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"Imagine a tunnel more than ten storeys underground, a hundred years old, bricklined, wet, and completely inaccessible save by descending through a narrow slit in its ceiling thirty feet above the floor, and then returning up the same rope you came down. Now imagine that this tunnel flows into Niagara Falls, emerging behind the pummeling curtain of water that nearly everyone in North America journeys to see at some point in their lives." [taken from The Vanishing Point]

These magnificent underground structures were originally built to harness the kinetic energy of Niagara Falls, but they were abandoned more than 40 years ago. Now, we have miles and miles of wonderful, otherworldly passages beneath the earth's surface in Canada. What's strange is that, unlike many technological developments, these structures (built for purely functional purposes - generating power and moving water) have become beautiful and almost natural over time. Because of the integration of water and light from the surrounding environment, the tunnels have a sort of ancient ruinsy feel to them, even though they're not much more than a century old. I realize it's not possible, or even desirable, for most new products/buildings/structures, but I really like the idea of incorporating the natural environment into the designs of technologies. Most of them become obsolete within a few years, anyway, so if they're going to be left behind for junk, why not make them aesthetically pleasing and give them the potential for (the illusion of) antiquity?

I'm thinking I might venture up to Canada after finals week this semester to see if I can explore these tunnels. In addition to being amazing structures to witness, they would make for some great photos (as you can see above).