Posted on 08/20/2009 6:28:36 AM PDT by BGHater
Self-preservation is something that most humans take quite seriously, and that a few take to extremes. Faced with the real or imagined threat of attacks levied by nuclear, biological, and chemical weaponry, some people opt to head 25 feet underground, surrounded by concrete and complex air-filtration systems, surviving off rations and waiting, so to speak, for the end of the world.
That’s the subject of Richard Ross’s Waiting for the End of the World, originally published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2004, for which Ross spent five years traveling over three continents, photographing the interiors of bomb shelters. “I’m a child of the late 1950s,” he says. “I grew up in an era of duck-and-cover drills, where we always had to be acquainted with the idea of The Bomb.” The exploration took Ross into a series of survivalist spaces, offering a visual index of the lengths to which people will go when they feel abused or threatened. “I ended up photographing an underground bomb shelter in Livermore, California, looking straight up [toward the entry from the surface], and the light was very divine and was essentially apocalyptic,” he says. “Some of these people thought they were going to be the new inhabitants of the Garden of Eden. I can’t believe that. But when you think back to the illogic of the Bush/Cheney administration, and the world around you is so devolved, the idea of going underground doesn’t seem so crazy.”
Public shelter near Zurich, Switzerland. Major external air filters in communal shelter.
The discs produced in this factory near Zurich are the tops of air filters.
Doors of the public shelter near Zurich. Building code defines the specifications that are required of the shelters, though color schemes are optional. The entire population can be put underground in two hours. Bridges and tunnels throughout Switzerland are set with explosives to be blown in the face of an advancing enemy.
The proud owner of a new single-family residence in Switzerland shows off his shelter. He is standing in front of his Andair-manufactured air filtration system with the escape hatch on the right.
Charlie Hull Shelter, Emigrant, Montana. Bedroom. This 90-family “co-op shelter” was for members of the Elizabeth Clare Prophet Church, which predicted Doomsday on March 15, 1990. That day, the shelter was full; everyone emerged on March 16th and went home. The shelter has fallen out of favor and is maintained only by Charlie Hull and a few assistants.
Charlie Hull Shelter. The chalkboard is there to make sure no one is accidentally locked in.
Charlie Hull Shelter. Each of the 90 families for which the shelter was built chose their own spaces and equipped them with what they deemed necessary for their transition from a pre- to post-apocalypse. Some decorated their spaces with pink lace or hung up pictures.
Living room, Charlie Hull Shelter.
Conroe, Texas. This shelter was built during the 1980s by Ling Chieh “Louis” Kung, an oil tycoon nephew of Madame Chang Kai Shek.
Conroe, Texas. Until recently, the structure was complete with conjugal rooms, a jail (pictured), body bags, operating rooms, armor, and steel doors.
Operating room, Conroe, Texas.
Philip Hoag’s shelter in Emigrant, Montana, is located a few hours from Yellowstone National Park, and was built in 1989 by a group of about 130 people.
Philip Hoag’s shelter. The observation tower is equipped with tank periscopes to see above ground. Although many group shelters such as this one are outfitted with enough provisions to ensure survival for several years, they are not quite operational. It might take days to weeks to prepare these shelters for habitation in an emergency.
Philip Hoag’s shelter, Emigrant, Montana.
Backyard entrance to a temporary shelter, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Transverse tunnel, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Storage shelves at a family shelter, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Entrance to shelter, Saint Pete Sanpete Country, Utah. The entrance is on springs to withstand a nuclear blast; the shelter is 25 feet below ground and 50 feet long.
Dining room, Saint Pete Sanpete Country, Utah. About 90 minutes from Salt Lake City, several families have larger scale, below ground shelters and above ground storage areas capable of feeding the members of the community for years.
if the world really does end, will a tunnel do you any good?
I want one just because it would be cool.
Dunno, but I bet you wouldn’t have to worry about the mortgage anymore.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Yes we're gonna have a wingding
A summer smoker underground
It's just a dugout that my dad built
In case the reds decide to push the button down
We've got provisions and lots of beer
The key word is survival on the new frontier
Introduce me to that big blonde
She's got a touch of Tuesday Weld
She's wearing Ambush and a French twist
She's got us wild and she can tell
She loves to limbo, that much is clear
She's got the right dynamics for the new frontier
Well I can't wait 'til I move to the city
'Til I finally make up my mind
To learn design and study overseas
Have you got a steady boyfriend
Cause honey I've been watching you
I hear you're mad about Brubeck
I like your eyes, I like him too
He's an artist, a pioneer
We've got to have some music on the new frontier
Well I can't wait 'til I move to the city
'Til I finally make up my mind
To learn design and study overseas
Let's pretend that it's the real thing
And stay together all night long
And when I really get to know you
We'll open up the doors and climb into the dawn
Confess your passion your secret fear
Prepare to meet the challenge of the new frontier
IGY comes to mind, as well.
Interesting.
LOL, the idiot has to make this about Bush/Cheney even though most of these are cold war era shelters and the most high tech are in Switzerland, a country that has for over half a century, built shelters for every single one of her citizens.
Gotta love the Swiss. You know every single one of those shelters has immediate access to a G-3 rifle and a butt load of match grade ammo.
Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!
This exchange is alleged to have happened sometime during WWII:
German General to Swiss General: "What will you do if I send a million men marching across your borders?"
Swiss General replies: "We will all shoot twice and then go home."
Great article!
“But when you think back to the illogic of the Bush/Cheney administration....”
As opposed to the logic of the Obama administration that is holding their breath until Iran sits down and talks. Harumpfff!
As opposed to logic of the Obama admistration that had all the media-back answers to the worlds problems yet presides over media ignored growing chaos and growth of unstable power centers.
As opposed to the logic of the Obama administration that sees the US as only evil and that disarming her is good for the world.
I would think shelter sales would be up...way up! But I guess those sales are based on watching the world according to Soros and CNN.
My In-laws (house built in the mid 60s) have one below their 2-car garage. Fits the same footprint as the garage so it is huge. Over the years though, it has turned into a storage room. By the time you clear all the stuff out of the room and stock it with food, the war would be over.
One of those has been on my Christmas list for years.
But I would die of claustrophobia first.
One more reason to believe the crusaders in the middle ages migrated to Switerland.
Anyhow there's always been two groups of humans - the "beach people" and the "cliff people". The beach people are happy - build their houses on the sand and think in terms of "today".
The cliff people (sheep dog types) built their homes on the cliffs and tell the beach people the sea might come up and kill them some day. To which the beach people ( sheep ) laugh.
Then one day, the sea rises up and kills all the beach people. Then after some years, the cliff's people's grand-kids start moving down to the beach again - where life is easier and more fun... and laugh at the cliff people.
Repeat,
repeat,
repeat.
It's why we have grouchy moralist around who keep repopulation the human species. The guy who wrote this is a descendant of some cliff dwelling sheepdog and he's having his fun... to which we say, someday the sea will rise up...
nice....only thing missing is an ICBM silo in AZ.
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