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

| Nov 14, 2012

U.S. Green Building Council partners with Pearson

Partnership will help further USGBC’s mission by advancing green building education

| Nov 14, 2012

U.S. Green Building Council announces grant from Google to catalyze transformation of building materials industry and indoor health

Focus is on healthy building materials to promote indoor environmental quality and human health

| Nov 14, 2012

USGBC's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo kicks off in San Francisco

7,000 members of the green building industry convene for opening plenary headlined by "Morning Joe" co-hosts Mika Brzezinksi and Joe Scarborough

| Nov 13, 2012

Have colleges + universities gone too far with "Quality of Life" buildings?

We'd like your input - recent projects, photo/s, renderings, and expert insight - on an important article we're working on for our Jan 2013 issue

| Nov 13, 2012

Turner Construction’s green building Market Barometer reveals new findings on green building and certification

Respondents indicated a widespread commitment to sustainable practices

| Nov 13, 2012

Soladigm announces new glass product, changes company name to View, Inc.

Glass is installed and operating at W San Francisco adjacent to the 2012 Greenbuild show

| Nov 13, 2012

Sto Corp. announces appointment of new CMO

Bottema will be responsible for all corporate marketing, product management and sales activities.

| Nov 13, 2012

2012 LEED for Homes Award recipients announced

USGBC recognizes excellence in the green residential building community at its Greenbuild Conference & Expo in San Francisco

| Nov 12, 2012

PCI Skanska celebrates 40-year anniversary

Since its creation, PCI Skanska has provided EPC services to clients for more than 40 years.

| Nov 12, 2012

AISC launches 'Night School' online educational program

The program's weekly webinar sessions offer structural engineers a great opportunity to enhance their professional development online while accommodating their schedules.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




Great Solutions

41 Great Solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors

AI ChatBots, ambient computing, floating MRIs, low-carbon cement, sunshine on demand, next-generation top-down construction. These and 35 other innovations make up our 2024 Great Solutions Report, which highlights fresh ideas and innovations from leading architecture, engineering, and construction firms.

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