Where London Stood: Modern Ruins Links

Modern Ruins (or "Industrial Archaeology")

Shaun O'Boyle writes:

When first visiting ruins I realized that these abandon buildings had an interest and meaning that went beyond the original design intent, that in fact they had become something quite different; the original function had become lost with time and disuse and there had been a transformation over time from a utilitarian structure to one that was void of function. The architectural meanings and interpretations had become skewed, a language that was new and cryptic had emerged. These rooms, buildings and landscapes housed memories of a past in empty silent spaces and relinquished the present to entropy and decay. These places no longer provided shelter. Time was not measured by the rhythms of occupants any longer, but by the peeling of paint, rusting of metal and the crumbling of brick. The slow deterioration and decay made it less like architecture and more a space evoking images of its past, a memory of architecture and inhabitant with its language coming from subtle clues from the past, scrawls on the wall, well worn surfaces; suggestions of past residents mingling with its highly emotive state of decay.

http://www.modern-ruins.com/

Phillip Buehler writes:

I photograph modern ruins because I find it disturbing to find familiar objects and technology to be abandoned. I'm reminded that nothing is permanent, that everything is always in a state of transition. And we see ourselves in our own transitions, sometimes too focused on where we're going to notice and appreciate where we are.

Posted at Oct 20/2005 03:52PM:
Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal: I think this might be interesting: the ruins of the Commune de Paris, 1870-1871. Wonderful historical photographs.

http://www.library.northwestern.edu/spec/siege/