While cycling home from work yesterday evening, I passed four old homes that were in the process of being demolished to make way for, what else, an office building. After thinking the scene deserved to be captured before it disappeared forever, I remembered I had my camera in my bike bag.
I slowly walked around the fenced site and filled the camera's memory card, trying to capture tiny elements of the buildings that I thought I'd want to remember later on; things that today's architecture simply can't reproduce, even if it wants to. It occurred to me as I packed the camera away and started rolling home that soon, the buildings would exist only in that form. Although I was going to be late getting home, I was glad I stopped.
This window, looking out over the setting sun, was probably a good place for whoever lived there to curl up and read a book in the dying light of the evening. The light will always shine at that spot, only what's eventually built there will never have the same poetry or meaning as what's there now.
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3 comments:
Excellent description. I love old houses. Thay have a character and history that new buildings can not recreate.
It makes me so sad to see beautiful old homes like this torn down. They just don't build homes like that anymore.
It makes me wonder - in the future will people stop and stare at an old aluminum siding house of today and feel the same way? :)
I hate seeing great old houses torn down. I don't believe that all old buildings are worth saving, but most houses from the early part of the last century were built better than homes are today. And most cities have a greater need for good housing than they do for more office space.
We recently received a cold offer in the mail for our 97-year-old house, which is not on the market. We're fairly sure it was from someone who wanted to tear down our beautiful house because the zoning would allow two houses to be built on the site, and a builder could make lots of money by doing that. No way we'll ever sell this house to someone who doesn't plan to live in it.
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