Ghostly Ruins: America's Forgotten Architecture
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.91 (789 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1568986157 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Great Idea Hampered by Mediocre Execution Skrdla admits in the acknowledgements section on the last page of this book that it's a compilation, rather than a collection of all of his own photos of vacated, dilapedated, and otherwise ruined buildings or sites. Understandably, if for some sites he was limited to using only those photos made availible to him by the various photographers, then he had to do the best with what he had. However, in some cases, what was availible proved to be darned little. I developed a passive interest in the (now . The author did his job, the publisher didn't Mr. Skrdla did a marvelous book. The text was highly interesting and the pictures were as well. I felt in kinship with what Mr. Skrdla had to say about these fascinating buildings as well as the attitudes and time periods in regards to them, which he discusses.His pictures are great.However, the publisher fell down on the job--the book should have been larger where the pages would lay down flatter for better viewing and most importantly the publisher should definitely have used a larger font for the. Historical Journey through America's past Casey K. Conrad This was an excellent book on America's forgotten places. I loved the photos and historical information included. I was sad when it came to an end it would be great if the his author wrote another book on the topic. The pictures were quite spooky.
The effect is meditative and fine; the book will appeal to anybody acquainted with the pleasures of the unseen. (Skrdla) is investigating the architecture of 'forgetting,' in the present tense, confronting us with the 'ruins' our way of life seems bound to produce. -- T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Fall 2006. There's a wonderful photograph shot from an upper floor of the abandoned Hudson's building, before it was imploded--a view that none but 'ghosts' will ever look out upon again. -- Detroit News, Nov. -- Metro Times, November 2006An obituary to some of the grandest, oddest and unluckiest building ventures in the countryGhostly Ruins prompts the question: Which of today's buildings, towns, department stores or factories will be the last one standing? -- Traditional Building, April 2007Curl up in front
. He has contributed to the preservation and restoration of a number of noteworthy structures, including the ornate 1920s movie palace the Fox Theatre in Detroit, one of the last of its kind in America. Harry Skrdla is an engineer and a historic-preservation consultant based in Ann Arbor, Michigan
There is the entire town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, where a trash fire set inside an old mine in 1962 morphed into an underground inferno that incinerated the town from underneath; more than forty years later, the subterranean fire still rages. Author Harry Skrdla gives a guided tour of these marvelous structures at their peak of popularity juxtaposed with their current state of haunted decrepitude. There are the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary and Bethlehem Steel factory in Pennsylvania, the Packard Motors Plant and Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, and Philip Johnson's New York State Pavilion from the 1964/65 World's Fair. Where once these structures were teeming with lifecommuters, workers, vacationersnow they are disused and dilapidated.Ghostly Ruins shows the life and death of thirty such structures, from transportation depots, factories, and jails to amusement parks, mansions, hotels, and entire towns. Ghostly Ruins is a record of the souls of yesteryear and a chronicle of America's haunted past.. The town is empty now, just as the many other abandoned places in this chronicle. Like a seasoned teller of ghost stories, Skrdla's words and images reveal what lies beyond the gates and beneath the floorboards. We've all seen them but might have been too scared to en