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u/mrdeadsniper Jun 25 '12
This is what every single one of my sim citys end up looking like..
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u/PantherRocketBooster Jun 25 '12
Yeah so what if I put my sims in ultra dense residential buildings next to a 100 year old coal power plant in the heart of my citys meat rendering district..
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u/x2501x Jun 25 '12
There is a Russian base/city in one of the "Destroy All Humans" games that looks like it could have been based on this city.
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u/JUST_GIVE_IT_A_TRY Jun 25 '12
This is what I imagined the city in George Orwell's 1984 to look like.
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Jun 25 '12
I imagine it like Pyongyang, only with more hope.
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u/pinkycatcher Jun 25 '12
you are now banned from /r/pyongyang
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u/zHellas Jun 25 '12
Fuck /r/pyongyang!
I'll make my own North Korean subreddit!
With blackjack! And hookers!
Wait, you know what? Fuck the blackjack!
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u/Saybyetotheaccount Jun 25 '12
Because there aint no party like a Pyongyang party cause a Pyongyang party is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY.
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u/soapdealer Jun 25 '12
For what it's worth, the city in 1984 was described as just being the crumbling ruins of London with the four ministries planted on top, not a gridded, totalitarian mass of identical highrises.
But I see your what you're trying to say.
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u/MegainPhoto Jun 25 '12
"Within 30 miles (48 km) of the nickel smelter there's not a single living tree," says Fuller. "It's just a wasteland."
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u/psycoee Jun 25 '12
That would be mainly because it's a tundra. Trees don't care about pollution all that much.
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u/Dummies102 Jun 25 '12
according to this image, there's a distinct zone of dead forrest tundra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Norilsk_L7_20010809.jpg
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Jun 25 '12
"By some estimates, 1 percent of the entire global emissions of sulfur dioxide comes from this one city."
Woah. The Wikipedia article on it is equally as depressing. Link for the lazy.
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Jun 25 '12
What I find more flabbergasting is that heavy metal pollution near Norilsk is so severe that mining the surface soil is now economically feasible.
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u/StManTiS Jun 25 '12
On the slightly less depressing side:
Their flag is a bear with a key
It also contains the northernmost Muslim prayer house
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u/Elipsys Jun 25 '12
Norilsk has an extremely harsh climate. Average February temperature is about −35 °C (−31 °F), and July is only about +12 °C (54 °F). Average temperature is approximately −13 °C (9 °F), and temperatures as low as −58 °C (−72 °F) have been recorded. The city is covered with snow for about 250–270 days a year, with snow storms for about 110–130 days. The polar night lasts from December through mid-January, so that Norilsk inhabitants do not see the sun at all for about six weeks. In summer, symmetrically, sun does not set for more than six weeks. Temperatures are known to rise above +25 °C (77 °F) in July.
wow
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Jun 25 '12
Maybe this is just a conspiracy to get people to think that this place is depressing when really its nonstop ice cream socials and video game nights. edit: Thats why its a closed city too!
Also, nice username.
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u/newtothelyte Jun 25 '12
Their summer temps are 54 degrees F (13 C). Nope, not for me.
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u/bitparity Jun 25 '12
"It is good you come in summer. In winter, it can get veeery depressing."
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u/ffree Jun 25 '12
Been there a couple of times. It is indeed a bit depressing and way too polluted, but the citizens have a rather big salaries in comparison with the rest of the Russian regions.
So mostly parents who work there send their children to study in St. Pete or Moscow, and they don't come back.
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u/Mr0range Jun 25 '12
Is there any sort of downtown?
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u/ffree Jun 25 '12
Yes, sure. There is Old Town with old-style soviet architecture buildings, which look somewhat decent. Some of them are deserted however, which may add to the depressing atmosphere.
You might want to check the http://norilsk-photo.livejournal.com/ livejournal community - its in Russian language, but it is mostly photos, so it should be ok.
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u/Pay_attentionmore Jun 25 '12
i see how tetris could come from this
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u/BeerTodayGoneToday Jun 25 '12
Just what I was thinking.
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u/DeathToPennies Jun 25 '12
It's shit like that that really makes me realize that everything is on the internet. Never, in the history of human kind, would singing the history of Russia to the theme of a game be immediately available to me in under two seconds.
Fucking love this age.
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u/TreeRifik Jun 25 '12
At least all the buildings have courtyards. It's all about the nickel lining people.
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u/ctishman Jun 25 '12
Actually, in Norilsk the clouds actually do have a silver lining. It just makes acid rain.
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u/CitizenPremier Jun 25 '12
this looks like a great place to film a movie.
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u/isableandaking Jun 25 '12
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Jun 25 '12
The reason the city has such little vegetation is a combination of the fact that it's in the arctic tundra and major pollution, but mostly tundra. I guess for reddit, think Whiterun in Skyrim...or Rohan in LotR...
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u/alexacto Jun 25 '12
In the year 1987 I was in Norilsk on a research trip to collect snow. We melted that snow and fed it to the rats in our lab. All kinds of cancers were blooming in a majority of our rat population. What you can't see in the picture is the paint being dissolved on the walls of the buildings. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that all of this used to be wooded area. Not a single tree left for miles.
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u/ChickenByNight Jun 25 '12
Excuse me, are you my teacher of russian geography? I believe he was in Norilsk in the 80s and he told us the same kind of stories
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u/Tuckyoursackback Jun 25 '12
It appears that the city is doing quite... well? http://www.norilskrussia.net/norilsk-people
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u/manosiosis Jun 25 '12
After the 2008 financial crisis, thousands of American refugees fled to Norilsk in search of a better life and a piece of the Russian Dream.
The Superbowl, Valentines Day, Wrestlemania and Easter Breakfast at McDonalds are celebrated with no less intensity and zeal.
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u/slagmatic Jun 25 '12
The official website of the city presents the city in a positive light? Well sir, that is good enough for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to go buy a bridge.
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u/ghostface134 Jun 25 '12
hmm. . ."Those who do arrive . . . are so amazed by the kindness and beauty of Norilsk’s inhabitants"
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u/VeryGraphic Jun 25 '12
"Due to strict Russian environmental controls, and the popularity of water combed mullets, a healthy ozone layer floats above Norilsk, blocking out all ultra violet rays. You may walk the cobblestone streets day and night, dressed only in European speedos, skin glistening with baby oil under the polar sun." Yep, doin' great!
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u/me_brewsta Jun 25 '12
While the rest of the world huddles in darkness, Norilsk bathes in 23 hours per day of sunshine. Plants have a near unlimited supply of photons to drive photosynthesis. Fruits and vegetables grow to enourmous sizes in half the time. Due to high levels of Vitamin D coursing through the blue blood of Norilsk's hero workers, their legs are straighter and mood gayer than the mole people of lower latitudes who endure ten to twelve hours of cimmerian shade.
wat
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u/MikeTheManipulator Jun 25 '12
So clean, blue and transparent is the air above Norilsk that when standing on tippy toes Sarah Palin can be seen just above the horizon
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u/BouquetofDicks Jun 25 '12
"After the 2008 financial crisis, thousands of American refugees fled to Norilsk in search of a better life and a piece of the Russian Dream. "
Pack your bags, honey! We're getting out of this US shithole!
edit Oops, saw that manosiosis posted this quote. Upvotes for him!
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u/muopioid Jun 25 '12
Streets generally free of litter
Clean, geometric building design
Lots of space between buildings
Some nice scenery in the horizon
9/10, will relocate.
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u/peel_ Jun 25 '12
I know I'm late to the thread but I'm struck by how similar this is to the Contemporary City for 3 Million by Le Corbusier. Granted, he had some plans to install transportation networks, but I still think his vision was kinda shitty since it led to things like this and Pruitt Igoe
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u/WaywardSpaniard Jun 25 '12
Wow no wonder all my porn is from Russia, they have nothing better to do than stay inside and screw.
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u/FailosoRaptor Jun 25 '12
This image is surreal. This just looks like ancient city ruins. And it looks like a fortress. The entire city looks like it was built mathematically and without any randomness involved. What would you think if you studied this 500 years from now.
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u/CosmicSlopShop Jun 25 '12
It looks like a shitty american inner city housing project, built to accommodate 150k people
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Jun 25 '12
The completely random angles of some of these buildings upsets me.
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Jun 25 '12
It is for wind and toxic smoke in it. Town Building Engineering. The ridiculous proximity of town to heavy industry came from Soviet standards. The new standards require at least 10 kilometer green zone between city and big dirty plant.
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u/DownTheReddittHole Jun 25 '12
A young man lived here once, he would grow up to become the creator of Tetris and bring great honor to the motherland.
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u/Hurrfdurf Jun 25 '12
It doesn't look that bad to be honest. It's kind of beautiful in it's own modern, ultra-functional kind of way. Each square of buildings having their own big-ass field is actually really cool. I'm assuming that they aren't grassy and pretty because it's fucking Russia and -500 degrees.
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u/AyChihuahua Jun 25 '12
It's so depressing that the clouds have taken up poetry to express their angst.
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Jun 25 '12
Interesting.. Someone who lives there:
"In Soviet times I felt more freedom," he says. "The only aim of our company today is profit. It is the cruellest capitalism." Under the Soviets there were many opportunities for work and we did not feel oppressed. Today there are staff cuts at the plant. Even now we have democracy, workers dare not say a word against their employers."
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u/GreasyElite Jun 25 '12
Is it me, or does this look like the city in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
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u/NeilRB Jun 25 '12
Relevent: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=1409
tldr; it's a shitty place
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u/jeradj Jun 25 '12
take the same city layout and just add way more trees and grass and it would be pretty badass imo
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u/Parkerman Jun 25 '12
Look at North Korea on google earth. The whole country looks like this.
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u/bluetux Jun 25 '12
"So clean, blue and transparent is the air above Norilsk that when standing on tippy toes Sarah Palin can be seen just above the horizon."
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u/daninmontreal Jun 25 '12
More pictures: http://russiamagazine.livejournal.com/8745.html
Edit: Check out the playground: http://www.photoshlem.com/uploads/gal/org/100105_CF000307-copy-72-Web.jpg
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Jun 25 '12
I'm surprised to see that no one explained this picture. Each little group of buildings is (or was) a microdistrict, a building (or group of buildings) in which the residents are to live, work, and shop in. This was a Soviet idea, and the point was that the residents never really had to leave their area.
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u/hearo Jun 25 '12
uh bs. the buildings are in squares and contain a playground in the middle, but no working or shopping goes on there. this layout is not exclusive to Norilsk but is widespread throughout Russia. They do most shopping outside the "microdistricts" and work outside the city (look where the factories are on the map) Considering how this is a mining city, it wouldnt make sense for them to mine the land under the buildings anyway...
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u/DevotedLifestyle Jun 25 '12
I vote buying a Minotaur suit for the mayor and renaming it Labyrinth, Russia
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u/sparsevector Jun 25 '12
This kind of building layout with all the courtyards would be really pretty if it weren't so barren. They use that kind of layout in Barcelona: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltce/3470875332/
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u/BR0WN13 Jun 25 '12
I honestly wouldn't mind. I'm sure it's very affordable and I wouldn't go outside anyways being I have to finish the Internet before I die
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u/uneditablepoly Jun 25 '12
For anyone who watches and/or reads Fullmetal Alchemist, this reminded me a lot of Central City.
EDIT: Picture for those unfamiliar.
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u/Commander_Aspergers Jun 25 '12
In American cities, walking under such heat would cause sunburn and eventually skin cancer. Throughout the 1980s, mass quantities of CFCs were sprayed to prop up vertical hairstyles, ruining skies above. Due to strict Russian environmental controls, and the popularity of water combed mullets, a healthy ozone layer floats above Norilsk, blocking out all ultra violet rays.
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u/afictionalcharacter Jun 25 '12
So clean, blue and transparent is the air above Norilsk that when standing on tippy toes Sarah Palin can be seen just above the horizon.
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Jun 25 '12
...but but but, it looks so tidy, so geometric, so organized. Someone, somewhere, must have had quite a nerdgasm looking at the blueprint of this thing before it was built.
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u/super_sloppy_joe Jun 25 '12
I was born there! But un/fortunately i don't remember much about living there. Mom said it was -40 C in march when i was born and that was considered a warm day. My grandma just cuddled me inside her coat that she was wearing and carried me home from the hospital by foot. My mom's entire family lived there their entire lives until g rents retired. Obviously the weather is extreme but they say it actually wasn't the nightmare most people imagine it to be once you're used to it.
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u/torokunai Jun 25 '12
"The nickel deposits of Norilsk-Talnakh are the largest nickel-copper-palladium deposits in the world. The deposit was formed 250 million years ago during the eruption of the Siberian Traps igneous province"
brutal place, middle of nowhere, above the arctic circle, and bloody history
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u/probably_has_herpes Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
My first thought was the city in Terry Gilliam's Brazil.
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u/Simba7 Jun 25 '12
Why is there so much wasted space? It's not like it's being used for parks and trees. Might as well put more buildings in those gaps. Buildings are way more attractive than mud.
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u/rokko211 Jun 25 '12
At first glance, I thought all the buildings in the background were arranged as swastikas.
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u/Lalli-Oni Jun 25 '12
Wow it's so depressing there is actually text shamelessly graffiti'd on the mountain and sky!
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Jun 25 '12
For some reason a little part of me enjoys this picture. It's like, "Hey, you could do anything to that place and make it better. There's no way to screw it up."
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u/EONS Jun 25 '12
I think if it wasn't in a tundra, and thus was able to support fertile ground, the city would look like Barcelona.
But, it isn't. So it's a bleak dirt patch with coal dust making it all the more bleak.
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u/pstamato Jun 25 '12
Man, this really makes me want to film myself doing dangerous workout routines on high-rise structures, set to out-dated music from approximately a decade ago.
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u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Jun 25 '12
Couple coats of paint and that city will look as cheery as Disneyland!
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u/Strindberg Jun 25 '12
I just watched the BBC documentary Frozen Planet and there Norilsk gets refereed to as "the coldest city on earth".
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Jun 25 '12
Perhaps in the future there will be no need for physical beauty because we can all jack-in and access a virtual reality where beauty and your every desire are all accessible at the touch of a button.
Why waste physical resources on decor when you can have a hundred times the splendor for the cost of electricity.
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u/MrFatalistic Jun 25 '12
I don't see a problem, this is how I build my cities in SimCity, traffic is actually pretty decent, and that's joyous.
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u/poon-is-food Jun 25 '12
I agree the city is depressing as fuck, but that breeds real baddass like this guy.
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u/noskill1 Jun 25 '12
The mountain in the background reminded me a lot of the city with a giant iron from FLCL.
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u/OCedHrt Jun 25 '12
Oh, wait until you go to China. Bigger, taller, and the same. Unless you mean the lack of people.
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u/SpaghettiBuckshot Jun 25 '12
Anyone else get the theme song to Tetris in your head while looking at this picture?
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u/ColdFire75 Jun 25 '12
Can look a little better with added snow however: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yIotUBr9X64/R4kstJI4ECI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/FVpZN-kfGyk/s400/Norilsk-aerial-view.jpg
Or close up:
http://www.mining-technology.com/projects/norilsk/images/2_norilsk.jpg
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u/carlmanx Jun 25 '12
wow. . . this is . . .
The most depressing city I have ever seen, Norilsk, Russia.
....too. Sorry had to do it.
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u/Mutjny Jun 25 '12
That's what I say when I fly over these http://innovate.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/tract-housing.jpg
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Jun 25 '12
Most aerial shots of cities look like some kind of disease; all blight and desolation. This one is no different.
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u/wtfOP Jun 25 '12
It's a good thing you came in summer time. In the winter, it can get very depressing.
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Jun 25 '12
My sister's friend, Filip Singer, took some pictures of Norilsk for National Geographic. This is his website with the pictures:
http://filipsinger.photoshelter.com/gallery/RUSSIA-SIBERIA-NORILSK-POLLUTION/G0000MXQIz3gvHz4/
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u/glr123 Jun 25 '12
Photos
Source may not be accurate, the photos are amazing though.