Albert Kahn and the Decline of Detroit
Until the mid-20th century, Detroit was the most significant industrial town in the world, and Albert Kahn was its architect. The son of German immigrants built factories and sky scrapers like they were coming off a conveyor belt. And then, just as quickly as his city grew, its downtown began to decay. SPIEGEL ONLINE presents photos of the ruins.There's a photo gallery in the article that you simple have to watch. Some of the photos are so incredibly creepy you almost wonder if they're real - schools with desks just sitting around rotting; apartment buildings devoid of human life; buildings that had once housed mammoth industries whose wares sold the world over just falling over. Grand hotels that would have been patronized by captains of industry go to pieces; ostentatious venues far too pricey for the average joe now covered in graffiti and filth.
I used to think that "RoboCop" was unrealistic; far too bleak and dark. Looking at the pictures in that slide show, I fear that Verhoeven was far too optimistic - his vision of Detroit at least had some semblance of salvation possible. Detroit is hardly alone; one need look no further than any mill town where the industry has passed the mills by. Gargantuan brick edifices dedicated to providing raw materials to the American manufacturing engine now stand vacant, crumbling. Towns that had once been vibrant, living entities now subsist on pawn shops, check-cashing ventures, and used car lots.
Some day this butcher's bill is going to need to be paid, and it ain't gonna come cheap...
That is all.
12 comments:
A lot of those look like something you'd see in a post-apocalyptic video game.
This is the result of 60 years of democratic leadership in Detroit...
Like scenes in Bladerunner.
Take a good look, folks. If the Progressives get their way, this is what the world will look like.
Not all of it. The remaining large cities will look like either Old Detroit from Robocop or Mega-City One...
These pics are old, not that it takes away from the depressing vista that is Detroit these days. As a Michigander, I'm here to tell you that Tiger stadium was completely knocked down a couple years ago. All that remains is the wrought iron fence that now surrounds an empty field. 2 things come to mind when I look at those pics.
1. You cannot pay someone to push a broom for $25+ an hour with full pension and bennies and expect it to last.
2. If you wanna have riots and burn stuff in your town , here is a little glimpse of your future.
Love the blog.
These photographs remind me of the six or seven rolls of film I shot of the Bethlehem Steel mill while it was being torn down. Once I get home and developed the film, I found out that my camera wasn't advancing properly.
In any place that was able to make the transition from the manufacturing powerhouse we once were to whatever it is that we do now, historical societies would be screaming to save some of these buildings.
Time, entitlement, and apathy have come calling.
However, on the other side, you can rebuild a Downtown, yet still have a failure. Walk the streets of Cleveland after the workers go home, and you'll feel like you're in a beautiful new cemetery. No vibrancy at all.
"In its day, the Ansonia Hotel was one of the finest in downtown Detroit."
Looks like it still is, comparatively.
Sad. Reminds me of the photo venue of the irradiated, deserted square miles around Chernobyl.
Except its here. That's worse.
Oops. Forgot this: '
Have recently seen online photos of an abandoned library iirc in Detroit, with the shelves still full of books. Words mercifully fail me.
The thing that strikes me most about these photos is the overall impression of people walking out of a building, simply never to return. The police files scattered throughout the room with mugshots, fingerprint cards, etc; the library still full of books on the shelves; the hotel rooms full of furniture; the schools littered with chairs, desks, musical instruments, etc. It's very surreal.
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