Navy to mask Coronado's swastika-shaped barracks

[Foxy Brown]

The U.S. Navy has decided to spend as much as $600,000 for landscaping and architectural modifications to obscure the fact that one its building complexes looks like a swastika from the air.

[JFC]

[RatBastich]

I saw this while watching my afternoon local news.

They must've went, "DOHHH!!!", when they found out about this.

[StreakInTheSky]

well from the angle they're showing in the pic, and the angle it's in from it's surroundings, it's not a swastika, but a buddhist symbol, often found on buddhist temple gates in Asia.

Really though, I think it's a waste of money. I doubt most people will actually find the building offensive.

[JFC]

well from the angle they're showing in the pic, and the angle it's in from it's surroundings, it's not a swastika, but a buddhist symbol, often found on buddhist temple gates in Asia.

Ummm...yeah...that Buddhist symbol IS a swastika dude.

[reyfer]

well from the angle they're showing in the pic, and the angle it's in from it's surroundings, it's not a swastika, but a buddhist symbol, often found on buddhist temple gates in Asia.

Really though, I think it's a waste of money. I doubt most people will actually find the building offensive.

Well, you are both right and wrong: it is not a nazi swastika, you're right about it. But you're wrong by saying it is not a swastika, because it is. Swastika is the sanskrit name of the symbol, which by the way predates Buddhism. I wrote about its history for my "symbols in history" class (I have a BA in History). For 3000 years it was used to represent the sun, life, energy and luck, until the nazi usage of it altered its meaning.

Anyway, unless the military here are really clueless, they knew before building this what shape it had (blueprints anyone?), so changing it right now is irrelevant.

[Foxy Brown]

It seems like a rather efficient arrangement, and back when it was constructed, no one considered the possibility of civilians one day being able to see it from above, so they saw no need to worry about any possible implications of the shape. They're not trying to change it now, just cover it somehow.

[JFC]

They could always just connect the last bits together, that way it'd look like a square with a plus sign in it.

[Foxy Brown]

I'm guessing that the point of shaping it like that was to create four courtyards. Closing off the corners would defeat that purpose.

[JFC]

* JFC shrugs

[glcorps2002]

I'm guessing that the point of shaping it like that was to create four courtyards. Closing off the corners would defeat that purpose.

Not if the roof tops were simply connected by a bridge to the ends. From above it looks like a square with a plus sign, but walk under the bridge and you have court yards.