February 2019 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold the Burj al Babas, a $200 million ensemble of wannabe French castles in the Turkish town of Mudurnu, about 150 miles east of Istanbul. The castle-ettes are all empty. (No cassoulet for you!) The project, by a money-laundering outfit, called the Sarot Group pulled the plug on this baby when the value of the Turkish Lira fell 25 percent, pranging their business model. The handful of sales had to be cancelled. I’m sorry I missed the meetings where this project was planned and discussed. It would have surpassed the pitch meeting for the blockbuster movie Black Panther. Any ideas for adaptive re-use before the plywood delaminates and the spray-on stucco flakes off? Might make an excellent ISIS training facility. Live in a simulacrum of Western Civ while plotting to wipe it off the face of the earth. I keep telling you: history is a prankster! Below, wide angle view of this amazing fiasco: