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Gone Green: Vacant 50 Years, Chinese Village Conquered by Ivy

21 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

green town

Nestled in the hills on a remote island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in China and full of rich foliage, one could imagine this small fishing hamlet to be an idyllic place, at least for nature if not for people – it has been abandoned by humans now for nearly half a century.

green town in mist

green platform balcony stairs

Ivy has become the dominant and defining feature of both the natural and built environments of this place, slowly but surely creeping over sidewalks and streets, up walls and roofs, and ultimately taking over the town.

green town deserted buildings

In some cases, collapsed portions of structures have made it all the more easy for the greenery to work its way over the sides of buildings and into their empty floors.

green overgrown alleyway path

Set on Gouqi Island, one of hundreds of small islands in the area, the Houtou Wan Village was a victim of changing times and circumstances, a combination of urbanization and depleted fish populations that drove its inhabitants to seek work elsewhere.

green window glass

Today, it is enjoyed only by visitors who seek it out explicitly, like photographer Jane Qing, chartering boats to travel to its shores and document the decay as well as the rebirth the place is now home to in its second life.

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Checked Out: Ten Permanently Vacant Abandoned Motels

23 Feb

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned motel 1
Motels have been in decline for decades – even Norman Bates knew that – and these abandoned motels illustrate a fundamental shift in travel trends.

abandoned motel 1a

abandoned motel 1b

abandoned motel 1c

People are still traveling by car, of course, but the roads they travel these days are often different then those used in the post-war era when the motel boom shifted into high gear. Travelers can easily make the shift from highways to freeways… motels (especially non-chain independent ones), not so much. Overlooked by vehicular travelers, once-thriving establishments like the old Hillcrest Motel along the Lincoln Highway outside Jefferson, Iowa, have no future other than fading into the underbrush.

Killed With Fire

abandoned motel 2a

abandoned motel 2b

abandoned motel 2c

The West Pike Motor Lodge near Coudersport, PA, was likely long past its peak when a (possibly convenient) fire put it out of its misery in 2010. Accidents will happen… especially when the nearest fire station just isn’t near enough. Kudos to Flickr user Bill Van Ryn for capturing the desolate state of the abandoned motel in October of 2012.

M TEL

abandoned motel 3a

abandoned motel 3b

abandoned motel 3c

Pocasset’s abandoned “Picture Lake M TEL” offers everything vacationers to Cape Cod could desire including air conditioned rooms and a swimming pool. What the sign doesn’t state is that the AC hasn’t conditioned any air since Reagan was in office and the pool is about as appealing as the one from Poltergeist. Flickr user D. Brigham visited the abandoned motel in July of 2010 – hopefully he wasn’t planning on spending the night.

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Checked Out Ten Permanently Vacant Abandoned Motels

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Vacant Buddha: Intricate Paper Sculptures Seem to Disappear

22 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

ho yoon shin 1

Deceptively solid-looking when seen from either side, the delicacy of these paper sculptures is revealed if you simply shift your position to view them straight on. Korean artist Ho Yoon Shin coats strips of paper with urethane and attaches them to each other with paper joints to create Buddhas, replicas of famous sculptures and other human figures.

ho yoon shin 2

ho yoon shin 3

ho yoon shin 10

The translucency of the sculptures is a commentary on what Shin sees as the vacancy of modern society, relating social and political conditions in Korea to Buddhism’s philosophy of emptiness.

ho yoon shin 4

ho yoon shin 6

“I am interested in social phenomena and approached the essence of it,” says Shin. “I realized that the closer I approached it, I realized there is no essence. I think it is already intrinsic in me or in you, being judged and evaluated by the inherent values in our things. Therefore, if examined in that viewpoint, I begin to understand why the power group of Korea has wanted to split all kinds of social systems – the right and the left, social classes divided on its economic structure, dominance and subordination, etc.”

ho yoon shin 5

ho yoon shin 7

“In the end, it’s a story about the situation and a point where we fill a surface that doesn’t exist… and console and satisfy ourselves.”

ho yoon shin 8

In addition to his human figures, Shin’s paper work includes large-scale installations of highly detailed, curtain-like sheets of paper, including ‘Imegrated Flowers,’ which filled an entire hallway at the Kobe Biennale.

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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No Más: 15 Closed, Abandoned & Vacant Taco Bells

14 Apr

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned Taco Bells
Don’t make a run for the border, most of Taco Bell’s 6,500 fast food restaurants are in the USA… not counting those that have been abandoned.

Olé Toledo!

abandoned taco bell Toledo (images via: Brad Raye)

The future as depicted in the film Demolition Man posits that “all restaurants are Taco Bell”, but they sure didn’t look as decrepit and, well, post-apocalyptic as the one above. Located at 708 N Reynolds Rd in Toledo, Ohio, the bleached remains of this outlet markedly contrast with the site’s thriving vegetation and clear blue sky.

abandoned taco bell Toledo (images via: Brad Raye)

Kudos to Flickr user Brad Raye for these images of the former Taco Bell taken on September 17th of 2013. The utter desolation of the scene and the distinct lack of maintenance add an eerie aura to what is outwardly a peaceful, silent tableau of a future that never was.

Express Yourself

abandoned Taco Express Two Rivers WI (image via: Andrew T)

This former Taco Express location in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, may have shut its drive-thru window for good but that didn’t stop one disgruntled customer from getting the last word… or last pictograph, as the case may be. Full props to Flickr user Andrew T for capturing the frustration of a consumer unable to consume.

There’s A Sale At Penney’s!

abandoned taco bell Torrington CT (images via: MJBarnes)

Welcome to retail plaza hell, otherwise known as Torrington, Connecticut, where both a Taco Bell outlet and the JCPenney anchor store both appear to have bitten the biscuit. What can you make of this, Johnny? Flickr user MJBarnes photo-documented the current state of the for-sale unit on an otherwise beautiful spring day in 2012.

Copper Bell

Baltimore police taco bell (image via: BETSY R)

Anyone considering a dine & dash in East Baltimore has best avoid this particular Taco Bell. You’d think the police would really prefer to work out of a donut shop, and maybe they would, so you’d best pay for your order without using any two-dollar bills. A tip of the hat to Flickr user BETSY R for snapping the “only in East Baltimore” image above.

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No Mas 15 Closed Abandoned Vacant Taco Bells

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Clever Counterfeit: Vacant Shops Pretend to be High-End

25 Jan

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Street of Fakes China 1

There’s something a little off about the highly recognizable logos splashed across this retail complex in the Chinese city of Wuxi: beside a round green & white approximation of the Starbucks logo, for example, green lettering spells out ‘SFFCCCKS OFFEE.’ Try saying that out loud. Zara has become ‘Zare’, and H&M is ‘H&N.’ These aren’t shops producing counterfeit versions of the goods offered by the real brands. They’re just facades. The entire building is actually vacant.

Street of Fakes China 2

The shopping district has earned the name ‘Street of Fakes’ for these and many more fake high-end boutiques that look real from a distance, potentially luring in excited shoppers who approach an Apple store only to find that it’s ‘Appla,’ and the door is locked.

Street of Fakes China 4

The signs were erected to appeal to potential property buyers, ostensibly by making the district feel more luxurious than it really is. There’s a good chance that some of the signs will have to come down, since they’re infringing on copyright laws. But in China, there really are counterfeit versions of all sorts of businesses that sell actual goods, like KFC ripoff ‘KLG.’

Street of Fakes China 5

Property owners often get creative in their efforts to spruce up vacant shops. In North Tyenside, England, where more than 140 businesses closed up shop due to the flagging local economy, the council erected fake storefronts with murals that create an illusion of the real thing.

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Boneyard Studios: Vacant Lot Hosts New Micro-Home Village

19 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

boneyard studios night view

In a bold bid to change urban landscapes, a series of tiny home builders and enthusiasts has come together to turn empty space into a microcosmic example of what small-space living can mean for dense and high-cost cities like Washington D.C.

boneyard corner lot approach

boneyard studios construction progress

Starting with a small, awkward and triangular alley lot the Boneyard Studios group proceeded to clear the debris build a series of four small homes. “The lot originally had overgrown grass, broken concrete, pooling water, garbage, illegal parking, and occasional criminal activity (e.g. a dumped stolen vehicle).”

boneyard jay exterior front

boneyard jay projector view

boneyard daytime solar panels

Brian’s Minim House is clean, refined and modern featuring minimalist details, wood siding with black metal trim and a metal roof with solar panels. It also has interior features like in-seat storage and a pull-down screen for a space-saving projector television and video player.

boneyard elaine wood interior

boneyard elaine exterior view

Elaine’s Tumbleweed Lusby is framed and filled with warm wood, feeling as much like a cabin in the woods as it does a cottage in the city. It comes complete with a bamboo ladder leading up to a cozy lofted sleeping space.

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Posts Tagged ‘Vacant’

Gone Green: Vacant 50 Years, Chinese Village Conquered by Ivy