BLDGBLOG: Saddam's Palaces: An Interview with Richard Mosse
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/saddams-palaces-interview-with-richard.html

[Image: Ruined swimming pool at Uday 's Palace, Jebel Makhoul, Iraq (2009)

"Vast, self-indulgent halls of columned marble and extravagant chandeliers, surrounded by pools, walls, moats, and, beyond that, empty desert, suddenly look more like college dormitories. Weight sets, flags, partition walls, sofas, basketball hoops, and even posters of bikini'd women have been imported to fill Saddam's spatial residuum. The effect is oddly decorative, as if someone has simply moved in for a long weekend, unpacking an assortment of mundane possessions."