The ruins of DetroitUp from the ashes

The Economist, Mar 3rd 2011, 16:58 by G.D. | LONDONhttp://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/03/ruins_detroit
 
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YVES MARCHAND and Romain Meffre, two self-taught French photographers,
have always been fascinated by ruins. After seeing photos of the
formerly prosperous North American town of Detroit in 2005, they
realised it would be a perfect place to work.
 
Detroit was one of most important American cities in the 20th century.
But over the past generation it has suffered perhaps the worst
economic downturn of any American city. Schools, libraries, theatres
hotels and concert halls that were once sources of pride now stand
empty and unloved. Some are being torn down, others are merely
crumbling with neglect. Others still, especially in the downtown area,
have been purchased by millionaires with plans for renovation, but the
process has been a slow one.
 
Yet Detroit is slowly rising from its ashes. Marchand and Meffre say
there are plans to convert quite a few of the downtown buildings into
lofts and luxury condominiums in the next ten years. But parts of the
city are clearly breathing their last gasp. Marchand and Meffre’s book
"The Ruins of Detroit", originally a series for Time magazine, records
the lost city of Detroit for posterity. The two photographers spoke to
More Intelligent Life about their inspiration for this book.
 
What is it about “ruins” that you find so alluring?
 
When a building is abandoned, in some way it’s escaping from us, from
our human context. It's like it’s slipping into another reality. We
try to depict that. Ruins and buildings are really good metaphors for
human nature, for our ability to create and destroy.
 
A fading and rotting building reminds you how fluctuating and
ephemeral things are. Ruins are a kind of humanisation of
architecture. Their fragility brings them closer to us. They turn
structures that can be perceived as inanimate and cold into something
really moving. The Michigan train station for instance is even more
iconic as a ruin than if it was clean and painted white.
 
What were the most distressing photos you had to take?
 
The most distressing pictures we made were probably those of the
schools and libraries full of books. Even if you know the context, you
really don't get why it has been left like that, and it says a lot
about the loss of culture, lack of education and social waste. This is
the great paradox of these ruins. They are not empty but full of
objects. It's like consumerism being applied to a whole building, to a
whole city; it's a kind of industrial logic of replacement and
abandonment. Once a building is useless (when there is a new one in
the suburbs or even just next to it for instance) you just throw the
old one away, like a disposable product. It's a kind of misery within
the abundance and that's what is really troubling.
 
Was it also a hopeful experience? Decline often gives way to rebirth.
 
Of course, it's a cycle. Unfortunately the city stayed a little bit
longer on the wrong side of the loop compared to some others. Detroit
has a very short and violent history, it rose to the very top in 50
years, and fell to the very bottom within 50 years as well. It would
not be a surprise to see it rise again. We are optimistic. If a
building is still standing, it has the hope of being reused.