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Showing posts with label rooftops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rooftops. Show all posts

Monday, October 24, 2016

This location is one of the tallest buildings around and has been the subject of some controversy after it was announced that it would be vacated. Naturally we began to eye the place up. But we soon discovered that although the major tenant has in fact moved out, there are still some active offices on the upper floors. My valiant comrade and I nevertheless found our way inside and made it to the very rooftopiest hatch only to find a big padlock in our way. Fortunately, the next roof platform one flight of stairs down from there was not secured in such a way as to deny our advances. We opened the door to the glorious howling of air currents at heights that are normally reserved for the flying rats we call pigeons. Tall buildings seemed small and humans were no longer easily distinguishable. After enjoying the view from the roof, we proceeded down to the executive level, the topmost habitable portion of the skyscraper. We found chandeliers, ugly contemporary paintings and a large, but sadly empty, bar. We carefully made our way around inside while looking for motion sensors or alarms and found no obvious signs. Soon, however, I opened a hall closet on the South-East corner of the top level and found an alarm panel which was lit up light a Christmas tree. Evidently silent, and well hidden, alarms are the current situation here. We immediately headed for the exits just as security was making their way after us. But luck was on our side and the day was won by the good guys as we exited without incident.

I wouldn't normally post a location like this but we probably couldn't replicate this trip if we wanted to. Well, we might be able to since we're professionals, but you couldn't since you're not us. This bulding is not open to the public, so first you have to get inside. Good luck. Then you'd have to get past security, then past the alarms. Assuming you made it to the top where we did, you'd then have anywhere from 1-20 minutes before someone came looking for you. Furthermore, this trip did not occur recently; I held off on posting this one for a while.

Click here for the video from this trip.

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

The awesome 20 story Wright Arcade, along with its neighbor the Paul Brown building, seen from above. That's a massive building but it looks small from way up here. Check out the Wright Arcade here.

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

BONUS

This blog doesn't see much in the way of rooftopping related shenanigans for the simple reason that it's not usually worth a post on its own. I'm not one of those rooftopping bros posting dangly feet pics for instagram (I mean, I ain't stoping you-do whatever floats your boat). But it's legitimately not a great idea to post identifiable rooftop shots if you ever want you or your friends to go back and if you don't believe me...try it sometime? Or don't. It's not my thing so I don't give a fuck. As for me, I've always kept my camera put up when we're doing things that require either speed or concealment or just plain mobility without the slow/heavy gear getting in the way. Security guards aren't going to wait around for you to get your camera safely put up before they pursue. So in many cases over the years my phone has served to capture the action in bits and pieces here and there-just for something to remember the place by later. Most of the time, however, it's better to just leave the cameras off and handle whatever comes up with the speed and mobility necessary to avoid the types of problems this hobby can get you into. So here's a few other rooftops (and assorted rooftop attempts) that have occurred over the course of the past few years and some of which I never bothered to post anywhere. I recently found some of these shots on old memory cards from various old phones I've had over the years and thought this would be the place to share them.

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Rooftop Shenanigans © 2016 sublunar

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

KCPL was constructed in the 1930's and was the tallest building in the area at that time. The original occupants inhabited the space until the 1990's. Currently, it is undergoing conversion into lofts.

This place was a lot of fun. Thanks go to my comrades who made this one possible. Elevator rides to the top made exploring such a tall building much less work than I'm accustomed to. The top featured unparalleled views of the city in all directions and we arrived just as the sun was setting. The blustery winds carried the noises and smells of the city all the way up to our clandestine observatory. Enjoying our various illegitimately acquired views of the world around us are some of my favorite moments that only this hobby can provide. And at the low price of free* (*if you do it right), you really can't beat it. I could have stayed up there all night, but we had some shenanigans to engage in later (the true height of the levels of ridiculousness that our shenanigans would reach was not entirely apparent from the outset, but I can assure you that many shenanigans were had on this night). The basement featured some nice utility rooms including the old office which still displayed some of this building's various original instrumentation. I liked the fact that they left them where they belonged, despite the fact that these gauges likely hadn't moved in many years. I'm pretty sure that the closest thing there is to hopping into a time machine is climbing into a dusty old building such as this.. and I guess that makes me a time traveler. Fuck yeah, dude.

Click here for video.

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar

Skyscraper #5 © 2015 sublunar