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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
In part 12 of our continuing photo/video essay on abandonment (no, we don’t have issues), we wanted to share some of the most haunting photos on Flickr from inside the wreckage of Detroit buildings. (There are, by the way, thousands; both wrecked buildings and photographs of them on Flickr.) Also, we’ve heard rumors of a small forest growing inside one of these buildings, but have been thus far unable to obtain proof positive or photos; anyone ever seen this?
Inside the Broderick Tower, a piano in need of tuning.
A door made William Eggleston green by time and vandals.
Wow.
The dentist chair gives me both heebies AND jeebies.
Out where I live, most of the abandoned buildings are barns.
posted by FourthRow on 3-26-2007 at 2:45 pm
these are eerily fascinating (though the dentist’s chair looks like
something out of a Saw movie.)
Th Cheerio’s box made me snicker a little for some reason.
posted by Heather on 3-26-2007 at 11:55 pm
Eerily compelling. Strangely reminiscent of Pompei. Seems post-apocalyptic, only in this case the catastrophe took place on a glacial scale.
You can’t help but wonder at the backstory, especially when you see grand pianos and dental operatories left to rot.
posted by Tom on 3-27-2007 at 7:34 am
The “backstory”? As one who lives in the Detroit area, let me help fill that in a bit. The best place to start is the decades of incompetent leadership elected in the city of Detroit. The citizenry isn’t interested in electing agents of change, they are interested in electing those that tell them what they want to hear. Mostly, that means that all of their problems are because of someone else and that if elected, they’ll make that “someone” pay. That “someone” could be the state government, suburbs, or businesses that have fled the city due to its burdensome tax structure. The City Council is stocked full of career politicaians that are interested in their own personal agenda. They run at large as the city is not politically divided into wards or precincts. There is no accountability. As a body they can overrule the mayor, and they constantly battle each other. I don’t know why any person of integrity would consider running for mayor. The best man for the job was Dennis Archer. Archer was elected mayor in the 90s. He is an educated, articulate, black man that knew the key was establishing a positive relationship with the state and suburbs. He was drummed out and accused of “being white” (not my words) because he wanted to work with others and not fight them. He didn’t see every issue as “us v. them” so he was criticized for cowing when in reality, he was trying to advance the city. He was replaced by what Detroiters call “The Hip-Hop mayor” Kwame Kirkpatrick. Kwame is always in the middle of a scandal and seems about as competent as a dog catcher to run City Hall. He likes living large on the city’s dime (accusations of strippers, night club tabs, and Lincolns) and that seems to be ok. But hey, he was re-elected because he beats the familiar drum…someday someone will fix our problems and it isn’t going to be us.
posted by Rod on 3-27-2007 at 8:49 am
I love the fact that you’re devoting so much space on your site to Detroit and its decline. It’s strange, but here in Detroit, as much as we mourn the decline of the city, we also take a sick sense of pride in things like our vacant skyscrapers, packs of wild dogs, urban prairies and wild pheasants and coyotes in the center of the city.
We all seem to have our own secret spaces; but, especially now, people are loathe to reveal them, as it usually leads to their being destroyed by vandals. There are plenty of cool things to seek out, and their number will continue to rise as people continue to flee the city and nobody bothers to clean up what’s left behind.
posted by Ryan on 3-27-2007 at 10:27 am
Rod’s brief synopsis is correct. There is a definite “The man be keeping us down” mentality in Detroit and the surrounding area. I grew up in Detroit and when I travel back I am saddened by how the city has decayed. It was once a glorious city which comes to life in the many childhood stories my father and grandfather tell me. I can only hope things will change one day.
posted by finn on 3-28-2007 at 8:39 am
You know what’s sad? When I first saw the pictures (before I saw the title), I thought it was more pictures from Chernobyl.
Since links aren’t allowed, I can’t show you, but do a google search of Kidd of Steel who rode a motorcycle through Chernobyl, as well as a recent set of photos on a site called “stuck in customs.” Some of the resemblance is striking, and sad.
posted by Robert on 3-29-2007 at 8:44 am
That piano is in the Lee Plaza, not the Broderick Tower.
And the Kid of Steel site is a fake. Further, in-depth searching will show you that.
And the forest rumors are true. Search for picture of the Detroit Public School Storage building, or the Book Depository (which is what everyone who doesn’t know any better calls it).
posted by Nonya on 3-26-2008 at 10:42 pm