Humans are usually disgusted by decay. Evolution has taught us to turn up our noses at sunken pears and moldy biscuits. But when it comes to architecture, we can’t get enough of it. People love ruins. It’s an old love. The cultures most commonly associated with ruins—the Greeks and Romans—were fascinated by the broken remains of still more ancient civilizations. When, in turn, celebration of the Greeks and Romans reached a zenith in the 18th and 19th centuries, the fad became so intense that no European country estate was complete without an imitation ruin—manicured ivy on freshly laid plaster. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Seven Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 48 Cult Rooms After “completing” philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein tried—and failed—at architecture. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Draw the Line A short history of linear architecture. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Peer Review Hadani Ditmars on the disappearing legacy of Rifat Chadirji, Iraq’s most influential architect. Arts & Culture Issue 47 CULT ROOMS In north Lebanon, two architects are rebuilding a corner of Oscar Niemeyer’s international fair. Arts & Culture Issue 43 Stone Cold A history of spite architecture. Arts & Culture Issue 40 Olalekan Jeyifous On fantastical architecture and sci-fi Brooklyn.
Arts & Culture Issue 48 Cult Rooms After “completing” philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein tried—and failed—at architecture.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Peer Review Hadani Ditmars on the disappearing legacy of Rifat Chadirji, Iraq’s most influential architect.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 CULT ROOMS In north Lebanon, two architects are rebuilding a corner of Oscar Niemeyer’s international fair.
