I was pondering (o'er many a forgotten tome of quaint and curious lore).
There's been a decided uptick recently in the number of derelict sites being reported as "demolished", or "bulldozed", or "collapsed into rubble", and at least one which has been dismantled despite its listed status. (Not to mention "accidentally set on fire".) There are also quite a few reports that sites have been converted (with greater or lesser degrees of sympathy towards the original building). At the same time, there are new buildings being put up all over the place. Sometimes with interesting and curious facades, but in generally the innards seem to be flimsy: the soft, fleshy innards beneath the hard carapace as 'twere. We've seen examples of derelict buildings of this nature where a building may look outwardly solid, but the insides have all collapsed into a heap of twisted metal frames and drywall.
And even where the buildings are solidly constructed, they seem to be depressingly "same-y". Gone are the days where an architect would have thought nothing of building a spiral staircase up to a room 10 feet square, or constructing walls that are square-ish. Public buildings seem to be the worst for this. I've seen several new-ish courthouses, been in two new hospitals and a fairly new health centre, and if you ignore the contents, they're all alike: constructed of hollow cubes with interchangeable innards. It's easy to see how, should these buildings need to be repurposed, they can quickly be modified to suit the new demands. Houses and factories increasingly seem to be built using the same recipe, too: 1) build a box; 2) put things in it.
Are we coming to the end of dereliction as we know it? Is it now in its "silver age"? In the year 2525 (assuming man is still alive and woman can survive) what will they find?
Excuse me, I'm going to see what that bloody raven wants.
There's been a decided uptick recently in the number of derelict sites being reported as "demolished", or "bulldozed", or "collapsed into rubble", and at least one which has been dismantled despite its listed status. (Not to mention "accidentally set on fire".) There are also quite a few reports that sites have been converted (with greater or lesser degrees of sympathy towards the original building). At the same time, there are new buildings being put up all over the place. Sometimes with interesting and curious facades, but in generally the innards seem to be flimsy: the soft, fleshy innards beneath the hard carapace as 'twere. We've seen examples of derelict buildings of this nature where a building may look outwardly solid, but the insides have all collapsed into a heap of twisted metal frames and drywall.
And even where the buildings are solidly constructed, they seem to be depressingly "same-y". Gone are the days where an architect would have thought nothing of building a spiral staircase up to a room 10 feet square, or constructing walls that are square-ish. Public buildings seem to be the worst for this. I've seen several new-ish courthouses, been in two new hospitals and a fairly new health centre, and if you ignore the contents, they're all alike: constructed of hollow cubes with interchangeable innards. It's easy to see how, should these buildings need to be repurposed, they can quickly be modified to suit the new demands. Houses and factories increasingly seem to be built using the same recipe, too: 1) build a box; 2) put things in it.
Are we coming to the end of dereliction as we know it? Is it now in its "silver age"? In the year 2525 (assuming man is still alive and woman can survive) what will they find?
Excuse me, I'm going to see what that bloody raven wants.