All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E21.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und]

[narrator] An American machine
of war given a second life.

Landing people on the moon
was an epic defining moment,

but it wasn't the end
of the mission.

[narrator] An eerie shrine
that offered the promise
of immortality.

Children would burst
into tears

at the sight of the departed
father of their country.

[narrator] And a labor of love
born from the ashes of trauma.

[narrator] And a labor of love
born from the ashes of trauma.

This was architecture
intended to look forward
to a new kind of future.

[narrator] Decaying relics...

Ruins of lost worlds...

Sites haunted by the past...

Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

In Alameda County, California,

lies a behemoth with a story
that is out of this world.

[Prof. Geoff Wawro] Obviously,
we're in San Francisco Bay.

This is a bustling bay
with lots of industry,
lots of naval facilities.

And then you come up
and you see this huge
vision before you.

And then you come up
and you see this huge
vision before you.

And there's no mystery
what this is.

It's an aircraft carrier.

[Alexis Pedrick]
It's imposing.

It's sleek.

It's deadly.

[narrator] Inside, the vessel
has everything you'd expect to
see on board a U.S. Navy ship.

[Pedrick] Everywhere you turn,

there are more dials,
more instruments,
more screens.

there are more dials,
more instruments,
more screens.

[Dr. Katherine Landdeck]
And then there are rows
and rows of beds for the crew.

There's a kitchen.

There's just everything
that you need to survive
and function.

It's essentially
a floating city.

[narrator] This ship served
a vital role

in the 20th century's
greatest conflict.

But there are features
that reveal it also had
another mission.

[Wawro] And that's this
airstream trailer
parked conspicuously

with a presidential seal
on it.

with a presidential seal
on it.

And that suggests that
this aircraft carrier had
a very specific purpose

in addition
to its wartime role.

[Cappa] Right now, we're in
what's called primary flight.

And it's basically
the same thing

as air traffic controller
at a civilian airport.

The air boss would be running
the show up here

directing flight operations
down the flight deck.

[narrator] Retired U.S.
Naval Officer Ron Cappa

[narrator] Retired U.S.
Naval Officer Ron Cappa

has inspected numerous
aircraft carriers
over his military career.

This one, the USS Hornet,
is a true legend.

[Cappa] The Hornet was part
of a carrier
task group

that was responsible
for launching many strikes.

The carrier could launch
planes about every 30 seconds.

They were the most modern
and the biggest of the time.

[Landdeck] Construction begins
in August of 1942,

and it's finished
in August of 1943.

It took just one year to build
this massive aircraft carrier.

[narrator] When launched
into action

against the Axis powers
of World War II,

she was a fearsome beast.

The ship was stocked with some
serious air power,

including air groups
of fighter, bomber
and torpedo squadrons.

including air groups
of fighter, bomber
and torpedo squadrons.

[Landdeck] If you look at
the USS Hornet,

the history of this ship,

it is intertwined
with the history
of the American War

in the Pacific
and World War II.

[Wawro] The ship fought in
multiple campaigns

in New Guinea,
in the Philippines,

in Iwo Jima, Saipan.

It had, like,
seven battle stars.

[narrator] The Hornet's most
famous engagement

was the battle
of the Philippine Sea,

was the battle
of the Philippine Sea,

later dubbed
"The Great Marianas
Turkey Shoot."

[Cappa] The battle
of Philippine Sea
was quite historic.

The Japanese were looking
for the Americans,

and they were in
the Philippines Sea,
around the Mariana Islands.

And the Japanese
actually spotted the fleet

before the Americans had
discovered the Japanese.

[Wawro] The Japanese launched
everything they had
from their own carriers,

to try to wipe out
the American carrier fleet.

The Hornet was among the ones
sent by American admirals
in the Pacific to intercept.

The Hornet was among the ones
sent by American admirals
in the Pacific to intercept.

And they had this
phenomenal shoot-down ratio.

Over 500 Japanese
aircraft shot down

with a loss of something
like 30 American planes.

[Landdeck] The Japanese
fight and fight,

but they get crushed,

and are never able
to significantly strike
with their carriers again.

[narrator] As the battle
in the Pacific theater
raged on,

the Hornet continued
to deliver knockout blows.

the Hornet continued
to deliver knockout blows.

[Landdeck] In just 18 months
of combat operations,

the crew of the USS Hornet
shot down 668 Japanese planes

and sank over a million
tons of Japanese ships.

[narrator] At the war's end,
the ship was modernized
and sent back out to sea

to support the fight against
Vietnamese Communists.

Soon it would be
called to take part
in its greatest operation yet.

Soon it would be
called to take part
in its greatest operation yet.

On July 12th, 1969,

the Hornet slipped her moors
at Pearl Harbor,

and embarked on a new
mission in the Pacific.

Built for battle,
the ship was pressed into
the service of science.

[narrator] One week later,

Neil Armstrong became
the first man to walk
on the moon.

[Neil Armstrong] That's one
small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

That looks beautiful to me.

[Landdeck] The Apollo 11
mission was so important
and so symbolic.

The idea of landing
a man on the moon

was something that people
have dreamed of for centuries.

[Wawro] For those of us
old enough to remember
watching this,

it's hard enough getting
these guys into space,

and then somebody
had to pick them up.

And that was the job
of the USS Hornet.

The Hornet's basically
an airport at sea

and it's the perfect base
of operations to recover
this capsule

and it's the perfect base
of operations to recover
this capsule

which is going to come
hurtling out of space
and land in the ocean.

[narrator] July 23rd,
early afternoon...

[man over radio]
...Recovery information.

[narrator] ...the Hornet
waited in the predesignated
splashdown zone

while the Apollo 11 astronauts
made their final checks.

[Cappa] June of '69,
Captain Seiberlich
was in command.

They did like 15 or 16
simulated retrievals

They did like 15 or 16
simulated retrievals

to make sure that
everything was prepared,
the crew was prepared.

[narrator] Weeks of planning
were about to be
put to the test

as the eyes of the world
watched on.

But there was a problem.

[Wawro] Top-secret
reconnaissance satellite
recon information

held that a storm
was threatening

the original splashdown zone.

[Landdeck] To come down
in the middle of a storm
like this

could have torn the parachutes
that were bringing
the capsule in to shreds,

which meant that they would've
hit the water as much
too high of speed,

and very likely killed
the astronauts on impact.

[narrator] How would
America's most high-profile
space mission

be saved from looming tragedy?

[narrator] In July 1969,
the U.S. Navy carrier,
the USS Hornet,

was called into action
to retrieve the returning
Apollo 11 astronauts.

As their capsule
sped towards Earth,

a top-secret CIA spy satellite

captured evidence
of a storm that threatened
the mission's success.

captured evidence
of a storm that threatened
the mission's success.

[Landdeck] If they hadn't
known the storm was coming,

this would've been
a complete disaster.

But they couldn't really
tell the guys at NASA
how they knew this,

so it was all very
cloak and dagger.

[narrator] Fearing
catastrophe, the operative
that spotted the danger

circumvented protocol
to alert a chief naval officer
to the peril that lay in wait.

[Wawro] And little known fact,

the splashdown zone
was actually moved
250 miles at the last minute.

the splashdown zone
was actually moved
250 miles at the last minute.

[narrator] On July 24th,
in the final hours
before splashdown,

the Hornet raced to take up
its new position.

The crew was on high alert.

Returning astronauts
were not the only visitors
they were expecting.

Early in the morning,
President Nixon arrived
aboard Marine One.

My past history in the Navy,

when we had
dignitaries aboard,
it was all spic and span.

when we had
dignitaries aboard,
it was all spic and span.

You don't want
anything to go wrong.

So, I'm sure, you know,
tensions were high.

[Wawro] It must have been hell
for the skipper,

having the President
of the United States,

his Commander in Chief
on board,

looking over his shoulder.

[Wawro] Meanwhile,
the Columbia capsule
hurtled back to Earth.

Around 6:00 a.m.,
they see Columbia
come through the atmosphere

Around 6:00 a.m.,
they see Columbia
come through the atmosphere

and land in the water.

[Pedrick] So the Navy
rescue team came up
to the capsule on boats,

began the process
of stabilizing it,

and getting the crew out,

but not before they handed
them HAZMAT suits.

[Wawro] Something that most
people don't remember about
these lunar missions

is that we had no idea
what bacteria, what pathogens
existed on the moon.

is that we had no idea
what bacteria, what pathogens
existed on the moon.

So when these guys came back,

they had to be very
strictly quarantined

in case they were carrying
some superbug

that had never been seen
on Earth before.

[narrator] Once the astronauts
arrived on the Hornet,

they were placed into
what would be their home
for the next four days.

[Cappa] This is where
the astronauts were put inside

to where they could get
cleaned up and get rid
of their contamination suits.

to where they could get
cleaned up and get rid
of their contamination suits.

As we enter the trailer,
off to my right,

we have their sitting,
eating area right in here.

Back in here
is their little kitchenette,

and actually one of the first
microwaves ever produced.

So after the astronauts
were placed inside
the quarantine facility,

President Nixon came up,

and was talking to them
through this window
right here.

[Wawro] When he waves to them,

and sort of pantomime-shaking
their hand,

and sort of pantomime-shaking
their hand,

and has a little chat
through the glass with them.

[narrator] The Hornet,
with its cargo of returning
heroes safely on board,

then sets off for its final
destination of Hawaii.

[Pedrick] So the astronauts
actually stayed
in this trailer

for the whole journey.

Then they were loaded
onto a plane,
still in the trailer,

flown to Houston,

where they rode out the rest
of their quarantine
in a larger facility.

[Wawro] And just a year
after participating

in this recovery
of the astronauts
from Apollo 11,

the USS Hornet is mothballed,

and basically
put on the shelf.

It's ended its useful life,

no longer valuable
as a naval asset.

[narrator] In 1998,

the ship was donated
to the Aircraft Carrier
Hornet Foundation,

the ship was donated
to the Aircraft Carrier
Hornet Foundation,

and turned into a museum.

Its service to
America, immortalized.

[Cappa] The USS Hornet,
to me, means a lot.

And to be a part of it
right now is like going back,

being a kid again.

And I get to talk to people
about the things
that the ship did.

I can't express how much
I like to do that,

and how much I feel
a part of the ship.

[narrator] In
the Bulgarian capital,

where few residents
have ventured,

is a reminder of an influence
that consumed Eastern Europe.

Sofia is a beautiful city.

It has got activity,
it's got nightlife.

[Sascha Auerbach] There are
no obvious abandoned
buildings here.

Everything looks
very well-maintained,
and even pristine.

[narrator] Yet, in the center
of this immaculate town,

[narrator] Yet, in the center
of this immaculate town,

hidden from view,

is the entranceway
to another world.

[Dr. Lynette Nusbacher]
Here we've got narrow tunnels

which are branching off
into the darkness.

[narrator] At the heart
of this labyrinthian network
lies a spartan room.

[Auerbach] It's almost like
an old hospital,

or maybe an asylum.

You have these tiled walls
and these thick doors.

You have these tiled walls
and these thick doors.

[Landdeck] There's these
old refrigerators with big
power supplies,

a big metal table.

It's just kind of creepy
and strange.

[Nusbacher] When I look
at this table,

all I can think is
this is a mortuary slab.

[Landdeck] Reality is that
these tunnels were used
for a kind of dark propaganda,

[Landdeck] Reality is that
these tunnels were used
for a kind of dark propaganda,

to convince the people
to follow a certain
way of life.

[narrator] In
Bulgaria's capital

is a subterranean
network built at a time
of political upheaval.

Behind me, there is a building
of National Bank,

and in front of me,
there is a National
Theater building,

also the building
of Ministry of Defense.

But the real story,
the hidden story,
is underground.

[narrator] Ivo Maev
is a journalist

who has spent
many years exploring
the city's secret tunnels.

The inconspicuous gateway
to Sofia's netherworld

is located near
a busy marketplace.

It's Christmas mood here,

but it's quite
different downstairs.

Very few people know
about this place here.

Here is the past of Bulgaria.

[Auerbach] Most of the tunnels
date back to the Cold War,

when Bulgaria was
a communist country.

This government ruled over
its people with an iron fist.

[Landdeck] Georgi Dimitrov
was the leader of Bulgaria.

He was put into place
by the Soviets in 1946,

and he was fine with that.

He wanted to be
a communist leader.

He had no problem
following the directives
of the Soviets.

He had no problem
following the directives
of the Soviets.

[narrator] Bulgarians readily
accepted Dimitrov's
dictatorial control,

for they were a population
in dire need of hope.

Bulgaria was a desperately
poor country at the time,

and the people saw
communism as a way out
of this grinding poverty

after years of bloodshed
and violence.

[Nusbacher] The Soviets
help Bulgaria to very
rapidly industrialize.

[Nusbacher] The Soviets
help Bulgaria to very
rapidly industrialize.

So, ordinary Bulgarians
are suddenly experiencing

a very different
standard of living
from what went before.

[narrator] As the country
slowly clambered
out of destitution,

it soon faced a new threat,

one that demanded
the tunnel's construction.

[Maev] Official propaganda
says that the nuclear war

[Maev] Official propaganda
says that the nuclear war

between east and west
will happen one day.

And that's why, officially,

the government promoted
tunnels and shelters

as places for security,

a safety zone for people.

[narrator] The reality
of who the tunnels
were actually built for

was radically different.

[Auerbach] It's believed that
this labyrinth encompasses

nearly 150 miles of tunnels
built as escape routes,

so that important
Communist Party officials
could get away

in case of a nuclear attack.

[Landdeck] So all these
tunnels went across the city,

and went up into
all the different
important buildings,

the bank,
different Communist
leaders' places.

It was just a really elaborate
way for them to get around
with nobody seeing them.

[narrator] Yet, the tunnels
weren't just escape routes

and passageways
for Communist dignitaries.

They would go on to serve
a far more macabre purpose.

[Landdeck] So Dimitrov had
been in power for about
three years,

and went on a trip
to the Soviet Union
and died there.

It's unclear what happened.

Nobody quite knows
what became of him,

but we know that he died,

and this was a huge blow
to the Bulgarian Communists.

and this was a huge blow
to the Bulgarian Communists.

[narrator] The solution
of the ruling party

was to transform
their deceased leader
into a deity.

[Nusbacher] Dimitrov is going
to be refrigerated,
embalmed, plasticized,

moisturized,

and kept going as long
as Bulgaria remains communist.

[Landdeck] It was really
important to keep the name

[Landdeck] It was really
important to keep the name

and the image
of Dimitrov alive.

He had become central
to this idea of what
Communism was.

[narrator] To house his body,

the government built
an extravagant mausoleum.

[Auerbach] Just as
the pyramids housed
the pharaohs,

this was to be the eternal
home of Dimitrov,

and the center of political
beliefs in Bulgaria.

[narrator] Located directly
below his shrine,

was a secret room that
connected to the vast
tunnel system.

was a secret room that
connected to the vast
tunnel system.

And this is the most
interesting place.

Here we can see a big
hydraulic platform

which is fixed just under
the center of mausoleum.

So the body of Georgi Dimitrov
was here,

and was pushed up
for the visitors
in a special glass box.

and was pushed up
for the visitors
in a special glass box.

[Auerbach] You had a seven-man
team of doctors

that did daily inspections
of Dimitrov's body.

They even took
care of his clothes.

They had a new suit
made for him regularly
by his own personal tailor.

[Nusbacher] Everybody
in the whole country

is expected to make
a pilgrimage

to this communist
godless mausoleum,

as though they were making
a pilgrimage to an ancient
Christian saint's grave.

as though they were making
a pilgrimage to an ancient
Christian saint's grave.

I visited at least three times
when I was in school.

What I remember,

the cold temperature inside,

the smell of something
like hospital,

and see a body of a person
who I saw only in the books,

inside a glass box.

[narrator] For the next
40 years,

Dimitrov's preserved
corpse remained
an ever-present attraction.

But in 1990, his body
would be removed,
and a scandal uncovered.

[Nusbacher] It is not
unreasonable to ask
the question,

did Dimitrov fall
or was he pushed?

[narrator] In Bulgaria,
are the underground
remains of a mausoleum

built to house the deceased
communist leader,
Georgi Dimitrov.

The onset of revolution
would reveal serious
question marks

around the circumstances
of his demise.

The fall the communism,
officially, was in
November 1989.

The fall the communism,
officially, was in
November 1989.

One year later, first
post-communist government

decided to have official
funeral of Georgi Dimitrov.

Secretly, during the night,

his body was transported
to the central graveyard,
and was buried there.

[narrator] However,
when laid to rest,

his remains were
not entirely intact.

An embalmer had removed
his brain for examination.

As they suspected,
Russian foul play was the real
reason for his untimely death.

As they suspected,
Russian foul play was the real
reason for his untimely death.

He had been called to
the Soviet Union by Stalin,

and it's there that he died.

The tests proved that Dimitrov
was poisoned by mercury,

because in his brain
and his hair

were registered more than
20 times more mercury

compared to normal dose
for any human body.

[Landdeck] It's one of those
mysteries that we can't prove,

but makes some sense.

but makes some sense.

[narrator] Whatever the truth,

the mausoleum was demolished
after Dimitrov's removal,

and the tunnels abandoned.

It's been over three decades
since Communism's dark shadow
lifted from over Bulgaria.

Ivo Maev still finds that
period painful to remember.

[Maev] There is no option to
have any romantic memories
from the Communist times.

This building was
controversial enough.

A lot of people hate it,

and I'm among these people,

because, really,
this place was the heart
of Communist propaganda.

It was very important
the building to be demolished.

[narrator] In
northeast England,

the city of Hull hides
an extraordinary ruin
in a very ordinary street.

[Rob Bell] There are houses,
grocery stores, bars,

and then right in,
amongst them all,

there's something
that you definitely
don't expect to see.

[Auerbach] This building
is in really bad shape,

so much so that the whole
structure is held up

by steel girders
and scaffolding.

by steel girders
and scaffolding.

Something much more
destructive than just time

has reduced this place
to near-rubble.

[narrator] On the edge of town
is a brutish construction

that at first glance
appears entirely unrelated.

[Auerbach] Surrounded by lush
green farmlands

is a series of stout
concrete structures

that seemed to serve no
agricultural purpose at all.

[Nusbacher] And what
we're looking at here
is a relic of the idea

that you could send
enough airplanes,

and drop enough bombs
to break the will of a people.

[narrator] These rural ruins
and battered brick shells
six miles away

connect to a time when Britain
was fighting to preserve
its very existence.

The creeping horror
of the idea

The creeping horror
of the idea

of going to sleep in your bed
and never waking up,

drove the people
into the countryside.

Well, when I first came in,
it was completely overgrown.

The trees had taken over,
really, at the back,

and it was almost
like a secret garden.

[narrator] Hilary Byers
has fought for decades

[narrator] Hilary Byers
has fought for decades

to save this site
from being torn down.

She works to ensure
the tragedy of what happened
here is never forgotten.

[Byers] We're intending
to create memorials
around the site,

so we shall have
boards with names on,

but we shall also
have interpretation

explaining to people
just what happened here.

[narrator] In 1914,
when this building
was originally constructed,

[narrator] In 1914,
when this building
was originally constructed,

it served the local community
as a cinema.

It was called
The National Picture Theater.

It could seat over
900 people in its stalls
and balcony levels,

and it had a 24-foot screen
that stretched across
the far end of the cinema.

[Byers] Their advertising
material said,

"Our chairs are as comfortable
as father's armchair at home."

In other words,
they came to tell you
this was no fleapit,

this was the real deal.

this was the real deal.

[Auerbach] This was a place
where people came
to enjoy themselves,

to meet up
with friends and family,

but something happened
to threaten all that.

[narrator] On
September 3rd, 1939,

Britain declared war
on Nazi Germany,

marking the start
of the most destructive
conflict in human history.

One year later, the people
of Britain felt the full force
of Hitler's wrath.

One year later, the people
of Britain felt the full force
of Hitler's wrath.

The Germans sent wave
after wave of bombers

to drop an immense
amount of ordnance
all over cities in Britain.

[Bell] The Blitz brought
the reality of the war

from mainland Europe
to the very doorstep
of the British people.

[narrator] Hull was
no exception,

and its citizens were
subjected to a brutal
and sustained attack.

[Nusbacher] Hull is a really
important English city.

It's industrial,
it has a port,

but also, Hull faces Germany
across the North Sea.

Unlike some industrial places
in the United Kingdom,
especially England,

Hull is easy to bomb,
because it's easy to get to.

[narrator] The city responded
by aiming its defenses up,
towards the sky.

[narrator] The city responded
by aiming its defenses up,
towards the sky.

Dennis Chapman is a local
historian that helped
rediscover this site in 2014.

Where we are now
is in the middle of one
of the four gun emplacements.

So the gun itself,
which was a 3.7-inch gun,

was centrally located here.

[narrator] Known
as Station H31,

it was part of a web of gun
batteries around Hull

designed to fight back against
relentless Luftwaffe attacks.

designed to fight back against
relentless Luftwaffe attacks.

There should be seven
ammunition recesses,

so that's where
the shells were stored.

And then we'd then collect
the appropriate shell,

and obviously feed it
into the gun to be fired.

And then in addition
to those recesses,
you've got the two shelters,

which is where the men
would have sheltered
when they weren't on the gun.

On a busy night,
it would be hectic,

because they'd all be
working at once.

The information going out
to the guns would be
changing all the time

as the position
of the aircraft
would be changing.

[narrator] But try
as they might,

Hull's valiant defenders
could not stop the bombs
from falling.

As much as 95%
of its buildings were
damaged or destroyed.

[Nusbacher] All of Europe
suffered in the Second
World War.

But the Home Secretary
at the time said it,

"No place in Britain
suffered worse than Hull."

"No place in Britain
suffered worse than Hull."

[narrator] The National
Picture Theater would not
escape the carnage,

but it wasn't Hitler that
had the last laugh.

The circumstances around
this building's destruction
are truly bizarre.

You couldn't write it.

[narrator] In the Hull
are the remnants of one
of the city's finest cinemas.

On the night
of March 18th, 1941,

a full house had assembled
to watch one of wartime
Britain's most popular films.

[Nusbacher] You've got
a movie theater filled
with moviegoers

watching The Great Dictator.

They're watching
Charlie Chaplin,

They're watching
Charlie Chaplin,

a working class English guy
who is mocking Hitler.

As you can imagine,
Hitler and his buddies
weren't amused at all.

But the film
was hugely popular

with audiences in the U.S.,
the U.K. and other
Allied countries.

They couldn't get
enough of it.

[Nusbacher] And suddenly,
the film stops.

The projectionist
puts a gel on,

The projectionist
puts a gel on,

which says that
there's an air raid.

[narrator] For almost
seven hours,

Hitler's fury rained down
on Hull.

With the air raid sirens
screaming outside,

the people inside
must have been terrified.

And then the bomb hit.

[Bell] It sent bricks
and debris flying back
through the building

towards the occupants
taking shelter in the foyer.

towards the occupants
taking shelter in the foyer.

The smoke and screaming
that surrounded them must
have been all-consuming.

So it's quite ironic that
that was the film
that was showing

the night that the cinema
was bombed.

[Nusbacher] A room
full of English people
watching Charlie Chaplin

playing the character
that is clearly based
on Hitler.

And then, Hitler takes
a swat at them.

He wanted to punish
the British for laughing
at him.

He wanted to punish
the British for laughing
at him.

[Bell] In total, 91 people
lost their lives that night,

including nine on the road
opposite the cinema.

But by some miracle,
nobody in the cinema died.

[narrator] The National
Picture Theater was destroyed

beyond repair
that fateful night.

Yet, no amount of bombs
could break the people's will

or stop them laughing
at Hitler's expense.

or stop them laughing
at Hitler's expense.

Some British people even look
back at this time with a weird
sense of nostalgia.

In England,
it's called "Blitz spirit."

The sentiment being that
if we could survive the Blitz,

we can survive anything.

[narrator] At
the conflict's end,

most of Britain's
destroyed buildings
were slowly torn down

most of Britain's
destroyed buildings
were slowly torn down

and replaced
with modern structures.

That any of this cinema
still stands,

is tribute to the work
of people like Hilary.

[Byers] It's a memorial
to everybody,

all the civilians who died
during World War II,

and to the experience
of civilians,

those who survived as well.

[narrator] On the outskirts
of the Italian capital,

nestled in a wooded glade,

is a structure built
in the name of defiance.

[Jim Meigs] We're in the town
of Fregenae,

a seaside community
only about 20 miles
outside of Rome.

[Bell] In the middle
of a pine forest

lies one of the oddest
structures you'll ever see.

lies one of the oddest
structures you'll ever see.

It's a feast
of geometrical shapes
hidden amongst the trees.

[Dr. Alicia Gutierrez- Romine]
They're bundled together
in a really chaotic way,

like a giant game of Tetris.

[narrator] It seems clear,

whoever built this place
had a disregard
for the conventional.

[Meigs] The main building
is kind of a study
in contradictions.

Clearly they're meant
to make some kind
of architectural statement,

so it's not obvious
whether it's a house
or a small school

so it's not obvious
whether it's a house
or a small school

or a substation
for a power company.

Really, it could be
almost anything.

[narrator] Often, structures
are a product of their time.

This one was a reaction.

[Alicia] This building
cannot just be a house.

It has to serve
some kind of function.

[Bell] This crazy design
is somehow also

the proclamation
of an ideology.

the proclamation
of an ideology.

[narrator] In Italy
is the ruin
of an experimental home

that encapsulated
a family's desire

to break away
from the country's
troubled past.

[Raynaldo Perugini]
I'm the only child
of two architects,

and then I became
an architect myself,

because I never thought
people could do anything else.

because I never thought
people could do anything else.

[narrator] Raynaldo Perugini
grew up in this
bizarre structure.

This was a home in which
the normal rules didn't apply.

[Perugini] The house
is an open space.

There's no specific purpose
for any particular space.

No dining room, no bedroom.

I used to occupy this space.

My bed was here.

We should keep in mind
this house is more
than 50-years-old.

We should keep in mind
this house is more
than 50-years-old.

Imagine how innovative
it was for the time.

[Meigs] The project was
started by two architecture
professors from Rome,

Giuseppe Perugini,
and his wife, Uga De Plaisant.

They wanted to build a kind
of a homestead

that would reflect the trends
that were moving through
architecture at the time.

[narrator] Italy in the 1950s
was changing.

[narrator] Italy in the 1950s
was changing.

Everything from music
to cinema and design

was taking on a new
lease of life.

The inspiration
was earlier conflict.

[Meigs] Italy's fascist
government collapsed
at the end of World War II.

And in the period
that followed,

there was a kind of a counter
movement that wanted
to reject fascism,

and the kind of monolithic
style that we associate
with fascist architecture.

and the kind of monolithic
style that we associate
with fascist architecture.

[narrator] And there was
no better location

for the two architects
to realize their dream

than the glamorous
seaside town of Fregenae.

[Alicia] Fregenae is a popular
coastal town

that came to prominence
in the 1960s and '70s,

when it was the center
of the fashion
and cinema worlds.

[Meigs] During this period,
it was a place where
Italian intellectuals

[Meigs] During this period,
it was a place where
Italian intellectuals

and bohemians
would often gather.

The filmmaker, Fellini,
had a house there

and actually shot some scenes
in several of his movies,

including the film,
La dolce vita.

[Bell] Over a period
of seven years,

architects Giuseppe Perugini,
his wife,

and later, their son,

built this place
as their eccentric
holiday home.

[narrator] This
is Casa Albero,

which translates simply
as "Treehouse."

[Perugini] Casa Albero
is called treehouse,

because it is raised
above the ground,

and is designed with
a modular system of beams,
pillars and plates

that can be
repeated endlessly.

[Bell] And in the mind
of Perugini,

this was supposed to be
a never-ending house

this was supposed to be
a never-ending house

whose life and energy
could go on forever.

[narrator] This main building
was only one aspect
of the crazy concept.

If Casa Albero
is the unlimited house

that can grow
indefinitely over time,

next to it, as if to
converse with it,

we decided to build
this other experiment,
the ball.

[continues speaking
in Italian]

One part was the bed,
one part a kitchenette,
and one part a small bath.

I used it personally,
given its special acoustics,
to play music.

[reverberating clap]

If I clap my hands,
you can hear
this reverberation

that I used playing the sitar.

[Bell] Innovation,
experimentation, boldness.

These are the kind
of things that always
get people excited.

These are the kind
of things that always
get people excited.

So this house became
the venue for some
of the craziest parties

amongst the rich
Italian bourgeoisie.

[narrator] But Casa Albero's
days were sadly numbered.

By the mid-seventies,
the family used the building
less and less.

Then, in 1995,
Giuseppe Perugini died,

followed by his wife
nine years later.

After the architect's death,
the house fell into disrepair.

It's been vandalized
with graffiti,

became a squat,
and a venue
for illegal parties.

[Alicia] That captured
the attention of the media,

who then branded
the structure as abandoned.

[narrator] Today,
this building is a shell
of what it once was.

[narrator] Today,
this building is a shell
of what it once was.

Raynaldo has big
plans to change all that.

[Bell] He's tirelessly
trying to preserve
his family's vision,

and turn it into
a cultural hub once again.

And Raynaldo is adamant
his father's dream
should and will live on.