Though the circumstances of their liberation seem somewhat more political than practical, the thousands of fish set to be freed into the wild may not care much about the reasons for the positive change in venue either way.

The ruins of the New World Mall in Bangkok, Thailand, were initially introduced by area vendors to a mixture of tilapia, carp and catfish after their roof collapsed, for indirectly obvious reasons: the stagnant water that subsequently collected in the void space had become breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The resulting informal fishery was fueled by tourists who came to see the strange site, which in turn captured the attention of the local government – as it turns out, abandoned buildings are not what most places want to be known for.

Presumably due to the high profile of the case, the fish are being treated with great care: caught in nets, they are being rounded by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration staff and sent to various lakes and streams around the region.

As to the structure itself: officials have called for its demolition and a court has ordered the corporation behind the failed structure (which never got proper permits) to pay for the draining, destruction and cleaning of the site. Update and images via CityLabs.

Always pushing the limits of posh possibility, this latest endeavor aims to put an entire urban center in a temperature-controlled bubble of indoor spaces, centered around a vast Mall of the World.

Everything one can imagine will be found inside the complex, including 100 apartment and hotel buildings, various medical services, a huge shopping mall and the world’s largest indoor amusement park.

This over-the-top megastructure will join the Dubai’s collection of famous and record-breaking structures, from observation decks and submarine hotels to the tallest skyscraper in the world.

Its designers have unabashedly drawn from sources of inspiration around the world, including culturally central parts of New York, London and other historic metropolises.

Like some surreal voluntary version of Stephen King’s Under the Dome, the whole thing can be experienced without stepping outside, particularly in hot summer months. In cooler winter months, some pedestrian street roofs and park domes will be retracted to allow for natural air circulation.

The goal, as expressed by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (and envisioned by Dubai Holding), is to create a beacon for year-round tourism both from local visitors and those coming from abroad, transforming the UAE from a seasonal vacation spot to a place people can come at any time.

Its architects also claim the system will be eco-friendly, in part because the active and passive systems integrated throughout will work in concert with one another. Whether such a vast system in the desert can be green in the end (or willed be added to the growing list of failed abandonments in Dubai) remains to be seen .

Built, closed, partially demolished, boarded up and ultimately deserted, the New World Mall in the capital city of Thailand has become home a strange and unexpected attraction.

Abandoned nearly two decades ago after violating building codes, the roof of the structure collapsed in a subsequent fire, leading the building to be partially filled with rainwater.

Standing pools throughout the place gave rise to a serious mosquito infestation, which the locals sought to combat by introducing fish that, in turn, bred, spread and inhabited the ruins.

Since then, the mall has turned into a kind of alternative tourist destination where visitors flock to feed the fish, now occupying over 5,000 square feet of space originally intended for retail. Vendors have even sprung up in the area to sell scraps of food – throwing anything else into the standing water is strictly forbidden. More images of the building and its context can be found here.

RenegadeTravels explains how to get to this centrally-located abandonment: “The mall is only around 5 minutes’ walk from Khao San Road. Walk to the end of Khao San Road where the small glass police station is and turn right onto Chakrabongse Road. Then walk straight ahead until you come to the junction with Phra Sumen Road. This intersection is known as Bang Lam Pu Junction. You will see the main entrance to New World Mall here, but you can’t get in from the front.”

Night never comes to this massive complex newly constructed in China. Complete with its own artificial sun (as well as beaches and waves), the world’s largest structure is not a skyscraper but a building both horizontally and vertically vast.

The New Century Global Center in Chengdu, Sichuan, has offices, shops and five-star hotels as you might expect, but it also has simulated exterior spaces with LED screens depicting views of artificial horizons as well as theaters, amusement park rides and an Olympic-sized ice skating rink.

Its square footage is hard to fathom, even in meters (1.7 million square), so its creators have come up with another way to visualize the enormity of the space: you could fit 20 Sydney Opera Houses inside of it, 3 copies of the Pentagon or 329 football fields.

Critics call it boring and massive, but fans admire its relative simplicity and highlight its variegated interior experiences. Though basically minimal overall, a thick and wavy roof line helps define it and provides a way to brand and identify it as both a Chinese structure and potentially iconic symbol.

China is full of strange stories of so-called ‘nail houses’ – homes of people who refuse to move to make way for a large development project. Still, this one was particularly unique: its owners held out while a whole major motorway was constructed on all sides.

Situated in Wenling, its owner Luo Baogen refused the compensation deal offered to him and the owners of over 400 nearby properties.  After a full year of waiting with his wife as they were hemmed in by highway, they finally accepted an improved offer from the government and moved.

In another similar situation, owner and occupant Wu Ping refused an offer (one out of nearly 250 in that case) to move, and found herself surrounded by a sunken pit as shopping mall developers began excavating prior to constructing a new shopping center. Structures in this situation are dubbed ‘nail houses’  because, like a nail wedged deep into a board, they can be stubborn and difficult to remove.