Swastikarchitecture

Say you've designed a cross-shaped building, but it looks dull. So, you add an extra wing to all four points. This way, you've neatly created four near-courtyards with one building. Sound like a neat idea? Well, look at the satellite images that Google Earth makes available to every Internet user and you'll realize you've just built a gigantic swastika. Avrahaum Segol, the same Israeli-American researcher who last fall helped publicize a swastika-shaped barracks at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, is now demanding that the Wesley Acres Methodist retirement home in Decatur, Ala., become less swastika-shaped. Mike Giles, counsel for the Methodist Homes Corp. of Alabama and Northwest Florida, says it might not be able to afford that level of money, and is looking at inexpensive modifications. (The Navy said it would take $600,000 to alter its barracks' design.) Wesley Acres already received a $1 million modification to hide the shape following complaints from a state senator in 2001. Sadly the addition of two wings did little to hide the offensive shape, and in some ways accentuates it.