ONCE touted as a hub of midcentury futurism, Taiwan’s space-style holiday park is now nothing more than an explorer’s paradise.
With its UFO-like buildings the star of the show, the resort’s space-age retro splendor continues to slowly fade away.
The would-be holiday village sits derelict on Taiwan’s northern coast[/caption]
The futuristic-looking structures were supposed to be used as chalets[/caption]
Inside one of the spaceship-like Futuro pods[/caption]
The abandoned site also features Venturo chalets[/caption]
Perched on Taiwan‘s northern coast in Wanli, the unusual collection of buildings was supposed to act as a holiday park.
But what remains is a series of bizarre, decaying structures nestled beside a beach that photographer Dax Ward captured on camera.
He told The Sun: “Taiwan’s UFO Village is a rare architectural graveyard, where innovation meets decay, and the result is hauntingly beautiful.
“These homes were built to be futuristic retreats, yet today, they stand as monuments to an unrealised vision of tomorrow.
“The juxtaposition of these surreal, spaceship-like homes against Taiwan’s rugged coastline creates a scene that feels both cinematic and dreamlike.”
The most eye-catching would-be chalets are the Futuro houses – the brainchild of Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in the 1960s.
Resembling Hollywood’s whimsical idea of a flying saucer, the circular structures were designed as portable holiday homes adaptable to different climates and terrains.
Visitors would climb through an aeroplane-style door into the spacecraft-like chalet and find a lounge area, small kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.
With the space race all the rage in the late 1960s thanks to Neil Armstrong’s moon landing, designers hoped architecture playing on that theme would be very much in vogue.
The Futuro design consisted of 16 pieces that were to be bolted together to form the floor, roof, and shape of the house.
It meant they would be able to be assembled anywhere or airlifted on site.
But the experimental Futuro design never really took off – with some towns in the United States even banning the pods out right.
The other structures decaying at Taiwan’s failed holiday park are Venturo designs – also drawn up by Suuronen.
After Futuro’s initial success, the company awarded the construction contract launched a whole series of plastic buildings designed by the architect.
Among them was the Venturo pod – earmarked to act at holidays homes or bungalows.
The abandoned pods sit beside the beach[/caption]
The derelict buildings have been left to the elements[/caption]
The site now attracts photographers and explorers[/caption]
The design of the structures never really took off[/caption]
The Futuro pods that remain are some of the only originals in the world[/caption]
But instead, they popped up as kiosks, cafes and more.
Any success the two designs saw was short-lived, however, as when the oil crisis hit in 1973 it drove the cost of plastic sky-high.
Many were destroyed or vandalised, and today just a few remain scattered around the globe.
Dax added: “I’ve seen one standalone Futuro before in a random field in central Texas, but only one, as they are very hard to find.
“Taiwan once had a large concentration of Futuro houses, but these Wanli UFO Houses are the last remnants of Taiwan’s ‘UFO’ vacation homes, and as such are some of the last in the world.
“Exploring these imaginative structures combined with the scenic backdrop of Tawan’s northern coast was a journey through time and imagination.”
