Meet Professor Zhang Lin, The Man Who Built A Mountain On Top Of A Beijing Building
If you have a neighbor who you see bringing rocks inside the building you also live in like Professor Zhang Lin, will it not make you wonder?
For six years, Professor Zhang Lin moved rocks and all that rubble to build his so-called dream home right by the Renji Mountain of Beijing, China. This may sound normal. But what makes the story extraordinary? Mr Zhang constructs it on top of a Beijing apartment block.
According to a news made by the South China Morning Post, the structure the professor built on top of the 26-story Beijing apartment block is not allowed. And since he did not get the necessary permit for this risky kind of dwelling, his build is completely illegal.
Mr Zhang's neighbours are not certainly happy about his construction as they are afraid that their own units downstairs are suffering downstairs from cracks and leaks. As per the Daily Mail report, neighbours call him a "menace" for also causing too much noise each time he constructs. Some of them even added that his construction led to broken drains causing floods to their units each time it rains.
Yes, Mr Zhang may have cleanly bought the huge penthouse that measures over 10,000 square foot. He was expected to build a villa with two levels but not a monstrous mountain home with fake rocks, terrain and even monstrous garden trellises. If one would look at it up close, it reveals the use of steel beams for additional support on the building sides.
Sooner or later, the professor may need to tear down his mountain home construction for the safety of everyone residing in the building. A city official said that unless Mr Zhang has proven his construction safe, then he can keep his dream home construction. However, to deconstruct everything, if worse comes to worst, he still needs to secure a permission for proper clearances.
This is actually not new in China for the country has been known for coming up with odd architectural designs. One good example is the Tianducheng development in Hangzhou, Zheijang. It had an Eiffel Tower replica when it was constructed in 2007.