An image of The Opera Hotel in Prague that was submitted to Wally Koval’s Instagram, @AccidentallyWesAnderson: a collection of places and buildings that look like they were lifted from the director Wes Anderson’s films. Photograph: @AccidentallyWesAnderson/Valentina Jacks
Pastel colours, front-on facades, hyper-stylised uncanny symmetry: director Wes Anderson has a defined aesthetic. Once you’ve got your eye in, you can see it everywhere.
That was the premise of a thread on Reddit started earlier this year, “Accidental Wes Anderson”, where users shared photographs of real-world architecture and locations that look like one of his sets – with Bill Murray or one of the Wilson brothers plausibly just out of shot.
Wally Koval, a self-described “Anderson fanboy” with a passion for travel and architectural design, was inspired to take the idea to Instagram – a natural fit for the director’s twee style. But Koval, from Brooklyn in New York, wanted to dive deeper into the background of each building to find the “perspective, context and deeper insight into what these locations are really about – a bit more than just another pretty picture”.
He says his account, @AccidentallyWesAnderson , has found favour with “an engaged group of explorers with a keen eye”, who send him thousands of submissions every week. The community he has built around Anderson’s aesthetic was recognised last month, when Koval was able to exclusively share the artwork for Anderson’s upcoming film, Isle of Dogs: “not accidental, but very much intentional Wes Anderson”.
What makes a building “Wes Anderson” is a puzzle Koval attempts daily, he says. “The ones we see most often are a level of symmetry, a touch of colour – whether a pop of pastel, or an overall palette – and most importantly, something unique or atypical, perhaps some eye-catching juxtaposition as part of the location or facade.”
As for the “most Wes Anderson” city? “We were lucky enough to have recently visited Budapest and Istanbul – both overflowing with rich history, breathtaking facades and amazing architecture that lends itself to the aesthetic.” Berlin and Copenhagen, he says, also pop up regularly.
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Bus Stop | Aral, Kazakhstan | c. Unknown • • On a long-distance bicycle trip from London to St. Petersburg in 2002, photographer, Chris Herwig encountered unusual spaceship-like bus stops and unexpected transit structures • • Interestingly enough, each design is unique and shaped by the community around it. • • Herwig has done a considerable amount of research, but has yet to discover why or how it was decided that the designs should be left to local authorities. Based on his research, it seems that the bus stops were often constructed by the workers building the roads, local artists, or even community members • • He hopes that the work will help people to see a greater world outside their home country. “I hope people open up and realize that no matter what’s going on politically on the other side of the world, there is a difference between what a country does and what the people inside it are doing. I hope it inspires people to travel and not always look for things that are the obvious. There are a lot of little architectural underdogs out there that should be celebrated" • • 📸: @herwigphoto • • #WesAnderson
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Rajmahal Palace | Rajasthan, India | c. 1729 • • Commissioned by H.H Sawai Jai Singh II as a garden resort and a private palace for Chandra Kanwar Ranawat, his beloved wife, who was the daughter of the Maharana of Mewar, Raj Mahal Palace has a history of more than 250 years • • Built in 1729, the palace is located in the heart of Rajasthan’s capital and home to the Maharaja of Jaipur • • In 1821, Rajmahal became the official residence of the British Resident Political Officer of Rajputana and in 1958 His Highness Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur – the celebrated and dashing ‘Jai’ – chose it as his personal private residence before converting it to a hotel in 1979 • • Over the decades this remarkable Palace has hosted Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, as well as several other members of the British Royal Family, and eminent international celebrities such as Jackie Kennedy, Lord and Lady Mountbatten, and the Shah of Iran • • Following a carefully orchestrated restoration by the prodigious designer Adil Ahmad, the palace continues to embody the heritage of its past, maintaining the original, features such as a marble staircase, elaborate chandeliers, and treasured family possessions • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @veeceecheng • ✍️: @wikipedia + @cntraveler • • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #Rajasthan #SymmetricalMonsters #India
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#AccidentalWesAnderson State Capital | Albany, New York | c. 1899 • • The New York State Capitol, is located in Albany, New York and is part of the Empire State Plaza complex on State Street • • The building was completed in 1899 at a cost of $25 million (equivalent to $720 million in 2016), making it the most expensive government building of its time • • The construction of the Capitol took place between 1867 and 1899 and three separate teams of architects worked on the design during the 32 years of building • • The ground floor was built in the Classical/Romanesque style by the first architect, while the second and third floors were constructed in a Renaissance Classical style, which is noticeable on the exterior two floors as light, open column work • • The legislative chambers, the fourth floor and roof work were all finished in Victorian-modified Romanesque • • The central open court of the building is dominated by a shaft that was intended to support a massive dome. The dome and tower were never completed, as it was found the building's weight was causing stress fractures and making the building shift downhill toward State Street • • The New York State Capitol was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1979 • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @selvon.rvt • ✍️: @wikipedia • • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #SymmetricalMonsters #Albany #NewYork
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Teatro Alla Scala | Milan, Italy | 1778 • • Teatro alla Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy which was inaugurated on August 3rd 1778, and was originally known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta • • La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the stage and another thousand in the rest of theatre. To prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets. In time, oil lamps were replaced by gas lamps, these in turn were replaced by electric lights in 1883 • • The original structure was renovated in 1907, when it was given its current layout with 1,987 seats. In 1943, during World War II, La Scala was severely damaged by bombing • • It was rebuilt and reopened on 11 May 1946, with a memorable concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini—twice La Scala's principal conductor and an associate of the composers Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini • • The theatre underwent a major renovation from early 2002 to late 2004 under the direction of architect Mario Botta • • Initially the work proved controversial, as preservationists feared that historic details would be lost. However, the opera company was satisfied with the improvements to the structure and the sound quality • • The opera season opens on December 7th, the feast of Milan’s patron saint • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @stephenbarkernyc • ✍️: @wikipedia • • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #Italy #LaScala #SymmetricalMonsters #Milan
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#AccidentallyWesAnderson • Washington State Ferry | Southworth, Washington | c. 1951 • • Washington State Ferries is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in Washington State as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation • • It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals located around Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands, designated as part of the state highway system • • The agency maintains the largest fleet of ferries in the United States at 22 vessels, carrying 24.2 million passengers in 2016. As of 2016, it was also the largest ferry operator in the United States, and the fourth-largest ferry system in the world • • The ferry system has its origins in the "mosquito fleet", a collection of small steamer lines serving the Puget Sound area during the later part of the nineteenth century and early part of the 20th century • • By the beginning of the 1930s, two lines remained: the Puget Sound Navigation Company (known as the Black Ball Line) and the Kitsap County Transportation Company which was forced to close due to a strike in 1935, leaving only the Black Ball Line • • Toward the end of the 1940s the Black Ball Line wanted to increase its fares, to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers' unions, but the state refused to allow this, and so the line shut down • • In 1951, the state bought nearly all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5 million (Black Ball retained five vessels of its fleet). The state only intended to run ferry service until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved, and the Washington State Department of Transportation runs the system to this day • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @kimakimberlin • • 💡: @whalebonemagazine • • ✍️: @wikipedia • • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #AccidentalWesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #Washington #Southworth #SymmetricalMonsters #WSFerries
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Teatro de Romea | Murcia, Spain | c. 1862 • • The Romea theater is located in the Plaza de Julián Romea in the historic center of the city of Murcia, Spain. It is the main theater of the town and one of the most important in the country • • During the nineteenth century the land on which the theater is currently built was expropriated by the State in the confiscation. These lands were property of the Dominicans, who owned part of the Convent of Santo Domingo on the site. The expropriation began in 1842 and ended in 1862 with the construction of the theater • • It was inaugurated by Queen Isabel II in October of 1862, and was the work of Diego Manuel Molina, receiving the name of Teatro de los Infantes until the Revolution of 1868, when it was changed to Teatro de la Soberania Popular • • In 1877 the theater suffered a terrible fire, reopening in 1880 after extensive reconstruction. Only 19 years later, the theater suffered another fire in 1899 • • Important landmarks in the history of the theater were the various premieres of works by Jacinto Benavente that counted on the presence of the author, or the performance in 1933 of the university theater La Barraca, directed by Federico García Lorc • • Today, the theater’s cultural program is very broad, taking into account genres as diverse as theater, dance, music, concerts, flamenco, zarzuela and many others • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @tmrichardson95 • ✍️: @wikipedia • • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #SymmetricalMonsters #Murcia #Spain
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Central Penitentiary | Lisbon, Portugal | c. 1880 • • The Estabelecimento Prisional de Lisboa (Lisbon Prison Establisment) is the name given to a prison facility located in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal • • Operating under the tutelage of the Court of Appeals, it can reach a capacity of 887 inmates • • The prison is modeled in the style of traditional Portuguese architecture, which, like all aspects of Portuguese culture, is marked by the history of the country and the numerous cultures that have settled and influenced the current Portuguese territory • • From the Romans, Suebians among other related Germanic peoples, Visigoths and Arabs, as well as the influence from the main European artistic centres from which were introduced to the broad architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassicism • • Among the main local manifestations of Portuguese architecture are the Manueline, the exuberant Portuguese version of late Gothic; and the Pombaline style, a mix of late Baroque and Neoclassicism that developed after the Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @rgcbatista • • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #Lisbon #Portugal
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Al Aman Palace | Muscat, Oman | c. 1972 • • The Al Alam Palace is the ceremonial palace of Sultan Qaboos of Oman located in Old Muscat, Oman • • "Al Alam" means "The Flag" in Arabic, and the palace, which is one of six royal residences of the ruling monarch, Sultan Qaboos, has a history of over 200 years, built by Imam Sultan bin Ahmed the 7th direct grandfather of the current Sultan • • The existing palace, which has a facade of gold and blue, was rebuilt as a royal residence in 1972 • • The inner grounds of the palace remain off-limits but visitors are permitted to stop near the gates and take photographs. Al Alam Palace is surrounded by the Mirani and Jalali Forts built in the 16th century by the Portuguese • • The Palace is used for official functions and receiving distinguished visitors and in January 2012, the Sultan received Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at Al Alam Palace during her state visit to Oman • • Unlike many other buildings in the viscosity, The Palace is Elegantly designed, featuring many highly polished marble surfaces. Though primarily a ceremonial palace, there is a guest villa at the palace with its own pool, spa and walled gardens • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @awriternamedashley • ✍️️: @wikipedia • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #SymmetricalMonsters #Muscat #Oman
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#AccidentalWesAnderson St. Volodymyr's Cathedral | Kiev, Ukraine | c. 1882 • • In 1852, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow suggested a large cathedral should be built in Kiev to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the baptism of Kievan Rus' by prince Vladimir I of Kiev (St. Volodymyr) • • People from all over the Russian Empire started donating to this cause, so that by 1859 the cathedral fund had amassed a huge sum of 100,000 rubles • • The cathedral was completed in 1882, however, the paintings were fully completed only in 1896 • • After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, St Volodymyr's Cathedral ownership became an issue of controversy between two denominations that both claim to represent Ukrainian Orthodox Christianity - the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a church with an autonomous status under the Moscow Patriarchy, and the newly established Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy, which, ultimately, won the control over the cathedral • • Spiritual leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchy continue to conduct religious services and prayers in St. Volodymyr's Cathedral • • All the ceremonies are conducted in Ukrainian, accompanied during religious holidays by the Cathedral choir, which is often joined by opera singers • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @kyokomai • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #Kiev #Ukraine
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Bastei Building | Cologne, Germany | c. 1924 • • The Bastei is a building in Cologne-Neustadt-Nord , located at the northern end of the Kölner Ringe on the banks of the Rhine. Since its opening on October 22, 1924, the spectacular building has served as a lookout restaurant • • Built in 1924 by the Cologne architect Wilhelm Riphahn and modified in 1927 in expressionist style is the unusual superstructure, which protrudes eight meters above the Rhine • • The upper floor, constructed of light steel, is based on an existing Prussian caponniere which increased the roundabout area to the street. The center of the jagged roof crowns an open-topped peak • • The construction of the building was very controversial, as there were fears that the city silhouette could be negatively affected. However, upon completion, the enthusiasm was great and architecture critic Heinrich de Fries wrote that the building was "wed with the landscape, the current and the bridges, almost completely liberated from the base, from which it is outgrown." • • After heavy damage in 1943 during the war, the bastion was restored by Riphahn in 1958 and reopened by the Lord Mayor of Cologne Theo Burauen • • Then on December 4th, 1958 Hans Herbert Blatzheim opened a restaurant in the Bastei, which was awarded a Michelin star • • In 1985, the building was completely renovated and now the postwar structure carries a lighted trident on the rooftop - while still a restaurant, since 1997, the Bastei can only be rented for private events • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @geliklien • ✍️: @wikipedia • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #Bastei #SymmetricalMonsters #Cologne #Germany
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#AccidentalWesAnderson Chesme Church | Saint Petersburg, Russia | c. 1780 • • Church of Saint John the Baptist at Chesme Palace, also called the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, is a small Russian Orthodox Church in Saint Petersburg, Russia • • It was built by the Russian court architect Yury Felten in 1780, at the direction of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia • • It was erected adjacent to the Chesme Palace to commemorate the anniversary of Russia's 1770 victory over Turkish forces in Chesme Bay in the Aegean Sea during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. • • The church and the Chesme Palace became a labour camp when the Soviet government occupied it and In 1923, the church was closed and used as a storehouse • • Between 1941 and 1945, the church suffered damages during the "Great Patriotic War", then during the Second World War, the Institute of Aviation Technology took possession of the Church and the Chesme Palace • • During 1970–75, it was fully restored under the supervision of the architects M.I. Tolstov and A.P. Kulikov, and in 1977, the church became a museum of the Battle of Chesme (with artifacts from the Central Naval Museum) • • Religious control was restored to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991, and regular church services have been held at the church since then • • Know more? Please comment below! • • 📸: @piffpaffpuff • ✍️️: @wikipedia • #AccidentallyWesAnderson #WesAnderson #VscoArchitecture #Vsco #StPetersburg #Russia
A post shared by @ accidentallywesanderson on Oct 28, 2017 at 8:19am PDT
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