A photography subreddit of all the hideous places human beings built or inhabit. Come here for aesthetic appreciation of the darker side of the cities, towns, and villages in our shared world. We welcome any photos which show either ugliness, or a problem in urban development. Rural and suburban hell are also allowed.
Concrete Wasteland
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But how do you get the laundry on and off the line? Professional tightrope walking?
I have one of these. Theres another line next to it and when you pull one line towards you the other one moves in the opposite direction.
Indeed, you can see the other line in the photo.
The important question is how do you connect the line through the pulley way over on the other building
step 1: make an agreement with the neighbour on the other side
step 2: apply superior Serbian engineering
step 3: profit
Step 2: ???
you just tie a long guide to it and throw it down. Same thing from the other side, then tie those together and pull up.
This answer, without a bow and arrow, is the boring answer
These buildings used to be close together but as each one lies on a different tectonic plate, by the time this photo was taken the buildings had drifted almost ten yards apart
Oooooh yeah that makes so much sense
Alternatively, tie the rope to an arrow and shoot the arrow to the other side with a bow. Pick up the arrow on the other side and tie both sides.
You just have to have really long arms.
What happens if one of the clothes falls off the line? Do you know where to find it?
Neighbour on the ground floor gets it, apart from all the litter some people may throw (no idea if that's a thing in Serbia, definitely a thing in Spain).
Im in spain also and all the clothing clips that fall are just left in the downstairs neighbours area. 😂 Ive never seen any clothes fall though.
Neighbour on the first floor: finders keepers
Also, snow dropping neighbour in opposite building, profit....
Probably on the fucking ground, what kinda question is that?
What if said ground in inaccessible? Some courtyards don't have any entrances. Or if there is a roof to a lower structure?
That's my fucking question.
What if the ground is lava??
I'm guessing a pulley system
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So just a regular Serb? I’m from a border-country, and I think Serbs and Bosnians on average have tallest men in Europe. Maybe other than Dutch men
IIRC, Dutch and Montenegrin people were the tallest in some research, with other ex-Yu countries all being high on the list.
There is pretty much no haplogroup difference between people from Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia... Those are the same genetics. Serbia has more ethnic minorities tho so they may bring the number down.
Whole Dinar mountain people are considered tallest people in the world. Single nation is Netherlands though.
Depends on who does the study. The Netherlands are usualy #1 if the Balkan countries aren't included (and most older studies don't include us). If they are though, then it's either Bosnia, Montenegro or Croatia, and Serbia lands in the top 10 as well (personaly never seen one where they're #1, but it's possible that they could be).
However I think that if you break it up by sex, Dutch men are taller than Balkan men, but their women aren't as tall as Balkan women.
There is a pulley system- so the line is actually two lines with wheels on either side- so you put a piece of clothing on it then send it out a bit more, then the next, etc. Source: used to live in Spain and we hung our laundry like this. We had no dryer.
Downsides: rain while you’re at work and you know you will come home to musty clothes, and when a piece of clothing falls to the bottom but you don’t have access to that patio bc it is a private house you have to go ring their doorbell.
This buildings have acess to that space, that's between sections of building. Everyone has acess to there
Arrows. They tried with boomerangs, but it didn’t work.
It kept getting very close, but would turn back at the last second.
I understand now, thanks.
Wait do people not know what clotheslines are anymore
There is a pulley system by the windows that they can pull it towards them
Parkour
If i reply am i gonna get wooshed?
r/whoosh
That line is on a spool/wheel thing that allows you to reel in the line to grab clothes and put more on.
Yeah I know. I've never used one but I've seen it in old time movies. I guess it also operates on trust, because the person on the opposite side could steal your knickers.
and you better hope no strong breezes come by to blow your britches down because otherwise you're in for a long walk down to get the wash
And you better have a spare pair, or you could also get locked out, naked on the bottom half, knocking on the neighbours doors, like "have you seen my panties wafting around these parts lately?"
"No? Do you have a spare pair?"
They are communal panties now.
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I wonder how often people fall to their deaths using these
Have you ever heard of a pulley? 😂
oof the future of our civilization ladies and gents, it was a good run
If you ask a stupid question, you may feel stupid; if you don't ask a stupid question, you remain stupid.
it's on a pulley. everyone knows this.
Maybe I'm not being entirely fair by posting Block 23 of New Belgrade to urbanhell. Sure, it has the distinct vibe of a decaying brutalist block of apartment buildings built during socialist Yugoslavia. On the other hand, the apartments there are mostly quite large, the quality of construction is good, and, like the rest of New Belgrade blocks, it has lots of open green spaces, it's own kindergarten, elementary school etc.
It was featured before on r/urbanhell:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/comments/9yhbr3/housing_complex_block_23belgrade_serbia/
And I personally posted it before to other subs:
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/dxlfsy/block_23_and_its_laza_kosti%C4%87_elementary_school/
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/fbu6pi/a_brutalist_shot_from_new_belgrade/
It's also worth noting that this is a shot of an internal courtyard not meant to be part of the "public roaming space", to so call it. I guess its only function is to provide an additional source of light to the flats.
Exactly. It's mostly toilets or side balconies of kitchens facing it.
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Oh no someone saw me cooking, whatever will I do.
Ooooh! My block! I even made a photoscan of one of these atriums once
I set it as my phone wallpaper. There's something eeriely beautiful about this picture.
What does Block 24 look like?
Like this:
http://infozonet.rs/members/_web_pages/im_4705703081407267042.jpg
Thanks! This led me down a fascinating rabbit hole looking at all the other blocks.
I like that you did :)
Those clothes hanging there are giving me so much anxiety.
I went to New Belgrade to visit family. I stayed in a nicer area of the city where the blocks are further spaced apart and there are trees planted around them. The flats themselves were cute and there was nightlife and takeaway nearby. On a higher floor there was a decent view and you could see the sun set over the city, with hills far in the distance.
However coming from the suburbs in Adelaide where most properties are houses with large backyards and lots of green (though these are becoming harder to obtain), this was all quite a shock. It’s amazing how in many parts of the world, tiny units and copy-paste concrete blocks are normal.
Drive a little further away and you can find yourself in the mountains with quaint little houses and rivers nearby.
What's with all the serbs in australia? Or is it ex-yugos in general?
War
Are you talking about the balkan wars of the 90s? And in that case do you mean that these war refugees, of all the countries they could flee to... they chose one on a continent that it takes 12 hours to fly to?
Or do you perhaps mean secondary consequences of WW2
Both
Yep. War.
Even before the war, there was emigration after WW2 and during the communist regime. People always went looking for a better life. Modern times are no different. For Croatia, there are approx 1.5mil Croats around the world. In Australia around 120k. Map.
Umm, there really wasn't that much emigration considering the quality of life in Yugoslavia at the time for most people was quite high
Not really, there was a fair amount of it. That period was the true start of the gastarbajters as we call them (from the German word for guest worker). Mostly to Germany and the like but some did go further.
Mass migrations of ex-yugos during the 50s and 60s. There's HEAPS of first generation ex-yugos in Australia who were born around this time
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Yes I meant the inside haha.
Because the concrete blocks are densely populated, you can find beautiful rural areas nearby.
U know as bleak as Eastern European cities are, I would take rough around the edges Belgrade vs drowning in tourism Barcelona.
Beautiful urban life can be a victim of its own success.
Please allow me to introduce you to life in Berlin: rough around the edges and drowning in tourism! It's the best of both worlds!
As a local, the best thing about Barcelona is getting out of the city to visit Catalonia. Just stay away from the overcrowded capital and visit other places. Pretty much everything is no more than 2hr 30 mins distance. On the other hand, this also means many barcelonians overcrowd the nicest natural parks when they flee from the overcrowded city :) so if you're thinking on going to pick up chestnuts or mushrooms at the Montseny during autumn you may not even find a place to park your car. (Catalans love this activity - One of the most popular TV shows in the last decade or so on catalan TV was about picking up mushrooms: https://www.ccma.cat/tv3/cacadors-de-bolets/)
You can find almost everything:
- Tuscany-like sights: El Penedès and L'Anoia are probably the main wine making areas in Catalonia, however other places also share those Tuscany looks (without the vineyards), like Urgell.
- The Pyrenees: Skiing, hiking and any other mountaineering activities you may think of.
- Amazing huge beaches with promenades you can walk for several kilometres (check Cubelles-Cunit-Segur-Calafell-Sant Salvador)
- Amazing small and secluded beaches in the Costa Brava, not so different than Menorca to name one place.
- All sorts of forests, rivers, and lakes.
- Small towns, big towns, towns on top of huge rocks, towns at the bottom of reservoirs
- 40 friggin' VOLCANOES
- Castles!
- A weird looking mountain with a monastery on it, where the most revered catalan virgin, "La Moreneta" (literally "the little brunette lady" or "the little black lady") can be found.
Hold on. I am not making this any better in terms of becoming overcrowded, am I? :D
Thanks for describing your area!
Last year was going to Sitges for bear week but it got canceled due to covid. Although here in the US the vaccine outlook looks good for September I am hesitant to book a trip until everything is clear but I had planned on renting a car and doing all of that for a whole week.
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Agreed. Thought it was Peach Trees!
Exactly what I was thinking of.
Do you guys ever feel a deep, unexplained connection to places like this? I was born in America, but from a young age I've always been very interested in Serbia/the Balkans, from the architecture to the politics. Must've been a past life or something.
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Same. Chile feels like homeland. Let's autostopom.
Im an American who moved to Russia 3 years ago, and i love these types of apartment blocks. Feels like you are in a little mini city and everything you need is a stones throw away. I wish we had some in the US.
How's life in Russia?What do you do there for living?Any regrets/negatives you encountered?
Well, i live in Moscow which is a really great city. I really enjoy living here, its beautiful IMO, and there is everything you need closeby. Also, public transport is amazing.
The biggest problem is finding a job as a foreigner who is not quite fluent yet. The only option it seems is to be an english teacher (which isnt a bad option, i just dont like it). Or maybe if i had some highly sought out skill i could find something that wouldnt require Russian. Or if you came here having a good remote job with a western salary, you could live like a king.
The only other big negative for me is the difference in social views i have with people here (though in Moscow there is much less of a difference since its an international city with a lot of young, well traveled, educated people). But that aside, i do love the people here. They are usually very welcoming and friendly, despite any stereotypes saying otherwise.
Overall its been one of the best experiences of my life and i have no regrets at all.
Good on you man! Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Ikr, there’s a strange beauty in this image
Nope, my background is Croatian and my parents moved to Australia 11 years before I was born. I couldn't care less about the place, have no interest in the history or the politics. I hear the beaches are pretty, but it wouldn't be on my top 50 places I would care to visit.
Japan on the other hand is the most interesting place in the world and one place that I can't wait to go back to 😍
Nemoj da te čača čuje
Never understood the fascination with Japan.