Navy covering up swastika barracks
Seen here is a Google Earth image of US Navy barracks in Coronado, California. The US Navy has now budgeted $600,000 to cover up the swastika shape through the installation of solar panels and various landscape modifications. They were encouraged to do the modifications by several parties, including US Rep Susan Davis, Anti-Defamation League regional director Morris Casuto, and radio talk show host Dave vonKleist.
Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)Navy officials say the shape of the buildings, designed by local architect John Mock, was not noted until after the groundbreaking in 1967 -- and since it was not visible from the ground, a decision was made not to make any changes...
"I don't ascribe any intentionally evil motives to this," Casuto said, referring to the design. "It just happened. The Navy has been very good about recognizing the problem. The issue is over."
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If you zoom out the satellite image, you'll realize that the building's shape makes sense in context. It's two jets about to bomb the Nazis. A bit outdated, but interesting nonetheless. I still see their reason, but I think people should at least get why they did it in the first place.
What a waste of money. It's just a building with 8
sections, arranged to form 4 courtyards open at one
end. If people think it looks like a swastika from
the air, people shouldn't look at aerial photos of
it.
Besides, the swastika has existed in many cultures
centuries before the Nazi party adopted it. If it
were a heavy black swastika inside a white circle
inside a red rectangle, then I'd be concerned.
It's really annoying when people construe things
like this as anti-Semitic when that is obviously
not the intention. I can think of a lot better
uses for $600,000.
The Alex Jones and David Ickes of the world will have a field day with this one.
Such a waste of money. There's nothing wrong with the swastika - it's about time we stop obsessing about it.
I wouldn't say NOTHING is wrong with the Swastika. That's like saying nothing is wrong with giving people the finger because some cultures think that's a sign of affection...
True. But then, Alex Jones and David Ickes are easily amused.
I'm sure the ADL will have a fundraiser to reimburse the $600K their hypersensitivity cost taxpayers. After all, they wouldn't want to play into the anti-Semitic stereotype of being "careful with money."
I'd say easily outraged, Teresa. But their outrage easily amuses me.
Tim, oh my goodness you're right! It does look like two planes about to attack a swastika.
Oh, and LA Times fails for not having a link to the Google Maps image. Here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&ll=32.675072,-117.158772&spn=0.006295,0.01133&t=k&z=17&om=1
All they needed to do was add four covered patios, changing it into a plus inside a square. I would have done that for them for only $100,000!
I was stationed at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado back in the mid-90's and noticed it on a map of the base ... the people I showed it to at work thought I was crazy.
Man, that building ~in context~ with the other two looks pretty awesome.
It looks like an Apple //e game or something.
The swastika is not a nazi symbol, damn your eyes.
Waste of money. PC has gone too far.
The runway layout at Denver International Airport is also a swastika. They should put solar panels and trees over the runways to cover that up as well. Here's a Googlemap link:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.861922,-104.66177&spn=0.071944,0.188141&z=13&om=1
Nobody noticed it until until after the groundbreaking in 1967?
Didn't they draw up site plans for this thing?
If it was a typical Navy project, it was probably approved by several dozen engineers and Navy personnel, all of whom should have seen the plans -
Does this qualify as some sort of Architectural-Terrorism?
But seriously the building layout actually makes a lot of sense, you get four arms for living space, and each arm has it's own courtyard and green space for the residents.
So as well as TV and radio, and print being monitored by people to protect us from anything offensive, are there now people using Google Earth to scour every inch of America to look for any architecture that could be offensive?
It makes me want to see a large housing development built in the shape of a hand giving the finger.
Does this qualify as some sort of Architectural-Terrorism?
But seriously the building layout actually makes a lot of sense, you get four arms for living space, and each arm has it's own courtyard and green space for the residents.
So as well as TV and radio, and print being monitored by people to protect us from anything offensive, are there now people using Google Earth to scour every inch of America to look for any architecture that could be offensive?
It makes me want to see a large housing development built in the shape of a hand giving the finger.
if you want to look for it, the swastika is everwhere, especially in floor tiling or fabric prints.
The so called "swastika" does not belong to the nazis. They appropriated it and it's time to take it back. It's ridiculous that we should relinquish a simple geometric pattern that Chinese people have been using for thousands of years. If you get up in arms every time you see this symbol, you only give power to it. Meanwhile actual fascism can run rampant right under everyone's noses.
As several other people have noted, the swastika is not necessarily only a Nazi symbol. It predates national socialism by thousands of years, is seen in Mediterranean, middle eastern, and far eastern art (native American too I think), and is considered a symbol for Buddhism (in fact, in Taipei Taiwan the swastika appears on subway maps to denote Buddhist temples.)
But OH the HORROR that people flying overhead might see an offensive symbol. Next thing you know they'll fill in the Snake River gorge because maybe someone will think it resembles a vagina.
Don't people have better things to do with their time time?
Why the outrage over something so trivial?
I think an important point to be made here is that the swastika throughout its very long history has more often than not been rendered counter-clockwise, rather than clockwise. Hitler adopted the symbol and flipped it around.
This swastika is a Nazi swastika, not a Chinese, Buddhist or Native-American swastika. That's all irrelevant.
It is clearly made to look as though two planes are coming to bomb the Nazi swastika. The architect's message here is anti-Nazi. How is that offensive to anyone but Nazis?
Are these people context-illiterate? The culture of the politically correct in this country has truly grown extreme (and idiotic). $600,000? Are you f-ing serious?
Does anyone know when that airplane icon began? 60s wargames? 80s videogames?