Can You Spot What's Wrong With These Urban Scenes?

It's a good thing that Robert Rickhoff isn't involved in any actual urban planning. Put in charge of a construction crew, he'd probably build a volleyball court in the middle of a highway or erect ramps so cars can catch some air.

Just such questionable public amenities are presented in Rickhoff's graduate thesis at ArtEZ in the Netherlands, appropriately titled "Out of Place." The surreal series of manipulated photos introduce a metropolis in which the architecture is twisted to spawn new, strange functions. In some cases, that means turning shared spaces like a crosswalk or public restroom into rec yards to get your sweat on. In others, Rickhoff seems intent on devising the worst planning idea possible – witness his apparatus for slowing down speeding trains or either of his depressing, unpleasant-to-use swing sets.