this tumblr has been described as "the visual equivalent of a Steven Wright stand up routine" and as the "enchanting train wreck that occurs when a truly great work of art is juxtaposed with the most revolting of interiors.” [via]

Zaha Hadid Zaha Hadid Architects

Heydar Aliyev Center (images 01-02)

Galaxy SOHO (images 03-04)

Jockey Club Innovation Tower (images 05-06)

Vitra Fire Station (image 07)

London Aquatics Centre (image 08)

MAXXI Museum (images 09-10)