While many governments and civilians may be fine with dumping those booths at the landfill, artist Martin Angelov shows that outdated structures can be given new life with just a bit of creative elbow grease. Angelov transformed parts of an old telephone booth into a chair in a project described as “a protest against hundreds of abandoned telephone booths in the era of mobile communications.”
Across Britain, once-glorious lidos now lie neglected or abandoned. But all is not lost. As we edge ever-deeper into the 21st century, community groups and local enthusiasts are starting to revive these once-great institutions.
Point, click, shut! Camera stores are rapidly fading into obsolescence as smartphones take the place of mass market cameras, film and paid photo processing.
via Photo Finished: 12 Closed & Abandoned Camera Stores | Urbanist.
People left the borough, properties were condemned and Centralia is now one of the weirdest abandoned towns and cities in America. Steam and smoke rise from cracks in a now-disused stretch of Pennsylvania’s Route 61 as the mining fire continues to smoulder.
via 10 Creepy Ghost Towns and Modern Ruins of the United States – Urban Ghosts.
I have traveled extensively throughout North and South America; and having seen countless cities in varying states of dilapidation, I thought I had a good idea of what to expect in Detroit. I was wrong.
Exiting the interstate was like entering another country. The sheer magnitude of decay and devastation in Detroit is overwhelming. The number of derelict buildings literally falling apart, the piles of rubble and litter all over the streets and sidewalks, the fact that there was so little police presence in some areas, or so little human presence at all, was eerily unsettling.
via Painted City: Looking at Art on the Streets of Detroit | Annabel Osberg.
Capturing the mood of the abandoned cars in their Belgium hiding place, Raven’s photos reveal what is essentially a graveyard of collectible vehicles that might one day be saved and restored.
via Urban Explorer Discovers Vintage Alfa Romeos in Belgian Barn | Urban Ghosts |.
OH DEAR LORD – this is causing deep unbridled pain!!
(All images by Chris Seward (Google Plus), cc-nc-nd-4.0)
According to photographer Chris Seward, this extensive motorcycle graveyard lingered in an abandoned building near the Erie Canal in Western New York, long after the structure itself had been condemned. The owner of the building reportedly died in the 1970s and the bikes – some of them antiques – remained on site until recently, when the place was finally cleared.
via Motorbike Graveyard in Western New York | Urban Ghosts |.
Great slideshow on Huffington Post about million dollar abandoned Olympic structures.
What happens to Olympic facilities after the games are over? Well, some are turned into tourist-attracting parks, training facilities, theaters, concert halls, malls, museums, gymnasiums, biodomes, housing, and even prisons — repurposing that obviously could never compare to their original states of glory. However, what one would never expect is for some of these sites to go entirely unused, shamefully rotting away after billions of dollars had gone into their creation.
via Abandoned Olympic Venues: An Eerie Look Into The Past (PHOTOS).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZNbZs2bcgA]
State Senator Linda Coleman.
“There are people who would develop or rehabilitate some of these old, historic houses if they can get ownership of some of these properties,” Coleman said.
Under the new rules, the state will waive its lien and transfer the state’s interest to the new local land banks.
Local governments may then offer the property to entities for redevelopment. The new law also expands notification provisions for property owners who are still allowed to redeem their properties if they pay the back taxes.
Coleman stressed that the law was not designed to take away an owner’s property, but to put long abandoned land back to productive use.
Coleman and city officials said the provision opens several possibilities for Birmingham, including residential redevelopment and economic development.
“Economic development people are already trying to assemble sites for people who want to come here. The problem is you’ve got a piece in the middle with no clear title to it. This whole current process caused blight. This was always the missing piece because the process was too cumbersome.”
via New state law offers hope of revitalizing longstanding urban blight | al.com.
WebUrbanist has the eye-candy today. Go see the entire article.
Perhaps abandoned mansions, castles and chateaus are so fascinating because it’s difficult for many of us to understand how something that cost so much money could be allowed to decay. Someone went through the trouble of designing the home, choosing decorative elements and purchasing fine fixtures, only for them to be ruined far before they should have.
via 7 Abandoned Wonders of Residential Architecture (Page 1) | WebUrbanist.
More than 350 volunteers gathered in the snow and cold to board up 13 abandoned homes and apartment buildings on Detroit’s north side. They cut brush and dragged mattresses and garbage out of the homes as part of the project, carried out by Wayne State University’s Center for Urban Studies and Americorps.
“This is how we build community; this is how we build community cohesion,” said Lyke Thompson, a WSU professor of political science and the Center’s director, as he worked alongside the other volunteers.
Zach Fairchild, an Americorps worker and main organizer of the project, said they chose to clean up parts of the north side to help create a safe passage for the girls of the Detroit International Academy for Young Women as they walked to school. Monday’s effort was their first large-scale attempt at boarding up houses.
“We’re trying stabilize the neighborhoods, and boarding up the vacant and open properties is the first step,” he said. “It’s getting (them) taken care of so people in the neighborhood can deal with the other issues they have going on.”
As the industrial base of the Factory Belt declined, so did these bars and social clubs, which makes it a special occurrence to unearth the rough-hewn exterior of a remaining building. Some still serve the old purposes, though mostly on a much smaller scale. The sense of community that, at one time, was pervasive in these towns, has been fragmented by broken histories, transience, and changing cultures.
via Randy Fox: Stuffed Elk Heads And The Old Bars Of The Rust Belt (PHOTOS).
