Leaning House of Tartu

[Manfred M]

Pisa, Italy has its well known leaning tower and Tartu, Estonia has its less well known (other than locally), leaning house. The camera right side is built on the foundation of where the city wall used to be and the camera left side was built on wooden posts. The resulting error in judgement by the builder, is rather obvious. The house was built in 1793.

The house now houses belongs to the Tartu Museum of Art.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[ST1]

Nice colours and composition, with the real figures and the two Art figures giving a sense of scale, well done.
Manfred I'm sure you could correct the problem for them, with a little tweak to the verticals in the editing program of your choice . Given that it was built in 1793 it's probably unlikely to collapse any time soon.

[george013]

Pisa, Italy has its well known leaning tower and Tartu, Estonia has its less well known (other than locally), leaning house. The camera right side is built on the foundation of where the city wall used to be and the right side was built on wooden posts. The resulting error in judgement by the builder, is rather obvious. The house was built in 1793.

The house now houses belongs to the Tartu Museum of Art.

Interesting shot. You should change the second "right" in "left".

It's interesting to me for a house can sink in several ways. Here the right site is fixed on the old stone walls and the left side probably on wooden pillars, trees.
This house looks like it's rotating to the left with the stone wall as point of rotation. It could mean its moving on its wooden foundation with the risk to move from it. Then it will collapse.
Another way would be the walls are staying vertical. The the walls will stay on the foundation but you should see it on the housefront. Unless it has been renovated.
But it's still rotating.

George

[Manfred M]

Nice colours and composition, with the real figures and the two Art figures giving a sense of scale, well done.
Manfred I'm sure you could correct the problem for them, with a little tweak to the verticals in the editing program of your choice . Given that it was built in 1793 it's probably unlikely to collapse any time soon.

I suspect that the image is probably a pretty good indication of what the scene actually looks like. I shot with a 24mm shift / tilt lens and used a 2-axis bubble level to ensure that the camera was level. I used a couple of vertical guide lines to check my alignment. All that being said, I suspect that there is no reason to suspect that the other buildings are 100% level either.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for catching that left / right mix up on my part George.

What I found interesting is that the windows and building are definitely tilted to the left, but the door has been installed so that it is level.

[NorthernFocus]

Interesting that they've plumbed the entrance. Did they also level the floors?

Now to my mind this shows that civil engineers put way too much importance on foundation design/construction. If a building can survive in this condition since 1793 why worry. Just don't roller skate indoors and things will be fine. Think of the advantages. When you spill a liquid on the floor you know exactly where to place a towel to stop it running. Then again, you better be quick

[Manfred M]

Did they also level the floors?

I would have loved to find out. Unfortunately, the museum is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays; the two days we were in town, so we could not check the place out.

[NorthernFocus]

I would have loved to find out. Unfortunately, the museum is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays; the two days we were in town, so we could not check the place out.

Either way I'd love to see inside that place. But with that much lean I can't imagine how one could function without the floors being corrected. I guess you could install a stove on gimbals like on boats. But what about the toilets?

[george013]

Either way I'd love to see inside that place. But with that much lean I can't imagine how one could function without the floors being corrected. I guess you could install a stove on gimbals like on boats. But what about the toilets?

My house was build in around 1650. The worktop in the kitchen is about 2.5m. The difference in height is some more as 12cm. One get used to it.

In a serious renovation the floors are corrected again. Either by replacing the floorbeams or by leveling the floor with something as a light weight cement. And it also happens that correcting is done only partly.

George

[NorthernFocus]

My house was build in around 1650. The worktop in the kitchen is about 2.5m. The difference in height is some more as 12cm. One get used to it.

In a serious renovation the floors are corrected again. Either by replacing the floorbeams or by leveling the floor with something as a light weight cement. And it also happens that correcting is done only partly.

George

Well, as I said, at least you know which direction water will run