[Photos] In a Thao Dien Concrete Shell, a Mystery Graffiti Mecca

You never know what you'll find amid the glittering facades of Saigon's new upscale residential developments.

A seemingly abandoned, half-complete concrete shell of a structure near the to-be-completed metro line and next to one of Thao Dien's many luxury high-rise complexes has been turned into an open-plan graffiti gallery.

Some of the examples on display are the usual tags that you see all over town, but others are incredibly detailed and phantasmagorical. Various monsters and creatures of animal forms that you can't quite put your finger on feature prominently, while the floors of the multi-level building are strewn with the detritus of graffiti, along with empty drink bottles and, inexplicably, a bottle of olive oil.

How many people were involved in all of this, and how long did it take? The answers are likely as unknowable as what is going in the image above.

Some clues can be found on Facebook thanks to tags from ZNC, TSK and NC Store, but perhaps it's best to think of these kaleidoscopic murals as a rebuke to the grey blandness of the neighboring towers on either side of the Hanoi Highway. Explore this District 2 mystery further through the photos below.