In the wake of World War I, the United Kingdom developed a powerful yet relatively low-tech architectural system for detecting incoming enemy airplanes, the remnants of which can still be found across the countryside.

Starting in the 1920s, these concrete sound mirrors were built to passively gather, reflect and concentrate acoustic waves, directing the sound to listening posts on the ground — key infrastructure in an extensive early warning alert system.

Incoming sounds were amplified by microphones and listened to by operators wearing headphones. Today, the remains of these mirrors are largely abandoned and in various states of disrepair, though some are protected with walls or fences and accompanied by historical plaques.

Based in Basel, photographer Piercarlo Quecchia discovered the existence of sound mirrors thanks to an album cover featuring one such structure. From there, he began the search out, find and photograph them — 13 in total (all that remain), most of which are located along the southern edge of England.

They may look monolithic and simple, but the curves of these structures were carefully calibrated. The designs were specifically calculated (and sound mirrors accordingly engineered) to pick up aircraft engine noises in particular.

“They represent an incredible demonstration of how sound can generate a physical form,” explains the photographer, in which “both the curvature radius and the dimensions of the dishes are studied and designed according to the sound frequency that they must reflect,”  He hopes the series will continue to raise awareness of these artifacts and bolster preservation efforts.

Like the airmail arrows that once guided planes from coast to coast across the United States, it can be easy to overlook such geometrically simple leftovers, at least until an understanding of their historical origins leads people to spot and appreciate them.

Now open on the edge of Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, the Harbor Bath project features a main 150-foot-long pool as well as diving and children’s pools, plus a pair of saunas. Naturally, the water is drawn directly in from the surroundings.

Designed by architects from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) — images by Rasmus Hjortshøj — the complex can support up to 650 bathers at one time. Various pool sizes are elegantly integrating into the tapering form, creating poolside areas as well as swimming and lounging spaces.

Essentially a fake floating island, the structure is further supported by an array of beach volleyball courts, cafes and bars along the adjacent edge of the city.

Future plans call for theaters, hotels, restaurants, shops and more to be developed in the area, making this project a seed or generator of sorts for nearby activity, open all day every day through the summer.

The simple and linear form of this remote vacation home juts out from a cliff over a sea-lion reserve in Chile; crafted to look aged and monolithic, it appears almost like a modern ruin in the natural landscape.

Designed by architects Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen, based in nearby Concepción, the Loba House juts out off the Coliumo Peninsula. For the clients, it is a dream getaway, but it takes a particular personality to enjoy the rugged forms and structural simplicity of this quiet place.

The heavy concrete structure is predominantly made of concrete, its roof forming a terrace overlooking the ocean below (with a stepped chimney sticking up from it).

“In its under-dimensioned thickness, in its narrow and tall proportion, the building could be read as an inhabited wall that runs perpendicular to the natural topography.”

The interior is intentionally sparse and rough, seeming almost like something constructed out of mud brick by hand, or an ancient retreat for some monastic order. The floors step up the hill, following the topography.

The place is just 750 square feet. Kitchen and bathroom fixtures as well as the hearth are built into the concrete columns, as is storage space below various platform levels. Below are common spaces — above: sleeping quarters.

Skylights illuminate various rooms and the board-formed walls, while limited windows keep down costs while framing specific views of the surroundings. Simplicity and geometry dominate the design inside and out, which are also common themes in the architects’ other projects (their own home is a simple concrete tower).

The East Coast Greenway is already a third of the way to completion, and when finished will stretch from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, passing through 16 states and 25 cities along the way.

Developed by the non-profit East Coast Greenway Alliance, the aim is to provide a continuous and ever-changing set of views and experiences to travelers on foot or in non-motorized vehicles.

Its creators note that the “route has been chosen to provide the traveler with an ever-changing, interesting and scenic landscape, whether urban, suburban, small town, industrial or rural,” accessible to cyclists, walkers, joggers and runners. Along the way, the Greenway also syncs up with public transportation at key spots, allowing easy access and egress for people seeking to pursue one stretch of it or another.

“It’s about seeing America at the right speed, where you can take in all of the culture around you. And you don’t have a windshield between yourself and the community.” While the project has been in the works for years, new funding and permissions gained in the last year have propelled it forward more quickly, helping its facilitators connect the dots along the nearly 3,000-mile route.

Built on Devil’s Peak (along a promontory known as Devil’s Slide), this obsolete base end station was designed to spot, triangulate and radio in sightings of enemy ships approaching the San Francisco Bay.

Rounding the bend along California’s scenic coastal State Route 1 from either north or south, it is impossible to miss the incredible bunker, which appears to float over the earth around it. While the area is fenced off, a parking zone nearby is used by some explorers as a place from which to venture closer to the structure, located just south of Pacifica and past a hillside highway tunnel.

Though this is neither safe nor recommended, it is also possible to climb into the viewing slot on the first level then walk the stairs to the top – unofficially: the view is incredible. Meanwhile, the edges of the bunker have turned from supports to supported, cantilevered precariously over their surroundings, allowing you to walk up and sit under thousands of pounds of reinforced concrete.

While it looks like the work of nature, the apparent erosion surrounding the lone structure is reportedly a man-made effort designed to pave the way for further development, presumably by the military. At the same time, natural causes would not be too much of a surprise or stretch, considering that this section of highway has been known to close due to everything from earthquakes to landslides – the next disaster very well might take this abandoned building with it. The land and bunker are meanwhile owned by a private party and officially off limits (though with limited fencing).

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