Subterms
The interior of this subterranean speakeasy in downtown Hong Kong was designed by local studio NCDA to echo underground water reservoirs, with lighting by LightOrigin Studio to emphasise its “ethereal ambience”. More
British photographer Alastair Philip Wiper has documented a subterranean fallout shelter in Las Vegas, Nevada, complete with a four-hole putting green surrounded by faux pine trees and painted scenery.
Built in 1978 by millionaire Jerry Henderson, the doomsday bunker stretches across 1,400 square metres. Henderson lived in the underground house for five years with his wife Mary up until his death in 1983.
Alastair Philip Wiper has photographed an underground bunker in Las Vegas”Jerry was a millionaire who advocated for underground living,” Wiper said, adding that Henderson also had a similar bunker in an undisclosed location in Colorado.
“He thought that all people would be better off living underground, not just in case of an apocalypse but in all situations.”
The residence was built in 1978 as a nuclear fallout shelterThe shelter reflects the era in which it was designed, with details from decorative luminaires to statement pink curtains and toilet seats evoking 1970s interiors.
Other features include a swimming pool, two hot tubs, a dance floor with a pole, a four-hole putting green, a bar, a barbecue and a sauna.
“It seems like Jerry liked to party,” Wiper told Dezeen. “The house is made for entertaining. It’s not a house designed for a recluse.”
1970s statement furnishings include pink toilet seats and decorative luminairesArtificial pine trees and faux rock walls emulate an outdoor garden space, while painted backdrops depicting life-like landscapes surround the shelter.
Lighting simulates different times of day, with details like the pool and the garden picked out with colourful fluorescents that add to the eccentric nature of the residence.
James Shaw’s light-filled London home is almost entirely underground
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” said Wiper. “But if you have a penchant for over-the-top kitsch, insane colour combinations and James Bond villain-lair aesthetics then you would be in heaven at this place.”
Henderson’s underground house is now owned by the Church of Perpetual Life, an organisation involved with cryonic preservation that aims to extend human life, which Wiper explored in a 2023 feature for Bloomberg.
The house has two separate hot tubsWiper documented the residence as part of an ongoing project called “How We Learned to Stop Worrying”, about the many architectural interpretations of the word “nuclear”.
“I’m looking for all sorts of unusual locations that are associated with nuclear and when I came across the house, it fit perfectly,” Wiper said. “It’s so eccentric and flamboyant.”
Artificial trees and faux rocks help mimic an outdoor garden spaceWiper’s latest photography book titled Building Stories, published by the Danish Architectural Press, also includes the underground house among a mix of other surreal buildings including a spooky skiing resort and a nuclear missile control centre.
It is the follow-up to his previous book Unintended Beauty, which focuses on industrial buildings such as factories and power stations.
Painted backdrops depict life-like scenery”I look for locations that are out of the ordinary, places that tell a story and which people don’t get to see every day, places I want to visit myself,” the photographer explained.
“If there is something absurd, taboo or humorous about the location then all the better.”
The photography is by Alastair Philip Wiper.
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Lumpy recycled plastic furniture and circular skylights characterise this sunken London house, which designer James Shaw concealed on a 60-square-metre plot for himself and his family.
Located in a conservation area in east London, the two-storey dwelling was constructed by Shaw and his friend, architect Nicholas Ashby.
James Shaw built himself a sunken but light-filled homeThe neighbourhood’s planning restrictions required the pair to build all but 2.7 metres of the building out of sight from the street level, resulting in a sunken home with a large basement invisible from the outside.
An open-plan kitchen, living and dining area feature in this underground space, which has exposed concrete walls interrupted by large, floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open onto a small terrace with a dinky plunge pool.
The designer squeezed a bespoke sofa into one of the irregular cornersShaw and his writer-curator wife Lou Stoppard chose eclectic interiors for the home they share with their baby daughter – a collaboration that began with the duo’s 2022 London Design Festival installation of clashing furniture, created to poke fun at the tensions that arise when couples move in together for the first time.
Made by Shaw, the pear-shaped walnut table from the installation features in the living area, surrounded by spindly stacking chairs first designed by furniture brand Blå Station founder Börge Lindau in 1986.
Veneered MDF defines the kitchen cabinetsA custom aluminium bookshelf stretches across the wall opposite the table, built by Shaw to fit the unusual space. The designer also squeezed a bespoke burnt orange sofa into one of the irregular corners, illuminated by a large circular skylight.
Known for his Plastic Baroque furniture made from recycled and extruded HDPE, Shaw placed a lumpy two-tone blue lounge chair next to the sofa – another piece that featured in his previous installation.
The bathroom features Anni Albers-style mosaic flooringOpposite the living and dining area, the rectilinear kitchen cabinets were finished in veneered MDF, while the fridge was also fitted with a knobbly plastic handle.
Stainless steel and pale blue HIMACS make up the worktops – one of which is on wheels to allow for flexibility when hosting.
Squiggly pear-shaped sculptures top the bedpostsAcross the basement, a combination of oak finger parquet and raised-access metal tiles were used to create contrasting flooring. The silver-hued tiles can be lifted to reveal extra storage.
Also underground, the bathroom was designed with a playfully patterned mosaic floor informed by the work of Bauhaus artist Anni Albers, including an abstract illustration of the couple’s cat, Rupert.
The mirrored bathtub reflects and enhances the intricate flooring, while another rounded skylight adds natural light to the space.
WillemsenU submerges house under the ground in the Netherlands
An extruded blue plastic bannister snakes up the staircase to the bedroom – the only street-level room in the house.
The Shaw-designed oak and brass bed features bedposts topped with squiggly pear-shaped sculptures, while the thin timber wardrobe was hand-painted with decorative panels by artist Marie Jacotey, who completed the project on-site.
The bedroom is the only street-level roomStoppard’s vast art collection features throughout the sunken home, including delicate paintings by emerging artists Lydia Blakely and Mary Stephenson and antique artefacts from various travels.
Elsewhere in London, Shaw’s trademark plastic furniture has also been used for retail projects. Footwear brand Camper’s Regent Street store includes bumpy yellow shelving by the designer, and a Traid charity clothes shop in Shepherd’s Bush has a wiggly bench upholstered in unsold clothes salvaged from the Traid warehouse.
The photography is courtesy of James Shaw and Lou Stoppard.
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