Harry Skrdla

A haunting, well-designed book, rich in moving photographs of buildings abandoned and forgotten: the railroad depot in Detroit, mansions in upstate New York, an entire small town in Pennsylvania. Since Skrdla is based in Michigan, and since Detroit is becoming increasingly ghostly, Detroit landmarks feature prominently in the book. The text is brief but invites you to consider the life and death of buildings, and the way once-vital places are allowed to deteriorate and fall into ruin. A section on 'Reincarnations,' on now-rehabilitated ruined buildings, like the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and the beloved Stone Arch bridge in my own Minneapolis, provides some hope, but the tone in general is hushed: don't disturb the dead. Readers from Detroit, especially, should leave their lights on.… (altro)