Subject: Re: RUINS

From: [email-masked] (EJGOLD)
Date: 9 Mar 1996 05:18:54 -0500

This is going to sound weird, but I once heard that if you cut open a
potato and rub it on a rock, it will accelerate the germination of
airborne moss and lichen spores.  Sounds logical to me, so maybe making a
"paint" by putting instant mashed potato flakes and water in a blender (I
guess I'de make it thick but not as thick as mashed potatoes!) and then
brushing a thin coat on your concrete or stone ruins will help speed up
the antiquing (sp?) process.

I once worked for a designer who proposed a "ruins" theme for a childrens
play area.  The design was never constructed, and we never did get to the
level of detail where we wrote specifications for "aging".  I probably
would have attempted the above.

---

From: David Mandel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 14:29:49 -0800

Bill-
	First: during the early part of the era known as the British 
Picturesque (roughly 1680s to mid-1800s), designers such as William Kent 
built fake Gothic ruins as part of the landscapes they designed for their 
wealthy -- and typically noble -- clients' estates.  There's plenty of 
literature with paintings and sketches, and some plans remaining -- in 
architectural libraries around the country.

	Second: the first urban national park is the Golden Gate National 
Recreation Area in San Francisco.  Part of this very large area is the 
ruins of an immense turn-of-the-century saltwater bath-house which is 
specifically being maintained in a state of ruin and danger.  It sits in 
a cove immediately next to the ocean/bay interface at the Golden Gate. It 
burned down in the early 1960s and is mostly some stained concrete 
foundations and bits of twisted, rusting iron -- constantly washed and, 
therefore, constantly eroded/rusted by the ocean water next to it and by San 
Francisco's fog.

	Third: Zoo designers do a huge amount of artificial ruins these 
days.  Look up not the current but the last issue of Landscape 
Architecture magazine to see a restoration job of a zoo built on the 
ancient Egyptian theme.  The game is, primarily, either real or faux 
rock, with drip irrigation and lighting built into crevices (or forms) -- 
shotcrete is used a lot, as are rubber texturing mats to simulate real 
stone, brick, or whatever.

				Dave Mandel

On 6 Mar 1996, STERLING SIGNATURES CORPORATION wrote:

> Does anybody know anything related to building ruins of any kind? I 
> want to build ancient or even more modern ruins in my back yard. Old 
> mossy stone stairs, Mayan ruins, Greek & Roman ruins ettc. I'm 
> looking for tricks of the ruin trade. How to fake age etc. Thanks!
> 
> Bill Morgan
> 
>