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Altered Architecture: 12 More Abandoned Buildings as Art

30 Jan

[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

Abandoned Buildings Art Main

Abandoned places are brightened up, made even creepier and more atmospheric, or otherwise transformed into massive works of art with installations that use entire buildings as creative tools. Whether calling attention to blight in urban areas or making use of a structure before it’s demolished, these 12 (more!) abandoned building art projects make already-fascinating spaces even more of a visual delight.

Melting Facade

Abandoned Building Art Sliding Facade 1

Abandoned Building Art Sliding Facade 2

A curving brick facade gives an abandoned eyesore of a building a bit of a backwards facelift. With the new addition by artist Alex Chinneck, the abandoned building almost fits in with its neighbors – but not quite. As it slides down toward the street, it reveals the mess that remains on the top floor. The temporary installation turned an ugly building into a tourist attraction, calling attention to the need for restoration.

Deep North: Abandoned Cottage Frozen

Abandoned Buildings Art Frozen Cottage 1

Abandoned Buildings Art Frozen Cottage 2

Abandoned BUildings Art Frozen Cottage 3

A sad little shotgun cottage, filled with the former owner’s personal possessions, was left to rot, gaping holes in the walls letting in the elements. Artist Chris Larson spent a winter in sub zero temperatures pouring thousands of gallons of water onto the home to let the ice build up, and then created sculptures that are casts of actual shotgun blasts to honor the ‘shotgun house’ design of the cottage, in which all doorways and hallways are in one straight line.

Spider Web in Abandoned Stock Exchange Building

Abandoned Buildings Art Spiderweb Tape

A spider worthy of J.R.R. Tolkein’s imagination seems to have taken up residence in an abandoned stock exchange building. This stunning project by Viennese/Croatian design collective For Use/Numen is made of nearly 100 pounds of packing tape and includes a tunnel that’s strong enough for people to crawl through.

Perspective Illusions by Georges Rousse

Abandoned Buildings Art Georges Rousse 1

Abandoned Buildings Art Georges Rousse 2

Abandoned Buildings Art Georges Rousse 3

Master of perspective Georges Rousse creates incredible illusions in abandoned places that seem to cut out a geometric shape of the building and utterly transform it. Painted across various surfaces and angles, they look like random markings from most viewpoints, but stand in just the right spot and it all comes together.

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Altered Architecture 12 More Abandoned Buildings As Art

[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Blickfang: Abandoned warship

28 Jan

Den großen und schweren Bildband „XL Photography 3. Art Collection Deutsche Börse“* hatte ich mir eigentlich wegen einer Arbeit von Sibylle Bergemann angeschafft, bin beim Durchsehen der ganz unterschiedlichen Serien dann aber am eindrucksvollen Bild eines verlassenen Kriegsschiffes hängen geblieben.

In der Buchreihe „XL Photography“ gibt die Gruppe Deutsche Börse Einblicke in den Bestand ihrer Fotosammlung, die in den letzten Jahren vor allem um großformatige Werke zeitgenössischer Künstler erweitert wurde. Im dritten Band werden 17 Künstler mit ihren Arbeiten sowie jeweils Einführungstexten und Kurzbiografien vorgestellt.

Darunter ist auch Simon Roberts, der sich als Brite, der erst 16 Jahre alt war, als die Sowjetunion zerbrach, mit dem „großen und geheimnisvollen Land“ Russland fotografisch auseinandersetzte. Dabei hatte er sich viel vorgenommen: Über ein Jahr lang bereiste er abseits der russischen Ballungszentren das Land, um eine „Bestandsaufnahme des modernen Russlands“ anzufertigen.

Aber selbst ein Jahr ist zu kurz für so ein großes Land: Roberts hat sich in Russland sehr wohlgefühlt, aber bei Weitem nicht alles gesehen, was es dort zu sehen gibt. Am Ende ist daraus unter dem Titel „Motherland“* ein 153 Bilder umfassendes Buch geworden, das inzwischen ausverkauft, aber noch gebraucht ab ca. 70 € oder als PDF-Download für 1 £ zu haben ist.

Abandoned warship, Kola Bay, Murmansk, 2005 © Simon Roberts in XL Photography 3

Am Bild dieses aufgegebenen Kriegsschiffes, das in der Kola-Bucht bei Murmansk liegt, blieb mein Blick beim Blättern dann erst einmal hängen, während ich alle anderen Bilder davor und danach innerhalb weniger Sekunden erfasst und durchschaut zu haben meinte. Aber das tiefe Blau der Szene nahm mich länger gefangen.

Die ganze Kulisse ist von einem so winterlichen Blau, dass die Kälte wie eine Welle eisiger Luft aus dem Bild zu mir herauszuschwappen scheint. Natürlich wird das Gefühl noch vom im Bild sichtbaren Schnee, Eis und der hinter den Schiffsleichen stehenden Nebelwand unterstützt.

Keine Menschenseele ist zu sehen. Ich stelle mir vor, wie Simon Roberts allein neben den Schiffswracks stand – nein, eigentlich – wie ich in der absoluten Stille der überfrorenen, in Winterschlaf gezwungenen Szene die schneidend kalte, russische Winternebelluft einatme. Mich faszinieren die eisigen Blautöne, die von tiefstem Fastschwarz auf der Schiffswand bis hin zu klarem Weiß im Schnee reichen.

Und die vielen Details, die ich mit den Augen erkunden kann: Von hier nach dort verlaufende Seile, überfrorene Leitern waren einmal Wege und auf der Schiffshaut liegt eine scheinbar nur ganz dünne Raureifschicht, die in mir die Vorstellung auslöst, dass sie unter der Berührung meiner warmen Finger wegschmelzen würde, wie ich es von Eisblumen auf Autolack in unseren milden europäischen Wintern kenne.

Mehr aus der sehr sehenswerten Serie von Roberts’ Russland-Projekt gibt es auf seiner Webseite zu lesen und zu sehen. Neben beeindruckenden Landschaften, für unsere Augen seltsam anmutender Architektur und Alltagsszenen gibt es auch viele, sehr unterschiedliche Portraits der Menschen zu sehen.

Auch Roberts’ andere Serien sind spannend und einige sehr experimentell. Seine Webseite ist definitiv ein Ort, an dem man sich mit einer Tasse Tee oder Kaffee mal für ein paar Stunden sehr gepflegt verlieren kann, was ich Euch hiermit sehr ans Herz lege.

Informationen zum Buch

„XL Photography 3. Art Collection Deutsche Börse“*
Fotografen: Paul Almasy, Jessica Backhaus, Sibylle Bergemann, Pietro Donzelli, Alberto Garcia Alix, Seydou Keï ta, Yoon Jean Lee, Boris Mikhailov, Simon Norfolk, Martin Parr, Simon Roberts, Ricarda Roggan, Wilhelm Schürmann, Alfred Seiland, Malick Sidibé, Alec Soth, Joel Sternfeld
Verlag: Hatje Cantz
Seiten: 144
Sprache: Englisch und Deutsch
Maße: 32,1 x 31,7 x 2,1 cm
Einband: Hardocver, gebunden
Preis: neu 49,80 €, gebraucht ab ca. 14 €

* Das ist ein Affiliate-Link zu Amazon. Wenn Ihr darüber etwas bestellt, zahlt Ihr keinen Cent mehr, wir erhalten aber eine kleine Provision.

kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin

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Posted in Equipment

No Life Support: 10 Abandoned Ambulance & EMS Stations

27 Jan

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

closed condemned abandoned ambulance EMS stations
Silence the sirens and be careful out there… these abandoned, closed and condemned ambulance & EMS stations no longer respond to medical emergencies.

Condemned In California

condemned AMR ambulance substation Tracy CA (images via: Tracy Press, Glenn Moore)

The condemned former American Medical Response substation at at 455 Beverly Place in Tracy looks pretty good for an abandoned building. Then again, these photos from the November 29th, 2013 edition of the Tracy Press were taken less than a week after the doors slammed shut. Supposedly, the station was condemned due to the presence of a large tree on the property that might fall over in a gale. It’s worth noting that the station’s owner condemned the building; city inspectors found no serious structural damage and thus no justification for closing it.

condemned ambulance substation Tracy CA (images via: Tracy Press, Glenn Moore and Tracy Press, Glenn Moore)

Ahh, the eternal struggle between wanting your local EMS station to be as close as possible and wanting your local EMS station to be as QUIET as possible. Sorry friends, never the twain shall meet. The eardrum conundrum evidently proved too frustrating for one resident who in 2010 declared (in a drunken, late-night tirade in front of Tracy City Council) that having an ambulance station near his home has turned his life into “13 years of hell.” He must be in heaven now.

But Socialism!

closed abandoned ambulance station Wiltshire England (image via: Number Of The Month)

The UK’s NHS (National Health Service) has been praised and vilified to the extreme – often by the same people depending on whether they need its services or have just read the latest tale of wasted taxpayer’s money. Tongues are wagging once again due to the NHS’s (supposed) money-saving plans to close dozens of ambulance stations across the UK and consolidate their functions at larger “hub” stations. The plan may indeed save money but anyone and everyone will end up waiting longer for an ambulance as a result. Thanks, Obama!

Ghostbusters Of OZ

old Queensland ambulance service station (images via: The Queensland Times, Claudia Baxter and The Ipswich Advertiser)

If the original Ghostbusters drove a modified ambulance and had their HQ in an old firehouse, one would assume their Australian counterparts (being “down under”) would park their customized firetruck in an old ambulance station. Good thing, as the old Queensland Ambulance Service station complex on Downs Street in North Ipswich is said to be haunted by the ghost of WC Tomkins. The former station superintendent lived upstairs at the station and passed away in his bed one night in 1934… and, some say, he’s still there.

old Queensland ambulance station haunted Sims (image via: The Queensland Times, David Nielsen)

“This ghost has never hurt anyone and I don’t think he would,” states renowned hauntings historian Jack Sim (above). “He founded the ambulance in Ipswich and he is a nice bloke.” Perhaps the station’s supposed supernatural aura helped keep it on the auction block for the better part of six years. All good things must come to an end, however, and Beetlejuice himself couldn’t stop the station from finally being sold in March of 2013 for a cool one million smackers.

Chairman Of The Boarded Up

Hull old boarded-up ambulance station (images via: Hull and Hereabouts)

Since the old ambulance station on Osborne Street in Hull, England closed, the only emergencies occurring at the site concern Phil Jude’s 24-hour Emergency Boarding Up Service… or so the sign above states. Take it from Phil, they’re “probably the cheapest in the area.”

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No Life Support 10 Abandoned Ambulance Ems Stations

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Haunting Haikyo: 7 Abandoned Wonders of Modern Japan

23 Jan

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

Abandoned Japan Main

Haikyo is the Japanese term for ‘ruins’ and intimates infiltration and exploration of the country’s abandoned places, of which there are many. The economic highs and lows of the past century have produced abandonments that are every bit as colorful and fascinating as the nation’s culture, from love hotels with genitalia-shaped rock gardens and ghost clinics full of human body parts in jars to a concrete tower deemed the world’s most perfect anti-zombie fortress.

Not So Sexy: Abandoned Love Hotels

Abandoned Japan Love Hotel 2

Abandoned Japan Love Hotel 1

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Abandoned Japan Love Hotel 5

Japan is famous for its ‘love hotels,’ places where busy parents, people carrying out illicit affairs and anyone who’s just plain curious can pay by the hour for bizarre themed rooms, which might feature anything from a real Japanese bridge to a carousel or a human-sized cage. But inevitably, some of these hundreds of hotels are going to go under – and what’s left behind can be eye-popping. Take, for example, Fuurin Motel in the small town of Chiba. Documented (along with many other fascinating Japanese abandonments) by Haikyo.org, this ten-room love hotel is still strewn with beds shaped like carriages, statues of knights, gold-painted bath tubs and zen gardens full of penis-shaped rocks.

Human Organs in Jars at the Nichitsu Clinic

Abandoned Japan Clinic 1

Abandoned Japan Clinic 2

Nichitsu is a former mining village in Saitama Prefecture that was once home to 3,000 people in the 1960s, and is now completely abandoned, tucked away in a valley that’s often shrouded in fog, making its yawning, deteriorating architecture even more eerie. While the entire town is worth a look, it’s within the wooden walls of a relatively unassuming-looking clinic that real horrors can be found. The entire place is strewn not only with debris, furniture, x-rays and arcane-looking doctor’s tools, but jars of human body parts – including the ear seen above, tucked away under a fern leaf just outside. Urban explorers like French photography Jordy Meow, who took these photos, report that these jars are disappearing, apparently taken home by tourists as macabre souvenirs.

Meme-Worthy ‘Zombie Fortress’ Shime Tower

Abandoned Japan Shime Tower 1

Abandoned Japan Shime Tower 2

Looming above the landscape in all its ugly concrete glory, its face stained and its legs often covered in ivy, the abandoned Shime Tower has so much character, it’s become the subject of countless memes. It’s all that’s left of the abandoned Shime coal mine and has been decaying for the last half-century. The wisdom of The Internet has deemed it the greatest anti-zombie fortress ever and thus made it the subject of one amazing photoshopped image after the other, depicting it as a Transformer, an AT-AT and the last thing standing on the beach after the Planet of the Apes apocalypse. In reality, the tower completely dominates the entire town of Shime, but the citizens don’t seem to mind. They erected a playground at its base and even installed uplighting so it glows like some kind of dystopian castle after nightfall.

The Ghost ‘Battleship’ Island of Gunkanjima

Abandoned Japan Gunkanjima Island

Abandoned Japan Hashima Island

Abandoned Japan Hashima Gunkanjima

It looks like a military warship from afar, but bring your boat a little closer and you’ll see that this decrepit collection of concrete off the coast of Nagasaki is actually an island. Gunkanjima, or ‘Battleship Island,’ is the nickname for Hashima Island, a dense abandoned metropolis once packed with 5,259 people. It started as a small reef, but when coal was discovered there in the 1800s, it was quickly developed and expanded. It was used as a mine from 1887 to 1974 and its concrete architecture was designed to withstand typhoons. The switch from coal to petroleum in Japan led the mine to close, and for decades, accessing it was forbidden. The public is now allowed to explore a limited range of the island as part of an official tour.

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Haunting Haikyo 7 Abandoned Wonders Of Japan

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

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Put To Sleep: 12 Sad Abandoned Pet Shops & Vet Clinics

20 Jan

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

Put away the cat-carrier and make your own Cone of Shame; these abandoned veterinary clinics and shuttered pet shops are closed fur good.

Jersey Snore

Ocean County Veterinary Clinic Lakewood NJ abandoned (images via: Lost Destinations)

Ocean County Veterinary Clinic in Lakewood, New Jersey is a pretty grim place, even for New Jersey, though one would have to agree things are looking up now that the pet clinic has closed and the animals have gone. Whispered rumors of poor care by clinic managers and unconfirmed anecdotes of euthanized animal carcasses found in the clinic’s dumpsters dogged (sorry) the facility for years.

Ocean County Veterinary Clinic Lakewood NJ abandoned (images via: Lost Destinations)

The labyrinth of claustrophobic chain link cages in the back supports long-running allegations the clinic had contracted with local animal control departments to “warehouse” stray dogs and cats, most of which never escaped a presumably grim fate. “There is a heavy, doomed feeling within these cages;” reports urban explorer “Shady” from Lost Destinations, “even the very trees seems to forbid entrance as they stretch their thorny limbs across the entry gate.” Scarier than Snooki!

Roo The Day

Small Animal Clinic UQ Brisbane closed (image via: ABC News)

Time’s up for the Small Animal Clinic at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus, which has closed after serving area pet-owners for over half a century. While the decision to shut down the St Lucia clinic and transfer its staff and functions to the newer, larger Gratton clinic may be sound financially, Brisbane residents who brought roughly 9,000 small pets to the red brick building annually are, er, hopping mad.

The Doctor Is OUT

Lake Veterinary Hospital Oakland sign (images via: Beth Budwig and KGO-TV)

The Lake Veterinary Hospital in Oakland had been patching up pets for the better part of 40 years when suddenly, without any warning, it shut its doors. The owner was nowhere to be found, leaving pet-owners not only at a loss but facing the prospect of their pets’ medical records being lost as well. Thanks to Michael Finney of KGO-TV’s “7 On Your Side”, however, the story has a happy ending: the vet was located and clients were assured their pets’ records are safe and will be sent to them. No telling what lies in store for the clinic and its awesome retro sign, though.

Denver Broken

closed Capitol Hill Animal Care Center Denver (images via: 1031 Net Lease and JustDial)

The former Capitol Hill Animal Care Center only closed recently but it still exudes an ominous “Frankenstein’s Castle” vibe all too commonly found with abandoned, closed and disused businesses. Located in Denver, Colorado, the clinic evidently wasn’t a hit with owners of dogs, cats, birds and (wait for it)… broncos.

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Put To Sleep 12 Sad Abandoned Pet Shops Vet Clinics

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Failed Jungle Utopia: 7 Abandoned Wonders of Brazil

16 Jan

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

Aandoned Brazil Main
The remains of Henry Ford’s failed rubber-producing city, two rusting theme parks, intricate colonial facades and a railroad that set the scene for 7,000 deaths are among Brazil’s fascinating abandonments. Whether set deep within the Amazon or in the thick of some of the world’s busiest and most metropolitan cities, these 7 abandoned wonders amaze and intrigue.

Abandoned Christmas Theme Park: Albanoel

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Cidade Albanoel is a Santa Claus-centric park dreamed up by local politician Antonio Albano Reis, who was known as the ‘Santa Claus of Quintino.’ Meant to be the largest themed attraction in Brazil, the park would have also had a bunch of other teemed areas, like a replica of an Old West town. A plot of land the equivalent of 460 football fields was purchased and work began. Water slides were constructed, foundations were laid for the Western town, and Santa Land was completed. But Reis, the money, brains and motivation behind the project, perished in a tragic car accident just outside the gates in 2000, and everything came to a screeching halt. Since Santa Land was already done, it opened to the public, but closed after just a few short years.

Drowned Church of Old Petrolândia

Abandoned Brazil Petrolandia Church 1

Abandoned Brazil Petrolandia Church 2

Here’s a nice example of an abandonment that’s actually way more interesting and beautiful after its loss to the forces of nature than it was to start. The church of old Petrolândia currently resembles some sort of ancient ruin, a series of brick-accented arches rising from blue-green waters. Most of the town was relocated due to the construction of a dam for a new hydroelectric plant. The remains of the rest were flooded, now lost beneath the surface, with the exception of this one tall structure.

Fordlândia: Henry Ford’s Failed Jungle Fantasy

Abandoned Brazil Fordlandia 2

Abandoned Brazil Fordlandia 1

In 1928, Henry Ford trumpeted an idealized American city, in the middle of the Amazon: come live at Fordlândia, he told potential employees, and enjoy steady, profitable work in tropical paradise. The prefabricated industrial town was established near the city of Santarém, Brazil as a rubber factory to make tires for his booming car company, so Ford could avoid reliance on British rubber (sourced in Malaysia.) But there were problems right from the start. The land was rocky and infertile, and Ford failed to hire managers that knew how to work it or had any idea how to avoid problems like blight and pests in a rubber tree plantation.

Few Americans were actually convinced to go, especially since Ford forbade women, alcohol and tobacco within the town limits. Indigenous workers weren’t thrilled about being given hamburgers to eat and American-style accommodations, and they weren’t exactly treated well. On top of all that, Ford never even stepped foot on the plantation.

Then, in 1945, synthetic rubber became available. The whole Fordlâlndia project was nixed without ever producing an ounce of rubber for the company, the structures left behind in the jungle. The decaying town included a hospital, power plant, library, hotel, golf course and dozens of employee houses, some of which are still standing. Ford lost over $ 200 million in today’s money on the enterprise.

Skyscraper Slum: Edificio Sao Vito

Abandoned Brazil Edificio Sao Vito 1

Abandoned Brazil Edificio Sao Vito 2

From the time it was built in 1959 until it finally came down in 2011, Edificio São Vito was the city of São Paulo’s largest vertical slum. Referred to by locals as Treme-Treme (shiver-shiver), the 27-story structure was initially meant to provide cheap and efficient accommodations for students, professionals, immigrants and travelers, with 624 apartments measuring about 300 square feet each. But by the 1980s, those apartments were split into multiple units to accommodate thousands upon thousands of low-income inhabitants. There was no trash or sewer service, so waste was simply dumped out the windows. The building turned into one big death trap once one of the three elevators stopped working, and as crime rose, residents began to leave in droves. It stood virtually abandoned for years until officials finally demolished it.

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Failed Jungle Utopia 7 Abandoned Wonders Of Brazil

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

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Great Blight North: 7 Abandoned Wonders of Canada

09 Jan

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

Abandoned Canada Main

Canada’s abandoned wonders include greying neoclassical banks in downtown Toronto, forgotten asylums, beautiful Beaux Arts hydro power stations and a ghost town so eerily well-preserved it feels like it’s still 1980. A nation this large in terms of land mass, with wide swaths of nearly unpopulated countryside, is bound to be full of interesting architecture left behind by the steady march of progress, and the Great White North certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Toronto’s Forgotten Neoclassical Banks, Ontario

Abandoned Canada Toronto Bank 2

Abandoned Canada Toronto Bank 1

Abandoned Canada Bank of Toronto 1

A historic landmark in downtown Toronto that has been sadly neglected, the bank at 205 Yonge Street boasts a beautiful neoclassical facade that has darkened to a gloomy gray over the past century. Built in 1905, the Bank of Toronto and adjacent Canadian Bank of Commerce seem starkly out of place in all their aged gothic dilapidation, surrounded by the glittering glass of more modern buildings. Both banks have been empty for some time. The Bank of Commerce has been vacant since 1986, while the Bank of Toronto was occupied by Heritage Toronto until roughly 2001. A jazz and blues venue called the Colonial Tavern once took up the space between them, but has since been demolished, the site turned to a mini-park. Developers recently purchased the property and supposedly intend to restore the Bank of Commerce as part of a hotel project, though the fate of its neighbor is still up in the air, and none of the plans are final. Blog Toronto’s Jonathan Castellino gained access to the interior of the Bank of Toronto in 2009.

Riverview Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia

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Abandoned Canada Riverview Hospital 5

Chances are, you’ve seen this hospital before – many times. It has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, including The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Psych, Caprica, Fringe, Halloween: Resurrection and even the Christmas movie Elf. It didn’t close until 2012, but many of its historic buildings were already abandoned by that time, and its decline has been swift. When the hospital opened in 1913 as ‘The Hospital for the Mind,’ it housed just 350 patients, but that population grew to 4,500 by the 1950s. Like so many other large mental health facilities, Riverview lost patients rapidly during the ’60s and ’70s as the approach to simply put mentally ill people ‘away’ for life came to be seen as inhumane. The interiors, as photographed by Shoes on Wires, are certainly horror-movie-creepy, with holes in the ceilings, furniture and fixtures strewn around, and moss growing all over the place.

Toronto Power Generating System, Ontario

Abandoned Canada Toronto Power Generating Station 1

Have you ever seen such a beautiful power station in your life? Built in 1903, this Beaux Arts hydro-electric power station was designed by Toronto architect E.J. Lennox to power the city of Toronto. It’s located on the banks of the Niagara River just upstream from Niagara Falls. It closed in 1974 and was designated a national historic site in 1983. Despite still being filled with industrial equipment, the inside looks like a palace, the rusting remains of turbines contrasting with intricately scrolled marble trim.

An urban explorer at Opacity.us, who took these photographs, writes “The Toronto Power Station looked like a massive stone crypt in the early light, standing majestic and alone beside the raging water… once inside the main generator hall, I started setting up my gear over an unassuming metal grate in the floor. Some debris on the grate fell through the square holes as I slid my backpack closer, perhaps a rock or rusty bolt; I snapped awake when I heard the ting at the bottom of the shaft – it was extremely delayed. Could it really be that deep?”

Canada Malting Plant, Montreal, Quebec

Abandoned Canada Malting Silos Toronto 1

Abandoned Canada Malting Silos Toronto 2

One of the last remaining sets of industrial silos in Toronto sits on the edge of the harbor, offering urban explorers who manage to gain access and ascend to its rooftops a stunning view of the skyline (including the city’s iconic CN Tower.) Built in 1928 to store malt for the Canada Malting Company, the complex includes stark modernist concrete towers housing 15 wooden silos. It was abandoned in 1980s but protected by the city due to its historic and architectural value, and officials have considered adapting it for all sorts of interesting new uses, from a museum to a theme park. Most of the secondary buildings have been demolished, but the silos still stand. The site Abandoned EU took photos of the progression of demolition from 2007 to 2010.

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Great Blight North 7 Abandoned Wonders Of Canada

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

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Nix Tape: 10 Closed & Abandoned Blockbuster Stores

06 Jan

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned closed Blockbuster Video stores
Blockbuster Video’s torn-ticket logo once fronted thousands of stores worldwide. That was then, this is now… by late 2013, Blockbuster was officially busted.

This Is The End

closed Blockbuster Video Hawaii (images via: 2 Oceans Vibe)

Blockbuster Video did not go gentle into that good night; it went loudly, painfully and messily. The final curtain (for all intents and purposes) finally came down at 11pm on November 9th of 2013 when a Blockbuster store in Hawaii became the last store to rent out a movie. According to Blockbuster themselves, the film was “This Is The End” starring James Franco and Seth Rogen.

Scots On The Rocks

blockbuster video Scotland storm sign (image via: Daily Record)

A vicious storm that struck Scotland in late 2011 only damaged the Blockbuster Video location above; it took a tsunami of red ink to sink the chain for good. It’s a pity the hapless owner above didn’t see the signs of impending doom while he was occupied in repairing the sign of his franchise store.

closed abandoned Blockbuster Video Dunoon Scotland (images via: Past The Pixels and Zoopla)

The Blockbuster Video location in Dunoon, on the scenic Cowal Peninsula in western Scotland, had little area competition but local success was meaningless in the face of global mismanagement on an epic scale. In the case of the Dunoon store, deterioration had begun even as the chain was in its final death throes… and rapidly accelerated once the store shut its doors for good. View more interior shots and learn more about this now-for-sale ex-Blockbuster at the Zoopla site.

That Socks!

Penarth closing Blockbuster Video socks (images via: Penarth News)

The last days of Blockbuster somewhat resembled the last hours on the Titanic – lots of rearranging the deck chairs for no discernible purpose and neglible useful results. Take the above doomed Blockbuster store in Penarth, Cornwall, UK. for example. With customers spending their hard-earned pence on internet-based entertainment, the desperate store began stocking socks instead. Evidently in Cornwall one cannot purchase socks online.

VA Means Vacant

closed Poquoson Virginia Blockbuster Video (images via: RetailByRyan95)

Flickr user RetailByRyan95 was in the right place at the right times when a Blockbuster store in Virgina’s Poquoson Commons shopping center closed in early May of 2009. Presciently documenting the store as it was before closing, Ryan returned almost exactly one month later, camera in hand, to observe what remained.

closed Poquoson Virginia Blockbuster Video (images via: RetailByRyan95)

Critiques of today’s supposedly disposable society ring true when the differences between an open and a closed Blockbuster are so evident after only a short time. Removal of stock, signage and branding also reveals the essentially sterile nature of modern retail-commercial McArchitecture, which is shown to have little if any appeal once tenants have flown the coop.

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Nix Tape 10 Closed Abandoned Blockbuster Stores

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Cold Comfort: 7 Abandoned Wonders of Scandinavia

02 Jan

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

Abandoned Scandinavia Main

A Russian ghost town on a Norwegian island in the Arctic, decaying modernist houses in Sweden and woodland homes taken over by wildlife in Finland are among the abandoned treasures of Scandinavia. Left behind but not forgotten, these structures stand as reminders of a past now lost, whether due to the changing public view of prison-like mental institutions, the end of the Cold War or the invention of new technology that made old ways obsolete.

Pyramiden, Norway’s Abandoned Russian Settlement

Abandoned Scandinavia Pyramiden 2

Abandoned Scandinavia Pyramiden 1

Abandoned Scandinavia Pyramiden 3

A Russian ghost town at the end of the world, Pyramiden is a coal mining community on the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. It was founded in 1910 by the Swedish and sold to the Soviets in 1927, and was once home to 1,000 people. The town consists of just a handful of buildings and some mining equipment, and has been entirely abandoned since 1998, though in 2007 construction began on a hotel that enables guests traveling to the island to stay overnight. The last ton of coal extracted from the mine sits behind a spire-shaped monument bearing the settlement’s name. The buildings remain as they were when left behind, and because of the low rate of decay in the freezing Arctic climate, they’re expected to remain visible 500 years from now.

Modernist Houses, Sweden

Abandoned Scandinavia Modernist House 1

Abandoned Scandinavia Modernist House 2

Abandoned Scandinavia Modernist House 3

This glass-walled home was the epitome of Swedish modernity in the 1960s, designed by architect Bruno Mathsson and once full of the sleek midcentury modern furniture for which he remains most famous. Mathsson designed this home and two others like it as ideal showcases for the fitness-obsessed, nature-centered nudist lifestyle, but the homes were abandoned at some point and have been empty for decades. Photographer Mikael Olsson has spent the last decade visiting and documenting two of the houses, revealing their descent into disrepair.

Abandoned Houses Taken Over by Animals, Finland

Abandoned Scandinavia Animal House 1

Abandoned Scandinavia Animal House 2

Abandoned Scandinavia Animal House 3

This group of homes in the Finnish woods may have been abandoned by people, but they provide a safe haven for a wide array of wildlife. Photographer Kai Fagerström discovered the houses near his family’s summer home in Salo, left behind after their inhabitants passed away or relocated. Inside, he has documented raccoons, squirrels, skunks, foxes, owls and many other creatures making themselves comfortable.

Murmansk Ghost Ship, Norway

Abandoned Scandinavia Murmansk Ship 1

Rusting in the waters just off the coast of the Norwegian village of Sørvaer after running aground, a Russian cruiser waited nearly twenty years to be rescued. The Murmansk was commissioned in 1955 and remained in service until 1994, when it was sold to India for scrap, but it never made it to its intended destination, partially sinking into the sea. The process of retrieving it was complicated by the possible presence of radioactive substances aboard the ship, the rough seas and the extreme climate of the area. In 2009, funds were raised to build a dry dock to start the process of dismantling it. The wreckage actually looks much smaller than it really is – those waters are hiding the vast majority of the ship.

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Cold Comfort 7 Abandoned Wonders Of Scandinavia

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

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HoJo’s Lost Mojo: 10 Abandoned Howard Johnson’s

30 Dec

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned Howard Johnson's
Hundreds of orange-roofed Howard Johnson’s hotels, motels and restaurants once served fried clam strips and ice cream to tired, hungry American travelers.

Mistake By The Lake – Cleveland, OH

Howard Johnson's Lakefront Motor Lodge Cleveland abandoned (images via: William Bird, Collisionbend and Cleveland.com)

Howard Johnson’s Lakefront Motor Lodge opened in 1965, the historical heart of the company’s postwar golden age. Offering spectacular views of Lake Erie and easy access to downtown Cleveland, the 12-story highrise featured a Red Coach Grill restaurant and Cocktail Lounge (how Mad Men!). Clevelanders of a certain age will fondly recall enjoying Howard Johnson’s famous ice cream at the in-house restaurant… and will not-so-fondly recall the longstanding eyesore the building would become.

Howard Johnson's Lakefront Motor Lodge Cleveland abandoned (images via: The Plain Dealer/Marvin Fong and Peace On Earth)

When Howard Brennan Johnson (son of founder Howard Deering Johnson) sold his company in 1979, it set off a decade-long domino effect of ownership changes, none of which helped the chain recover its declining fortunes. Howard Johnson’s Lakefront Motor Lodge epitomized the corporate trainwreck: by 1986 the hotel had lost its Howard Johnson’s branding and stood as an abandoned eyesore until late 2009, when the wrecker’s ball was finally allowed to complete the building’s collapse.

Poolside View – South Carolina

abandoned Howard Johnson's South Carolina I-95 (image via: Tim Hill (timojhill))

The I-95 corridor was made for travelers and where there are travelers, you’ll find a Howard Johnson’s… or what used to be one. This moldering abandonment waits silently for either the wrecking ball or a casual arsonist while defiantly wearing its mildewed orange roof as a callout to long past better days. Kudos to Flickr user Tim Hill (timojhill) for infusing just the right amount of subtle menace into the disturbingly distinct photo above. By the way, potential trespassers, the “pool” is closed and diving is NOT recommended.

Architectural Afterlife – Springfield, OH

former Howard Johnson's Springfield Ohio (images via: Debra Jane Seltzer (Roadsidenut) and Host of the Highways)

All dogs may go to heaven but only a few expired Howard Johnson’s make the leap, and the former HoJo’s restaurant off US-40 in Springfield, Ohio is one of them. Would it be flippant to suggest this venerable eatery has been reborn to serve a higher power? Does the collection plate exude the faint aroma of fried clams? Does the whole scenario smack of a yet-untold Simpsons story line? Hey, we’re in Springfield after all.

former Howard Johnson's Springfield Ohio (image via: Scottamus)

Much like old Holiday Inn signs, Howard Johnson’s signs were the faces of the franchise and when a HoJo loses its mojo, the sign is either the last to go or the first remnant to be reused. A tip of the hat to Flickr user Scottamus for the er, heavenly photo from July of 2010 of the former HoJo’s main signage above.

Dayton Blues

Howard Johnson's Parkway Inn Dayton Ohio (images via: Host of the Highways and Scottamus)

The Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge and restaurant off I-75 in Dayton was built in 1959 and enjoyed the better part of a quarter-century as one of the Ohio city’s prime travel service destinations. All that came to an end in the mid-1980s when the Motor Lodge became first an Econo Lodge, then the unbranded Parkway Inn. The latter closed in 2005 following the shooting death of a patron in a drug deal gone bad. After sitting abandoned for several years, during which the former HoJo’s trademark orange roof threatened to shed its alien coat of dull blue paint, the complex was demolished in April of 2010.

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Hojos Lost Mojo 10 Abandoned Howard Johnsons

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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