Comments on: Modern ruins and urban decay

By: Ben Napier

Ben Napier — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:52:09 +0000

This reminds me of an admonition given during a funeral some time ago: From dust came you, to dust you shall return. Homo Sapiens has not long been in existence. How long we will remain around is a mystery.

If you go to the Honey Island Swamp and try to follow Old US !!, you will find the swamp reclaiming the concrete highway. Who knows what was around 100,000 ago? Who knows what will remain 100,000 years hence?

By: Beverly Spicer

Beverly Spicer — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:39:50 +0000

BEAUTIFUL! And yes, quite haunting. Quite hauntingly beautiful.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:44:08 +0000

Check out this flickr photo pool:

Decayed yet Hauntingly Beautiful

By: lindsay

lindsay — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:18:15 +0000

I just realized my link is to the same photographer as yours. Oops. These images must have struck a chord all around the internet. But anyhow, I thought this was an interesting comment on her blog:

“I’m also from Detroit, and have never heard of the book repository, but when I see it, I’m not saddened, and I think that’s a biproduct of living in this city for so long. I can’t imagine any way where the DPS could not have let this happen… with the disarray that the school system has been in since the mid-70s (and probably earlier), I’m sure that everyone involved with closing that site had meant to mention to someone else to clear it out, but the message got lost in the ridiculous bureaucracy. I’m sure that there’s another depot somewhere in the city that has all the toilet paper and paper towels that the schools have been missing for 20 years as well… just forgotten.”

By: lindsay

lindsay — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:10:07 +0000

When I first saw your post, I thought you were referring to something I found on BoingBoing last week. The Detroit school book depository, apparently located right next to Michigan Central Station, and it’s filled with rotting books. Imagine the photo above, with the floor covered in a sea of books and papers.

Or just check out the photo set on Flickr.

In my opinion, it’s a city’s tragedy - both for the decaying building and the books, and all the schools that let their budgets go to rot.

By: Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:39:02 +0000

Beverly, when I opened this post and glanced at the picture, I thought this was an old ruin from Europe. It’s just so graceful and lovely. But it’s in Michigan? There’s hope for us Americans! Surely we still have the potential for this sort of artistry in our DNA …