Russian Submarine U480
Zeebrugge, Belgium
There have been discussions here on flickr amongst the architecture-crowd about the role of fear in architecture and how certain structures have a big fan-club in spite of--or perhaps because of--the aesthitic which, basically, makes one scared. One very fitting term for it was coined 'Imperial Architecture' (with many thanks to Georg Lukas and Demetrius G).
That all is nothing compared to this.
Being in the bowels of a floating bomb--even after it has been decommissioned--is a very powerful experience--one which left my mother-in-law and wife out of commission for the rest of the day.
Not only when one imagines what it would have been like to be one of the 75 people on board in completely cramped conditions, but thinking what it was like during war is, in fact, very disturbing. Plus, I was sickened by how much creativity is put into making these weapons. The technology which goes into the design and building of a submarine is mind-boggling.
At any rate, the Russian navy seem to have managed to secure the rights on 'fear-creating-aesthetics'.
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