Fake building

This article is about concealing infrastructure in residential areas. For the use of camouflage in urban warfare, see Urban camouflage. For the use of façades as decorations, see Folly. For the use of structure built solely to deceive others, see Potemkin village.

A fake building (also known as a fake house, false-front house, fake façade, or transformer house in specific situations) is a government building, structure, or public utility housing that uses urban and/or suburban camouflage, specifically with the intention to disguise equipment and city infrastructure facilities that some may consider aesthetically unpleasing in non-industrial neighborhoods.[1][2]

History

Post-Industrial Revolution

Foundational waterworks style of Springhead Pumping Station
Sacred atmosphere imposed by the design of Abbey Mills Pumping Station

After the Industrial Revolution, cities in industrialized countries were required to construct and maintain infrastructure facilities to support city growth. Originally, such infrastructure facilities weren't designed or intended to be concealed.

For example, the pumping stations that housed large steam engines in the 19th and early 20th centuries were intentionally built to publicly communicate a message of safety and reliability in addition to expressing functionality. Additionally, building designs inherited from beam engine buildings required strong rigid walls and raised floors to support engines, large-arched and multi-story windows to allow natural light in, and roof ventilation via structures like decorative dormers. These functional features became known as "waterworks style." More elaborate designs were also used to communicate a sacred atmosphere and highlight the critical tasks performed at facilities like sewage pumping stations. An example of simple waterworks architectural style is the Springhead Pumping Station, while a baroque eclecticist example is the Abbey Mills Pumping Station.[3]

Other types of infrastructure facilities—such as gas supply, electrical supply, and communications buildings—developed their own styles as well[4] Examples include the Radialsystem (sewage pumping station in Berlin), the Kempton Park Steam Engines house, the Chestnut Hill Waterworks (Massachusetts), the Spotswood Pumping Station (Melbourne), the Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (Buenos Aires), the Sewage Plant in Bubeneč (Prague), and the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (Toronto). The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage considers the aforementioned buildings to be heritage sites of the global water industry.[5]

Twentieth century

Unurbanized substations
An elaborate hydro substation in Toronto, Canada lacking urban camouflage yet still concealed
An image of the front of a hydro substation in Toronto, Canada
An image of an unconcealed substation in Warren, Minnesota with many metal parts fenced off in an open field
An unconcealed electrical substation in Warren, Minnesota

One of the earliest known examples of a fake building was 58 Joralemon Street in New York. The property was acquired by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1907, after which it was internally transformed into infrastructure for ventilating underground transportation.[6] As a historic property, the local community wanted the façade to be historically appropriate and compatible with the neighborhood.[7]

A few years later, in early 1911, substations were introduced to Toronto. Rather than being unenclosed, electronic converters were housed within fake buildings meant to imitate civic buildings such as museums and city halls.[8][9]

After the end of World War II, suburban developments began to flourish all across the world.[10] As such, electric demand grew exponentially, leading architects to figure out where to place new substations. Harold Alphonso Bodwell, a utility employee appointed as a lead designer in Toronto, introduced the idea of disemboweling unused housing to set up substations within them.[11] Eventually, Toronto Hydro built house-shaped substations with six different base models ranging from ranch-style houses to Georgian mansions. Throughout the 20th century, the company went on to build hundreds of fake buildings in a litany of established styles.[9]

In 1963, a property owner in Prairie Village, Kansas gave $300,000 to Johnson County Wastewater, a wastewater management authority, to build a fake building for a local sewage pumping station which would blend into the neighborhood. Very few in the neighborhood knew about it, as sewage smell was hardly reported in the area. Later, the same authority would go on to build another fake building for a pumping station.[12]

Known locations

Main article: List of fake buildings
Combined sewer overflow screening facility disguised as townhouses, built in 2009[13]

Municipalities across the globe have used fake buildings for numerous purposes. Pump stations and subway ventilation shafts have often been subject to concealment by fake buildings.[14] Some also conceal the locations of secret facilities, such as chalets in Switzerland which hide military installations.[15] Such façades can be discovered in New York City,[16] Paris,[17] and London.[18] Specifically in Los Angeles, many fake buildings conceal oil rigs.[19][20]

The following are further examples of fake buildings.

For ventilation

For power conversion

For water and wastewater management

Design

Design commonalities
An image of the front of 58 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, New York. Its windows are blacked out
Blacked out windows in 58 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, New York
An image of a building with printed pictures of windows as opposed to real glass with curtains and framing.
Printed images of windows rather than real glass panes, curtains or framing[23]

Most fake buildings are intended to resemble the design of surrounding buildings, with some exceptions. Some may also fail to blend in due to design flaws caused by the contained equipment, such as blacked-out windows; [24][25][26] the lack of a roof,[27][25][28] doorway, window panes,[27] or some enclosed walls;[27] gated extrusions and/or heavy fencing; warning signs; industrial doors and windows; unusually pristine landscaping; security cameras; and/or some components printed on.[17][9]

In municipalities that require public consultations for the construction of public facilities, the general public can command influence in the designs of fake buildings. When the City of Hoboken presented an initial design of a fake building to house a new flood pump station, some criticized it for looking more like a colonial townhouse and thus dishonoring the industrial heritage of the city. Ultimately, The final design was completely changed into a modern building with a similar design to a nearby transportation building.[29]

Some fake buildings have designs that imitate other structures to match their surrounding areas. For example, an electrical substation in an urban neighborhood of Washington, D.C. was disguised as an old train station, while another substation in a mixed commercial and residential area of D.C. imitated an office building. In a more rural area of Gaithersburg, Maryland, a substation was designed to look like a large barn with a metal silo beside it.[30]

References

  1. ^ Collyer, Robin. "ARTIST PROJECT / TRANSFORMER HOUSES". Cabinet Magazine. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  2. ^ Pyzyk, Katie. "Fake buildings shrouding transit infrastructure are hiding in plain sight". Smart Cities Dive. Industry Dive. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  3. ^ Douet, James (1 January 1992). Temples of Steam Waterworks Architecture in the Steam Age. Bristol Polytechnic. ISBN 1871056659. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  4. ^ Infrastructure: Utilities and Communication. Historic England. December 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  5. ^ Douet, James (25 January 2018). The Water Industry as World Heritage (PDF). The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Fresh Air for Tunnel: Plant Site Purchased". New-York Tribune. 1907-03-23. p. 4. Retrieved 21 December 2022 – via newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ Gill, John Freeman (26 December 2004). "A Puzzle Tucked Amid the Brownstones". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Turning on Toronto: A History of Toronto Hydro". Toronto. City of Toronto. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Mars, Roman (5 October 2020). "See the secret buildings that make cities run". Fast Company. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  10. ^ Nicolaides, Becky; Wiese, Andrew (2017). "Suburbanization in the United States after 1945". Oxford Research Encyclopedias. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.64. ISBN 978-0-19-932917-5. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Power Houses: Toronto Hydro's Camouflaged Substations". Web Urbanist. Webist Media. 5 February 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ^ McDowell, Sean (21 January 2014). "Wastewater pump center concealed within Prairie Village house". FOX4KC WDAF-TV. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  13. ^ a b Combined Sewer System Characterization Report for the River Road Wastewater Treatment Plant (PDF). North Hudson Sewerage Authority. 1 July 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  14. ^ Chan, Casey (21 January 2014). "This normal looking house is fake and actually hides a pump station". Gizmodo. G/O Media Inc. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Fake Chalets: Unmasking the Bunkers disguised as Quaint Swiss Villas". Messy Nessy. 13 THINGS LTD. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  16. ^ Matthew, Zoie (5 February 2018). "4 Oil Wells Hidden in Plain Sight in L.A." Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  17. ^ a b Moggia, Silvia (17 January 2017). "Did you know about the fake painted buildings in Paris?". Silvia's Trips. Silvia Moggia. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  18. ^ "23-24 Leinster Gardens, London's False-Front House". Britain Express. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  19. ^ Kholstedt, Kurt (23 July 2018). "Hollywood-Worthy Camouflage: Uncovering the Urban Oil Derricks of Los Angeles". 99% Invisible. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  20. ^ Tedesco, Lianna (12 October 2021). "NYC Is Full Of Fake Facades, And This Is What To Know About Finding Them". The Travel. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  21. ^ Hortillosa, Summer Dawn (17 October 2011). "Wet weather pump station in Hoboken now ready to alleviate city's flooding woes". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  22. ^ a b Living the Pipe Dream (PDF). Johnson County Wastewater. p. 13.
  23. ^ "20 unusual places to see in Paris". Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  24. ^ Batemen, Chris (18 February 2015). "The transformer next door". Spacing Toronto. Spacing. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  25. ^ a b Nguyen, Clinton (21 June 2015). "8 fake buildings that are actually secret portals". Business Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  26. ^ Carlson, Jen (8 February 2022). "It's a historic townhouse, but 58 Joralemon is also a secret subway exit and shaft house owned by the MTA". Gothamist. New York Public Radio. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  27. ^ a b c "No, say it ain't faux! M.T.A. plant hits the fan". amNY. Schneps Media. October 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  28. ^ "145 Rue Lafayette". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  29. ^ Colaneri, Katie (23 August 2010). "Hoboken reveals new wet weather pump station design". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  30. ^ Basch, Michelle (13 December 2017). "Is it a house? Is it a barn? What Pepco's hiding in plain sight in your neighborhood". WTOP News. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
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