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Archaeologists May Have Found Nero's Revolving Dining Hall in Rome

Associated Press This is amazing. Archaeologists digging on Rome's Palatine Hill have unearthed what they believe to be Nero's revolving banquet hall, which has been referenced in ancient biographies of the Roman emperor. The room was likely built "to entertain government officials and VIPs": The purported main dining room, with a diameter of over 50 feet (16 meters), rested upon a 13-foot (4-meter) wide pillar and four spherical mechanisms that, likely powered by a constant flow of water, rotated the structure. The hall, situated as it was, would have had one of the best views of Rome even without the rotating razzamatazz. Nero ruled from 37 to 68 A.D.—about 1,900 years before the first modern-day revolving restaurant would be...

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4 Comments | Posted by Adam Kuban, September 29, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Tagged: architecture, awesomeness, banquet halls, Italy, Nero, Rome

Gallery of Converted Restaurant Storefronts

Methinks that hat used to belong to an Arby's. From Not Fooling Anybody. Not Fooling Anyone documents storefronts whose past lives, mostly as fast food restaurants, still shine through. For instance, that Starbucks looks a bit like a Friendly's, and the Des Moines Police Traffic Unit has "Pizza Hut" written all over it. If you come across any bad conversions, submit your photos! [via Neatorama]...

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4 Comments | Posted by Robyn Lee, July 22, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Tagged: architecture, fast food, funny

Super Designer-y MPREIS Supermarket

Photographs from mpreis.com Believe it or not, that's a supermarket at top. It's one of the handful of Austria-based MPREIS stores. More at Cool Hunting....

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7 Comments | Posted by Adam Kuban, January 5, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Tagged: architecture, Austria, design, Europe, grocery stores, supermarkets

Strange Food-Related Buildings

From the Presurfer comes 50 Strange Buildings of the World. There are three food-themed buildings in the mix. Above, from left, the Kettle House in Texas; the Longaberger Basket home office in Newark, Ohio; the Pickle Barrel House in Grand Marais, Michigan. But my favorite food-themed building by far is The Donut Hole in La Puente, California: Photograph from GarySe7en on Flickr...

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4 Comments | Posted by Adam Kuban, November 11, 2008 at 7:30 AM
Tagged: architecture, buildings, California, doughnuts, Good Morning!, La Puente, Southern California, The Donut Hole, weird

A Contest That Involves 'Wobble Factor' Points

As part of this summer's London Festival of Architecture, the British jelly retailers behind Bompas & Parr will be holding a contest purely devoted to the best gelatinous architectural moulds. It all started during the 1990s when jelly consumption was down in the UK and two friends—one an architect—decided to make delicious wobbly spreads from organic fruit and bring back the jelly glory. Entires for this year's contest are due May 23 and should include a detailed, scaled design that takes into account the collapse potential of too-tall or too-thin models. They warn: "there is fine line between outstanding 'wobble factor' and disaster." Check full contest rules at Bompas & Parr's website....

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Post a Comment | Posted by Erin Zimmer, May 1, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Tagged: architecture, jelly, UK