In the hands of this Briton, houses melt, fly and slide to the feet of passers-by

An old building in London's Covent Garden, mercilessly destroyed in the middle, mysteriously hovers in the air without noticeable support. In the seaside town of Margate, a brand-new brick wall of an abandoned house seems to drain into the front garden. A red Vauxhall Corsa car is hanging upside down on an asphalt road that has risen from the ground and rolled into a ball. All this is the work of Alex Chinnek, a Briton known for large—scale architectural illusions.

Chinnek made one of the first major installations — "Telling the Truth through False Teeth" — in 2012: it was an abandoned factory building with broken windows. It would seem that there is nothing special about this — until you realize that each of the more than 300 windows is broken in the same way.

The following year, the artist created the illusion of a house in Margate, whose facade seems to slide to the asphalt and lies in front of the house. In the same year, Alex purchased a commercial property in central London and completely remodeled it.

Chinnek says that he likes to distort everyday life, but, unlike other artists, modestly admits that there is no deep idea in his works. "These projects are not caused by a certain concept, they are not trying to convey any message. My goal is to impress people and just make them happy a little bit."

"Take my lightning, but don't touch my thunder"

Perhaps Chinneck's best illusion is the levitating house in Covent Garden, installed in 2014. Together with a team of 100 professional consultants, salespeople, and architectural engineers, the architect created a life—size replica of the old stone building and lifted its upper part into the air.

This was done by hiding a 12-meter counterweight armature in the structure, which is masked by a harmless green booth. The installation of the building took eight months, the project was traditionally given an unusual name: "Take my lightning, but don't touch my thunder."

All Chinneck installations are temporary, and you can no longer see them live — you can only enjoy the photos.

This house has been empty for more than 11 years, and Chinnek turned it into the main attraction of the British town. He dismantled the partially collapsed facade and instead built a new brick wall with windows in curtains, an entrance door and even a satellite TV dish.

The curved facade was made at a brick factory in Gatwick by gluing cut bricks onto steel sheets of the desired shape. The windows were made at another factory by gluing 40 sheets of molded plywood. The project cost 100 thousand pounds (7.2 million rubles at the current exchange rate).

This London building was built in 1780 and used to serve as a stable: cattle were driven through its through arch and goods were transported to trading shops along the Thames. By the time Chinneck took over the house, it was intended for demolition. The designer redesigned the facade, placing the showcase, doors and windows bottom up. He used materials common in this area of the city so that the renovated house easily merged with the surroundings.

"Pound of Flesh" is a sculpture in the form of a two—story house of 8000 paraffin bricks, which was slowly assembled in three weeks in November 2014.

"The trail of a shooting star"

This installation was installed during the London Design Festival in 2015.