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A fake Harlem in Sweden and other architecture illusions documented by Gregor Sailer

2018-07-13T16:01:00-04:00

The caption to the photograph reveals that this isn’t New York at all, of course, but Sweden: a life-size replica of Harlem in a forest in the west of the country, near Gothenburg. The asphalt and snow are real enough, but nearly everything else is fake. The streets are void of people and cars; the store fronts are life-size photographs, printed on canvas and hung on steel frames. Welcome to the Potemkin village: a place of clones, impostors, facsimiles, frauds. Maybe don’t plan to stay.

Why is there a life-size replica of Harlem in Sweden? This bizarre space turns out to be a test track for self-driving cars. Why Harlem? Even Austrian artist Gregor Sailer who photographed the space doesn't know. Sailer traveled around the world to capture 25 of these false architectural landscapes for his project titled “The Potemkin Village”.

Check out some of these unreal images below:

“Carson City VI/Vargarda, Sweden, 2016” © Gregor Sailer

“Jeoffrécourt, French Army, France, 2015” © Gregor Sailer

“Holland Town VI, Gaoqiao New Town, China, 2016” © Gregor Sailer

“Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine II, French Army, France, 2015” © Gregor Sailer

“Schnöggersburg X, German Army Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017” © Gregor Sailer

“Junction City IV, Fort Irwin, U.S. Army, Mojave Desert, California, U.S.A., 2016” © Gregor Sailer

Find out more on these imitation spaces captured by Sailer from Andrew Dickson.

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Scale replica of Lichfield Cathedral made by farmer out of straw

2012-10-08T20:22:00-04:00

A team of faithful farmers have built a scale model of Lichfield Cathedral - out of straw. The monument, which stands 50ft tall, 74ft long and 14ft wide, took three weeks to complete before it was unveiled yesterday. Farmer Rob Gray, 50, decided to build the replica of 12th century Lichfield Cathedral which is near his 250-acre sheep farm in Whittington, Staffordshire.

Copying is good for design

2012-02-06T13:59:29-05:00

In pre-industrial days, copying used to be a positive act. It was seen as a skill. Artists were looked upon as handworkers. Copying became a negative notion with the cult of the individual artist and the arrival of mass production, which made replication extremely cheap and easy. Copyright and intellectual property laws were created to protect the original. In those days, the amount of new products reaching the market was relatively small.