The board of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District recently voted unanimously to approve a $76 million funding plan for installation of steel-cable nets 20 feet beneath the east and west edges of the bridge that are intended to deter people from leaping to their deaths or catch them if they do.

The net, suspended from posts, will have a slightly upward slope, and will collapse a bit if someone lands in it, making it difficult for the jumper to climb out. The bridge district will deploy a retrieval device to pluck jumpers from the net. But this will not be the first net to span beneath the Golden Gate, which, when it was constructed, was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

When building the Golden Gate Bridge, the lead structural engineer insisted on the installation of a safety net even though its $130,000 cost was deemed exorbitant. Over the four years of its construction, the net saved 19 men, who named themselves the “Halfway to Hell Club.”

The safety measure, however, was not entirely successful — in one case, a catwalk collapsed and a dozen men were plunged into the water, becoming entangled in the net along the way. A few survived, rescued by a crab boat, but ten men died. Today, there’s a plaque on the south western side of the bridge at the entrance to the west sidewalk dedicated to the workers who died that day.

Cladding a cement mixer in pixelated mirror squares, a French artist has created a giant glittering disco ball on wheels able to turn vacant lots and construction sites into instant party zones.

Benedetto Bufalino often adds fun to the mix when working with interactive and installation pieces (unusual sports courts and strange phone booth conversions), for instance, but rarely in quite such a dramatic way.

Parked for a time next to a building site in Lyon and given its own spotlight, the artist’s remixed mixer spins up and casts light in all directions. The idea driving the project is simple: bring together locals and passing pedestrians to mix and meet in the resulting rays.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the entire setup is mobile — for guerrilla party throwers, the mixer can set up shop then move if complaints mount or authorities arrive. Or it can simply cruise slowly down the street, making for a truly and permanently portable party.

Meanwhile, when not at work hosting parties, the vehicle can carry and pour concrete as usual — like many urban residents, it is a worker by day but a partier by night.

Shed no racket tears for these abandoned tennis courts as there’s no bawls in tennis… OK, that’s out of line but these courts ARE out of service.

Looking like a set from The Walking Dead, this precariously covered tennis club in Europe’s Benelux region appears to have been abandoned twice – once by tennis players, then by the artist who owns (or owned) the place.

The former club must have been more than just a private backyard court – at least one line judge’s chair can be seen, shunted off to the side. Odd that the artist adaptively reusing the club as a studio would save such a specialized piece of furniture. Kudos to Flickr user Tunebm, who somehow was able to access the abandoned court in early July of 2010.

Wimble-don’t

Flickr user John Haslam (foxypar4) titles the above November 2008-dated photo “Malta in audacious bid to stage ATP Masters Series Final!,” and you can bet that’s an event anyone would gladly pay to see. Set into the long-dry moat surrounding the ancient fortified city of Mdina, the court has at least one thing going for it: chances of a successful Ottoman invasion are very unlikely.

The Open is Closed

Blue-blooded businessman and banker William du Pont, Jr (1896-1965) was quite the sportsman in his day. In the depths of the Great Depression, he had a grandiose recreation center housing basketball and badminton courts, a bowling alley, a swimming pool and a large clay tennis court built at his Bellevue Hall, Delaware estate.

By the early 1970’s, none of du Pont’s heirs had any interest in the estate’s deteriorating sports facilities nor the expense required for their upkeep. The property was purchased by the state of Delaware in 1976, opened to the public under the name of Bellevue State Park… and continued its inexorable decay. By 2014 when the above images were taken by Kyle Grantham for The News Journal , the sky-lit tennis court was overgrown with vegetation, infested with wildlife, and had been slated for demolition.

Get A Grip

This gorgeous abandoned tennis court in Herzliya, Israel would appear to have everything but regular maintenance and the odd player or two. According to Flickr user Elinor Zach (who snapped the seaside scene on January 2nd of 2008), “This tennis court used to belong to a hotel that was super posh in the 80s. I wish I could see the characters that used to bounce their little green balls there.” That’s what SHE said.

Net Loss

Flickr user Franck VIALA (Artretros) got down & funky – or should we say, fuzzy – back in September of 2011 when he snapped this shot of an abandoned French tennis court. “An abandoned tennis court where I used to play since I was 10 maybe,” states the photographer, possibly with the pictured tennis ball.

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Uncanny Volley 15 Abandoned Tennis Courts Clubs

Clubs, axes and bats are anything but typical furniture, and may be off-putting to ordinary people visiting your house. Hence these hybrid designs, in which weapons are built right into nightstands, coat racks and coffee tables.

First, a classic: the James McAdam bat-and-shield bedside-table set that started out as a concept design, but through a cycle of positive viral feedback has not made it into production and is available for purchase.

From its creator: “Here it is the [safest bedside table] you can buy. Made from Birch [plywood] Maple and Leather this table is priced at $245. It has been developed [since being] exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art NY and now being made in the UK for sale worldwide.”

Next, a spiked club from The Principals.  “Crossing a classic piece of sports equipment with an everyday household piece of furniture, the Bat Rack uses iconographic items to create a unique piece that functions both passively and actively, to serve and protect.

“As a weapon of self defense and a place to hang your belongings, the Bat Rack can be installed on any wall by swinging, spike-end first, or used to stop any burglar in their tracks. Constructed from solid Carolinian maple and hand-turned stainless steel, the Bat Rack is inspired by the supple curves of Danish mid-century masters and the crack of a bat heard from neighborhood sandlots.”

Finally, from designer Chris Duffy, the less-practical but quite-beautiful axe table. “Walnut veneer or light Oak veneer from Stewardship Council managed forests and other controlled sources, the solid hickory axe handles are specially imported from the USA. Resin composite axe heads.”