Vacation not “vacant” enough? Abandoned in 1978, Japan‘s New Muroto Sky Rest resort is apparently patronized only by zombies or those hiding from them.

Little is known of the New Muroto Sky Rest resort before its closure and abandonment in 1978… perhaps that’s why the place closed and was abandoned. Certainly its location at the tip of Cape Muroto – a rocky, windswept peninsula jutting southeastward into the Pacific Ocean – was both scenic and accessible by major highways. Then there’s the “prehistoric robot” facade gazing menacingly out to sea. Credit Flickr user Craig Hunter (pictor ignotus) with the above images captured in June of 2009.

Cape Muroto is the largest cape in Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. While considered by many to be Japan’s version of the boondocks, Shikoku is popular with tourists performing the traditional pilgrimage to 88 select temples and a number of hot spring inns and resorts cater to weary wanderers in search of rejuvenation. Kudos to Abandoned Kansai for the above images dating from April of 2011.

The New Muroto Sky Rest did not have an on-site “onsen” – in fact, it had little to recommend itself as a resort besides its stunning seaside setting. According to urbex vet Jordy Meow, the complex featured a restaurant, a video-game parlor (de rigueur in the Seventies) and a pair of cantilevered side wings which offered unparalleled views of Cape Muroto and the ocean beyond.

The wings are still extant, as are the aforementioned views but as for the rest… put it this way, if it wasn’t nailed down or too heavy to carry away, it’s gone for good. We should mention that those scenic views are towards the ocean: over the past couple of decades Cape Muroto has become infested with more than a few ugly telecommunications towers, radio antennae, and even a wind farm.

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Trashed Resort Japans Abandoned New Muroto Sky Rest

When the zombies come, nobody’s going to save you but yourself. This idea has zombie apocalypse survivalists designing amazingly complex safe houses from compact extending shells you can carry on your back to entire fortified neighborhoods complete with electrified lawns and zip lines. Architects Southwest sponsored this year’s ‘Zombie Safe House’ competition, and these top 12 winning designs might just prompt you to think about how well you’d do in your own home. Check out the remaining 5 finalists and the rest of the entries at ZombieSafeHouse.wordpress.com.

Vagabond Mobile Safe House Device

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Snagging the 1st place ‘Gold Shovel Award’, the Vagabond Mobile SafeHouse Device is a self-sustaining structure for two that can be carried on your back in a stylish rucksack. Containing potable water filtration systems, a tracking device and photovoltaic cells that form a tough skin, the shelter folds out into an instant protective shell that can be set up in less than three minutes. Creator ‘snd’ predicts that in a zombie apocalypse, only those who adapt immediately will survive a la Social Darwinism. “Don’t disappoint Charles Darwin, get your own Vagabond Mobile SafeHouse Device today.” If only.

Oil Silo Home

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

The 2nd place ‘Silver Machete Award’ goes to the Oil Silo Home by PinkCloud.DK. This self-supporting design makes use of the 52,000 oil silos that already exist worldwide. Disaster-proof, these structures can provide an ‘independent ecosystem’ when equipped with wind, solar and bike energy as well as a greenhouse, silkworms for fabric and greywater recycling. The best part of the Oil Silo Home is its ‘passive defense’ design, which uses existing oil and methane gas as weapons against invading zombies.

Look.Out.House

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

When faced with the worst-case scenario, who wouldn’t want a stylish modern home that is eminently livable yet also practical for survival? The Look.Out.House is imagined for a riverfront location that provides a scenic view of the landscape and an ideal vantage point to watch for zombie invaders. It includes a rooftop garden with a rainwater collector, cistern and purifier, solar panels and a lovely open floor plan. Major advantages include a drawbridge extending over an infinity-edge moat, a built-in weapons arsenal and a subterranean boat canal leading to the river.

“Designed in a manner consistent with modern-living principles and demands, the zombie apocalypse will seem like nothing more than a Hollywood film for which one just happens to have luxurious skybox seating.”

Zombie-Proof Your Home

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Need to ‘bug in’ – meaning, stay at home rather than trying to flee to safer locales? You’d better make sure your house is as zombie-proof as can be. This plan by Jordan Lloyd and Roger Cooper outlines each step you must take to equip your existing home with zombie-defending features that could be sold in big box stores like IKEA. Suggestions include biodiesel for power, a ground source heat pump that can electrocute any zombies in your yard, a helipad for rapid armed forces counter assault, large rainwater tanks and zip wires that allow residents to quickly move to other streets without descending to ground level.

Zombie Ranch

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Not only would you be living the high life at the Honorable Mention-winning Zombie Ranch – literally – the very brain-seeking creatures that are out to destroy you would help power it. Drawn to visible baits, zombies turn a giant wheel in order to get to them. Thankfully, they’re not quite smart enough to see how they’re being used (or are they?) The unit has a retractible bridge so that occupants can get in and out, and includes space to grow food as well as living units.

SafetyNet City

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

“High above, safe from the deadly streets below, we have started anew. We live in a city of nets, steel cables strung between the dead relics of forgotten skyscrapers.” This is how contest entrants Mihaly Slocombe Architects envisions surviving the zombie apocalypse – in hanging pods packed with rations and weapons, offering excellent visibility of the carnage below. Draped between parallel strands of the nets are plastic membranes, which support the various industries and functions needed for survival including rain capture and growing food.

Pre-Fabricated Shelters

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Just as we have public shelters for natural disasters, this entry imagines giving each local area its own zombie survival shelter. Located underground, the shelter will enable those not yet infected to get to a safe place and be sealed inside with all the supplies needed to live “during the infection cleanse.” You hang out underground for a while, and when you come back up, the zombies are gone. Hard to argue with that.

Zombie Emergency Rapid Deployment Shelters

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

On the other hand, if there’s a zombie outbreak, it would be nice if the shelter could come to you. Yet another Honorable Mention entry, the ZeRAD – Zombie Emergency Rapid Deployment Shelter – gives humanity one last chance to survive. Helicopter-deployed mobile modules with penetrator spikes heavier than the spheres are dropped to the ground. The spikes secure them so they can withstand a heavy assault. Each sphere has enough food, water and space for five people to survive for one month, with additional water harvesting capabilities. And if any zombies try to climb up, they’ll be fried by the electrified hull.

LifeBuoy

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Imagine a zombie-infested future where the outbreak is so bad, we can’t even live on land anymore. If it gets to that point, LIFEBUOY has us covered. This design makes use of abandoned oil rigs, turning them into entire floating complexes that include crop fields, radio towers, markets, food storage and a hospital. Each rig can support 500 survivors.

Statue of Liberty Shelter

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

The Statue of Liberty has long been one of the first sights glimpsed by immigrants into America, and one day, it could literally offer a safe haven of survival. The torch becomes a ‘beacon of hope’, while the rest of the statue includes a lookout point, living pods and storage space for food and munitions.

Dam City

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Again taking advantage of the fact that zombies (theoretically) can’t swim or float, Dam City places a new civilization across the Krishna River in India at the Srisailam Dam. Using the existing dam as a base, the civilization adds four concrete residential towers surrounding a central market tower. Each tower is connected with glass tunnels for pedestrians, and the dam provides the power. When under attack, the dam gate opens, filling the complex with water to wash the zombies down the side of the dam.

Ark-Class Interstate Sweeper

(images via: zombiesafehouse)

Not only is this ‘Ark’ just what it implies, with enough space, supplies and technology to support what uninfected humans may remain, it also sweeps zombies right out of the streets as it moves. Features include an aquaponic food system and rain collection system. The Ark moves along the interstates to locate and save survivors.

If maximum security is your aim but prison life just doesn’t cut it, you might want to consider the Safe House. Designed by KWK Promes Architects and located just outside Warsaw, Poland, this shape-shifting, monolithic, urban bunker adjusts its exterior to meet all your security needs from pesky tool-borrowing neighbors to a full-on zombie apocalypse.

Blanket Security

(images via: HomeDSGN and World Buildings Directory)

When Polish architecture firm KWK Promes set out to design and build the ultimate safe house, cutting corners was not an option. The resulting building, located just outside of Warsaw in the village of Okrzeszyn, was even named “Safe House” to underscore its uncompromising stance on home security.

(images via: MinimalHome and HomeTrendMode)

One might say Poles know a thing or two about security and the need for it, though the country’s darkest days are (hopefully) behind it. The Central European nation is also one of the former Soviet bloc’s most impressive economic success stories; current estimates state that Poland will enter the Eurozone and adopt the Euro as its currency within the next 2 years. Residences such as the Safe House may be expensive, even if produced in quantity, but Poland will have no shortage of moneyed buyers willing to fork over the necessary zloty.

(images via: MinimalHome and HomeTrendMode)

But back to the Safe House itself, which appears more like a warehouse than a farmhouse. The charcoal gray exterior is hardly welcoming and one wonders about absorbed solar heat radiated inwardly by the dark outer walls… more on that later. Mind you, there’s only one Safe House at the moment (it was completed in 2009) and future owners would be well within their rights to liven up the wide, flat exterior walls with a lighter paint color, at least on some surfaces to break up the blockhouse monotony.

Built Like a Safe

(images via: Mirage.Studio.7, FreshBump and Freshly Serious)

One thing the Safe House is, is big… it’s practically a fortress with an open, spacious interior. The actual living space runs up to 6,100 sq ft spread over two floors, and that doesn’t include the adjoining swimming pool annex that’s accessed via a neo-medieval retracting drawbridge.

(images via: HomeDSGN and FreshBump)

Though monolithic in plan view, the Safe House is actually quite organic as it can change its appearance and function depending on the need of the moment. The most fluid elements are the 2.2 meter (7.2 ft) high outer walls, which measure 22 and 15 meters (72 and 49 ft) in length. The walls adjust to provide a “safe zone” that extends out to encompass the front courtyard while separating children from the public street in front of the house.

(images via: TrendHunter, MK and Design Milk)

Huge, flush-fitting shutters 2.8 meters (9.2 ft) high and up to 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) wide open up to 180 degrees so as to lie flat against the house’s walls. These shutters expose expansive floor-to-ceiling windows on the house’s second floor, letting in light and relieving any sense of claustrophobia.

Roll Up, See The Show!

(images via: DesignBoom)

The house’s southern exposure demanded a different sort of security solution as this area would be used for entertainment, dining and for enjoying fresh air on the back patio. Closing off this area at night or when not need required the installation of an immense 14 by 6 meter (46 by 19.5 ft) roll-up, corrugated metal door of the type used for aircraft hangars and shipyards.

(images via: Materialicious, Newsodrome, KNSTRCT and Business Insider)

The roll-up door is operated by an electric motor and is activated via an electronic touchpad. According to KWK Promes, the door “is made with white anodized aluminum which makes it possible to function as a movie projection screen.” Roll ’em, indeed.

2011: A Safe Odyssey

(images via: Freshly Serious)

Oh, those dark and forbidding outside walls? KWK Promes designed them with interior glazing that allows heat absorption during winter days and insulation in summer. The walls act to store solar energy and ease the burden on the separate hybrid heat system, making the building as a whole “intelligent passive” when it comes to environmental sustainability. As an added bonus, the walls do a darned fine job of keeping zombies (or the in-laws) out… just sayin’.

(images via: If It’s Hip It’s Here and Freshly Serious)

Architect Robert Konieczny (above) of KWK Promes likens the Safe House to a living organism; quite a contrast from one’s initial impression of a live-in version of the Black Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Instead, the Safe House “wakes up every morning to close up after the dusk. This routine reminds of the processes occurring in nature – the house resembles a plant in its day and night cycle.”

(images via: These Old Colors)

It’s a bit ironic, perhaps, that the Safe House looks back not to a time when people felt secure enough at home to leave their doors unlocked, but further back to the good old days of kings, castles, moats and sieges. Whatever goes around, comes around we suppose… even if it comes ’round with straight edges.