First, Look at this: Gabba Gabba Hey. OK, hopefully you have now visited your happy place and we can continue with this brief survey of recently-sprung documentation of the 20th century’s monuments in collapse.
First up, the Guardian presents: Detroit in ruins – Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre’s extraordinary photographs documenting the dramatic decline of a major American city (above photo – United Artists Theater, closed 1974). This is an amazing set of photos that will give you much to think on.
For related viewing, you may want to check out Grossinger’s: City of Refuge and Illusion, the debut book by Bearings blog author and urban explorer Jonathan Haeber. “The iconic Borscht Belt resort was the crown jewel of the Catskills, but it had fallen into deep decline by the 70s. In the early 80s, it closed forever, and all that remains is its world renowned golf course and a few collapsing buildings.” Jon writes about creating the book on Bearings.
Gazing longingly at the decaying remnants of the more carefully constructed past continues at SleepyCity with this very long post that has many astounding photos, called, the Demolition of the Paris Metro.
UPDATE: When it rains it pours, apparently. This should have been the top feature of this roundup, but it came to me a little bit later.
Urban explorers from Undercity took their cameras down below and into NYC’s century old sewer systems, abandoned subway stations, and inside the Lincoln Tunnel to see the remnants of the society of tunnel folk. Watch what they uncovered.
After dodging trains, security guards, climbing the Williamsburg Bridge, and making us all extremely nervous, Andrew Wonder and Steve Duncan have compiled a short of their NYC adventures. “Guerrilla historian” Duncan does a pretty excellent job summing up each scenario, so we’ll just let him do the explaining:
More info in Sunday’s edition of NPR’s All Things Considered and in Sunday’s New York Times.
Also worth a visit is Forgotten Chicago, which we were pointed to by reader Molly. Thanks!
Not to be forgotten… it all begins with Infiltration Zine. “Infiltration offers a mix of the practice and theory of urban exploration in areas not designed for public usage.”
Dance to the Collapse.
