The deterioration of the American inner city stands in stark contrast to the prosperity characteristic of the United States for much of the twentieth century. Skyscrapers that once defined the modern

American Ruins

The deterioration of the American inner city stands in stark contrast to the prosperity characteristic of the United States for much of the twentieth century. Skyscrapers that once defined the modern era stand derelict and abandoned. Massive industrial manufactories lie rusting, their cavernous interiors dark. Formerly vibrant theaters shed bricks and terra-cotta ornaments. These desolate fragments of America's cityscapes are the legacy of decades of proud investment in the urban realm followed by decades of devastating neglect.

Photographer and sociologist Camilo JosÃ© Vergara has spent years documenting the decline of the built environment in New York City; Newark and Camden, New Jersey; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Chicago; Gary, Indiana; Detroit; and Los Angeles. His photographic sequencesâ€”images of the same sites taken over the course of many yearsâ€”show once-sturdy structures as ghostly ruins and then as empty lots or flimsy new buildings. Grand civic edificesâ€”the Michigan Central Railroad Station in Detroit, the Essex County Jail in New Jersey, the Camden Free Public Libraryâ€”have become empty, roofless shells, dusted with snow in the winter and filled with stray plant and animal life in the summer. Monumental commercial and industrial buildings such as RCA Victor's "Nipper" Building in Camden and the Packard Automobile Plant in Detroit bear broken windows and rubble-strewn interiors. At once a scathing critique of national indifference to the plight of the inner city and a meditation on the aesthetic impact of desolate and neglected buildings, American Ruins stands as a witness to a vanishing era of the American city.

Country	USA
Author	Camilo J. Vergara
Binding	Hardcover
Brand	Brand: The Monacelli Press
EAN	9781580930567
Feature	Used Book in Good Condition
ISBN	1580930565
Label	The Monacelli Press
Manufacturer	The Monacelli Press
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	224
PublicationDate	1999-12-06
Publisher	The Monacelli Press
ReleaseDate	2003-11-10
Studio	The Monacelli Press

American Ruins

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