flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Decaying city: Exhibit demonstrates the fragility of the man-made world

Decaying city: Exhibit demonstrates the fragility of the man-made world

Theater set designer Johanna Mårtensson built a model cityscape out of bread only to watch it decay.


By BD+C Staff | April 26, 2013
Photos by Johanna Mrtensson http://johannamartensson.se/

The Architizer blog (via Fast Company) brings us a fascinating exhibit by theater set designer Johanna Mårtensson. To demonstrate the fragility of the man-made world, she constructed a city out of bread and then snapped a photo every day for six months to document the decay (warning: if you haven't eaten breakfast yet you may want to skip the last two photos).

For her efforts, Mårtensson recently won a Platinum A' Design Award. In her submission, she described her inspiration for the project:

"I was inspired by an article about how well the earth would do without us. Within 500 years all buildings would be half-fallen or fallen, perfect homes for animals and plants. The forrest would soon grow in cities. Buildings as well as pollutions would be taken care of by bacterias and micro-organisms. If a UFO came here in a couple of hundred thousand years, they would not see many signs of that gang of primates that once thought they were the lords of the planet."

Check out Mårtensson's decaying city:

Related Stories

| Apr 9, 2014

Gregory Hodkinson appointed head of Arup Group

Hodkinson has spent his professional career at Arup and brings more than 40 years' experience in large-scale projects to the new role, including several in the US and Canada.

| Apr 9, 2014

5 important trends shaping today’s hotel construction market

AEC firms, developers, and investors worldwide are bullish on hotels. Our hospitality Giants share what’s new in this fast-morphing sector.

| Apr 9, 2014

Steel decks: 11 tips for their proper use | BD+C

Building Teams have been using steel decks with proven success for 75 years. Building Design+Construction consulted with technical experts from the Steel Deck Institute and the deck manufacturing industry for their advice on how best to use steel decking.

| Apr 8, 2014

Gehry, Foster unveil plans for Battersea Power Station redevelopment [slideshow]

Phase 3 of the massive redevelopment of the London landmark will include more than 1,300 residential units, a 160-room hotel, and 350,000 sf of retail space.

| Apr 8, 2014

Fire resistive curtain wall helps The Kensington meet property line requirements

The majority of fire rated glazing applications occur inside a building to allow occupants to exit the building safely or provide an area of refuge during a fire. But what happens when the threat of fire comes from the outside? This was the case for The Kensington, a mixed-use residential building in Boston.

| Apr 8, 2014

First look: Zaha Hadid reveals design for dreamy sculptural hotel

Hadid's design, which will become the fifth hotel tower in the City of Dreams entertainment hub in Macau, features a latticed exoskeleton enveloping the building's exterior.  

| Apr 8, 2014

Understanding value billing vs. conventional billing

Every company is a sum of the value it delivers to its clients. What differs from one company to the next is how that value is delivered and perceived. All too often, it is based solely on the fee you charge.

| Apr 8, 2014

Science, engineering find common ground on the Northeastern University campus [slideshow]

The new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building is designed to maximize potential of serendipitous meetings between researchers.

| Apr 8, 2014

40 Under 40 winners: Meet the contractors

Of the up-and-coming AEC professionals to be named to the class of 2014, nine make their living as contractors.

| Apr 7, 2014

40 Under 40 winners: Meet the architects

Of the up-and-coming AEC professionals to be named 40 Under 40 winners by the editors of Building Design+Construction, 21 make their living in the architecture profession.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021