Accidentally Wes Anderson

WALLY KOVAL is the founder of Accidentally Wes Anderson (@accidentallywesanderson), a rapidly growing community based on Instagram with more than 1.4 million followers. In his latest book, bearing the same title, he shares brilliant images and terrific tales of some of the most interesting real-life locations on Earth that share an aesthetic with the world of legendary filmmaker Wes Anderson’s movies. Here’s a few from his eclectic collection which we also hope to visit one day…

Hatteras Lighthouse

LOCATION: North Carolina CIRCA: 1803
The waters off Cape Hatteras are so treacherous to navigate that they are known as the “graveyard of the Atlantic.” There is no reliable tally of the many ships wrecked here, but estimates exceed 2,000. When the warm waters of the Gulf Stream meet the Arctic waters of the Labrador Current here, over the Diamond Shoals bank of sandbars, the results are often violent. Heavy fog, quick-forming storms with sudden 30-foot waves, and an ever-shifting sea floor create truly hazardous navigational challenges. As early as 1794, Congress appropriated $44,000 — then an astronomical sum — to build a warning lighthouse on the head land of Cape Hatteras. Over the next two centuries, the sea eroded the coastline, and in 1999, the lighthouse was moved from the edge of the ocean to safer ground 2,900 feet inland. That made the 200-feet-tall, 5,000-tonne Cape Hatteras Lighthouse one of the tallest, heaviest masonry structures ever moved.

Amer Fort

LOCATION: Rajasthan, India CIRCA: 1592
Amer Fort, both royal palace and military stronghold, stands on a hill over Maota Lake. Construction of the impenetrable red sandstone and marble began in the sixteenth century at the direction of Maharaja Man Singh I, a commander in the Mughal emperor Akbar’s army. The fort rises on four levels, each with its own courtyard. Inside, among the opulent rooms are the Diwan-e-Aam, or Hall of Public Audience, resplendent with mosaic glass works, where the king met his ministers and welcomed common men to hear their requests. The Sukh Niwas, or Hall of Pleasure, even featured an ancient method of air-conditioning, where air passed over channels of perfumed water to keep the palace cool. While the fort presents a commanding yet basic exterior, inside reveals an almost absurd attention to clever details. A “magic flower” marble panel, depicting two butterflies hovering over a flower, is meant to be spun, revealing seven possible images: a lotus, an elephant trunk, a fishtail, a scorpion, a lion’s tail, a hooded cobra, or a cob of corn. Choose your own adventure. The fort’s most beautiful feature is inarguably its Mirror Palace, designed as a gesture of love. A queen of the fort used to love sleeping under the stars as a child. But ancient custom didn’t allow women to sleep in the open air, so her king called on the best architects in the region to deliver her the gift of the cosmos within the palace walls. Their solution was to craft gorgeous detail out of glass for the walls and ceiling. When a mere two candles are lit, thousands of stars appear to glitter beyond the ceiling.

Victoria Baths

LOCATION: Manchester, England CIRCA: 1906
The Victoria Baths opened in 1906, intended to serve as “a water palace,” according to the Lord Mayor of Manchester upon its opening. No extravagance was spared, with the Baths costing almost twice as much as any other facility of its kind. Multi-coloured brickwork and terracotta exterior gives entrance to floor-to-ceiling glazed tiles, mosaic floors, and stained-glass windows more befitting a grand cathedral than a bathing complex built of inner Manchester. Several professional swimmers throughout the 20th century trained in the generous central pool, including Olympic swimmer John Besford. His success in the European 100-metre backstroke infuriated Hitler, who had already commissioned a magnificent bronze eagle trophy on the assumption that German favourite, Ernst Kuppers, would win. For eighty-six years the delightful Baths provided both essential and leisure conveniences: baths and a laundry could be found beside three large swimming pools, a Turkish bath, and, in time, a sauna and the first public jacuzzi in the country. Come winter, the Gala Pool was often floored over and used as a venue for dances, particularly in the post-war years. By the 1990s, the lavish Baths had fallen into disrepair and were shuttered. The building was slated for destruction, but public outcry saved it from bulldozers. Despite frequent fund-raising attempts, however, the building continued to deteriorate as the cost of renovations skyrocketed. Salvation arrived by way of a television contest. In 2003, BBC2’s reality show, Restoration, entered the Baths in a competition for a hefty restoration grant. Nearly 300,000 viewers voted for the building, securing an award of £3.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. While the show did much to rejuvenate the Baths, the BBC underestimated the price of a full restoration… which has since grown to £20m. Nonetheless, in 2006, the gala pool was filled for the first time in 13 years, to celebrate its centenary. The building is once again open for weddings, private functions, concerts, and swimmers training for a surprise victory.

Crawley Edge Boatshed

LOCATION: Sydney, Australia CIRCA: 1936
At first, there was just a trickle of tourists who would occasionally snap photos of the Nattrass family’s little boathouse at the end of a rickety boardwalk on the Swan River in Perth, Australia. Then it was hundreds. Then thousands. The numbers of tourists have grown so overwhelming that the city of Perth recently spent $400,000 on a solar-powered toilet facility to serve them. Once threatened with demolition by the Australian government, the Crawley Edge Boatshed is the most photographed spot in Perth, and tourists wait their turn along the waterfront to take selfies in front of what has become an iconic landmark. Some universities are even studying what they’re calling the “Blue Boathouse Phenomenon” to better understand how photo sharing led to this remarkably unremarkable, organic online popularity.

Port Lockroy

Photo by Kevin Fohrer (@kevinfohrerphotography)

LOCATION: Goudier Island, Antarctica CIRCA: 1944
Less that 2,000 miles from the South Pole, Port Lockroy is a natural harbour on the Antarctic peninsula’s coast that can be reached twice a day by boat during the summer. The Port is part of the Palmer Archipelago — a group of islands that hosts research and military stations for Argentina and the United Kingdom. Discovered in 1904 by the first French Antarctic expedition, Port Lockroy was named for the politician who had helped back their far-flung voyage. Then, for the better part of the early twentieth century, the harbour was primarily used by whalers willing to endure the severe conditions. During World War II, the British identified the location’s unique strategic placement for a secret outpost, from where they could observe enemy U-boat activity in the deep south of the globe. They established a small base, Station A, on tiny Goudier Island as part of a military mission called Operation Tabarin. Station A continued as a research operation until the early ’60s. As the only remaining outpost of the base, it was fully restored and now serves as a museum and a post office. Scientific research is still performed on the island, such as studies on the effect of tourism on gentoo penguins — which means that half the island is open to humans, while the other half is reserved for penguins. The ‘Penguin Post Office’ and souvenir shop is run by a staff of four who process 70,000 pieces of mail sent to over 100 countries from the intrepid travellers who arrive during the five-month Antarctic cruise season. Visitors are also treated to rare souvenir passport stamps. Due to such swag, its global singularity, and the low bar of competition, the Penguin Post Office remains the most visited tourist site on the continent.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

LOCATION: Glacier Bay, Alaska CIRCA: 1794
Covering 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, and wild coastlines, Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska’s Inside Passage is part of a 25-million acre World Heritage Site — one of the world’s largest protected wilderness areas. It serves as a living laboratory research centre, a national park, a biosphere reserve, and a globally essential marine and terrestrial wilderness sanctuary. One notable species primarily spotted here is the Blue bear. Also known as Glacier bears, this subspecies of black bears are one of the rarest bears in the world. Little is known about them or their population and they remain a mystery to the majority of the world. Should you visit the vast national park and happen to spot a blue bear — or any bear — do not approach it, do not let it approach you, and definitely do not choose that moment to phone a friend.

Choi Hung Estate

LOCATION: Hong Kong CIRCA: 1963
Choi Hung means “rainbow” in Cantonese, a fitting name for this bright, immense public housing complex that was built to house nearly 43,000 people. In the lead-up to World War II, Hong Kong welcomed a huge influx of refugees, driven primarily by the Japanese invasion of China and ensuing civil war. With little room to accommodate the flood of people, hundreds of thousands were forced to live in sprawling, overcrowded shantytowns and squatter huts. After a devastating fire destroyed one of these refugee areas, the Hong Kong Housing Authority erected massive residential blocks on the property, beginning with Choi Hung Estate. Opening in 1963, it was the largest public housing estate in the world. Public housing in Hong Kong does not carry the same judgmental connotations it holds elsewhere. This is partially because so many people depend on it, and partially because its success has played such a crucial role in Hong Kong’s urban and economic development. Since the Choi Hung Estate was built, housing policy has been pursued aggressively by the government, which is acknowledged to be the “single largest landlord, developer, and operator of housing within the territory.” Beyond the estates’ impressive functionality — creating affordable homes for almost half the population of such an expensive city — they’re featured in marketing and media campaigns of all stripes. The clean, striking layers of colours yield such aesthetic satisfaction that, much to the dismay of many residents, these recreational areas are very often filled with more photographers than basketball players, and more selfie-sticks than baseball bats. ■