Strangeharvest :: Architecture / Design / Culture

Not A Valid Research Process for Architecture

StrangeHarvest is written and collated by Sam Jacob.

Giant Soviet Signs Cut Into Forests

"100 Years to Lenin", made 1970, Siberia
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"60 Years to USSR", made 1977.
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"100 years to Lenin", made 1970
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"Lenin", date unknown
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"Glory of Communist Party", date unknown
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"USSR 50 Years", 1967
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"Lenin 100 years", 1970
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via

Posted by anothersam at February 15, 2009 7:05 PM.

4 Comments

sam said:

Actually, I meant to add to this:

I heard a long while back - but cant remember where or when - of a project perhaps early in the 20th century which involved a huge triangle being cut into a Siberian forest in an effort to communicate with extra-terrestrial life. Anyone know any more about this? Did I dream it?

February 16, 2009 1:45 PM

Andrea Schrader said:

"In 1820, German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss wanted to announce our presence to extraterrestrial passersby by clearing a huge right triangle in the Siberian forest. His plan was to plant wheat in the triangle, then border each side with a square filled with pine trees. Aliens cruising by would glimpse this sylvan representation of a2 + b2= c2 and know the planet's inhabitants had mastered the Pythagorean theorem."

http://discovermagazine.com/1999/apr/outthere

Further to your post I found this amusing...

http://www.mapofstrange.com/index.php?tag=writing

February 16, 2009 3:15 PM

sam said:

Thanks Andrea!

There's more here:

http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article22.html

One technique, drawing on basic geometry, was proposed in the 1820s, some say by the brilliant mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.

In this scheme, huge geometrical patterns would be sketched out on the Siberian forests by plowing down vast stretches of trees and planting fields of wheat in their place.

Using this approach, the Pythagorean theorem could be etched out, providing a visual example of every geometry students favorite equality:

a2 + b2 = c2.

In this 19th-century precursor of crop circles, any inhabitants of the Moon inclined to look Earthward would see that terrestrial engineers were privy to the secrets of Greek mathematics. In turn, we might hope for a response, perhaps a tutorial on the lunar equivalent of Euclids Elements. However, even after the advent of bulldozers and John Deere tractors, the experiment was never carried out.

The burning desert

All well and good for daytime signaling, but what about when the dark side of Earth faces the Moon? Johann Joseph von Littrow suggested an alternative: digging a huge, circular canal into the Sahara Desert, many miles in diameter, and filling it with kerosene. When lit, it would provide evidence of human intelligence.

While there would be no guarantee that Moon folk would understand the true significance of the circle for Earthlings, von Littrow reasoned that a picture would convey much more than the arbitrary symbols

February 16, 2009 8:10 PM

Nicolas Allinder said:

Great post. It made me think of an older post I read about giant advertisements in modern capitalist societies.

http://www.planetizen.com/node/34467

I wonder what sort of presence papa john's pizza would announce to extraterrestrials. This is a little bit different from the communist propaganda pieces you've provided. I also wonder how many people in the USSR saw those signs during the 60's and 70's.

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