11.5.10

For those of you who are UM - bound:

[clic pic] to see a gallery of the ruins of Detroit. Inspirational decay as your next-door neighbor. Explore itttttt.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

<3

Joshua said...

it's like a dry titanic... it's amazing, though, how lovely it all is in its ruined state.

VA said...

i want to lay in the debris

Kaitlyn said...

nothing more beautiful than a brokedown theatre.

Brad said...

The process of decay is incredible. It's amazing how quick it happens, too.

This was a big news story when I was living in Detroit, and it sums it up pretty well.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29187627/

Also, you might recognize Michigan Central Station from the first Transformers movie.

Unknown said...

i'm in love with all of this. what i'm trying to figure out is how you could imbue a new construction project with the kind of character of decay.

i think this might be the connection to the obsession (and subsequent success) with surface treatment from firms like HdM...

mooresy said...

what would a character of decay achieve in a project? maybe it invites the user to continue to adapt the space in their own way, as Time has already done.

i agree about HdM -- a building that appears to be falling apart moments after completion by-passes the phase of miraculous wonder, where people look and don't touch.

the new Metamorphosis building for Cooper Union had people circling it, maybe touching it, but with a sort of reverence. a usable object, but very much an object.

but what about a building that doesn't take itself seriously, a building that invites people to really USE it? "use" in the dirtiest sense of the word, even. a building that exists as a tool for people, rather than people used as the excuse for a building's existence.

Joshua said...

you know the idea of creating a "character of decay" is interesting because it would be artificial decay or a simulated decay, which would speak about the rotting rather than it's use, previous intent, or the people that once inhabited the building. a part of me would almost want to see someone build between the cracks. like within the hall, everything was cleaned to use, but in places where the floor has deteriorated, you inject or fabricate a material that contrasts with the decayed floor but sits within the decay. Right now, the building is broken, the city is broken, and instead of focusing on the decrepitude, maybe it should be about the healing.

*And not to call it out but it is "Morphosis." I am only doing this because I have your back... Don't want to go reference this firm incorrectly (especially this firm) at an inopportune time. Manning told me how a student said "Som" not "S.O.M." and didn't correct her. I thought she should have, but that's me.

mooresy said...

haha duh, thanks Josh. sometimes i just plow into a thought w/out double-checking things.

maybe the spring butterflies here are fiddling too much with my head? :)

Joshua said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joshua said...

Spring butterflies are excellent fiddlers.