Skip to main content

LOTR fans want to construct a $2.9 billion real-life Minas Tirith


Another day, another far-fetched crowdfunding campaign. A group of ambitious British architects and hardcore Lord of the Rings fans are trying to raise a couple of billion dollars on Indiegogo so they can build a real-life version of Minas Tirith, J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional capital of Gondor.

"In order to realise this amazing dream, we have estimated our required budget to be in the region of £1.85bn. The vast majority of this expense would cover building costs - £15m for land, £188m for labour and £1.4bn for material. The remainder of the money will be invested in maintenance and public services until the year 2053. We would commence work on Minas Tirith by the end of 2016, and complete the project by the end of 2023."

They plan to build the 'The Tower of Guard' in southern England, and if you contribute enough, you could have your own private residence inside the walled city. However, fourteen days into the 60-day campaign, the project has only raised a little over £64,000.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thai artist paints on mosquito nets

I find them quite intriguing, these ghostly portraits that Uttaporn Nimmalaikaew paints on mosquito nets. His creations look like a hologram, changing form depending on where the viewer stands. Overall, they're gloomy, haunting, and endlessly fascinating. I could stare at them for ages. [h/t: Colossal ]

Experiencing Flight Through an Eagle's Eyes

Have you ever looked up and wondered, "What does it feel like to soar majestically like an eagle?" This video offers a captivating glimpse. Expert bird handler Lloyd Buck attached a small 360-degree camera and a GPS tracker directly to the back of one of these magnificent predatory birds. The entire setup creates a stunning, first-person virtual reality experience—only this one is real and features a creature with an impressively large wingspan. However, this isn't just for cool footage. The real mission is to capture valuable scientific data: examining how quickly an eagle can gain altitude and precisely how its incredible wings are adapted to achieve such breathtaking, effortless lift.

Drawn, layered and torn

Tin-aw Art Gallery led me to Lui Gonzales . This UP graduate creates stunning works of art by drawing, layering and eventually tearing them. The result is a riotous, visual feast. Her work is a reminder that before you can experiment, you have to have the skills. And, before you can be a rebel, you have to understand what you're tearing apart. No pun intended. Lui starts by drawing on tracing paper after deciding how many layers of illustrations would be included in the piece. The average is five. But she once made a 32-layer work that took a year to finish. Then, after layering one over the other, she rips the paper from top to bottom. Lui was one of the delegates who represented the Philippines at the 2010 ASEAN Youth Camp for Visual Arts in Vietnam. She had her first solo exhibition in 2018 at Eskinita Gallery titled Colorless Confetti , followed by a group show,  Simulcra , in Singapore last February. If you happen to be in Metro Manila, I suggest y...