Tim Edensor works at Sage Publications and Manchester Metropolitan University. Previously he has worked at Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent. His education is from Lancaster University.
Industrial ruins continue to litter the cities of the United Kingdom, in the bypassed and neglected urban areas, the parts of town which are now disconnected from the flows of money, energy, people and things. Although they are often regarded as a waste of space, dangerous places that should be demolished as soon a s possible, ruins provide an alternative realm for all sorts of social practices, from unofficial art, graffiti, children’s play, sex, drug-taking, parties, living and other kinds of adventure. They are also home to a range of birds, insects, mammals and plants. Through the process of decay, ruins offer an aesthetic experience that bypasses the normal designs of the city, often over-regulated, boring and too smooth. In ruins, we can come across unexpected sights, weird vestiges of the past, unfathomable artefacts, cryptic signs, unfamiliar textures and large, impressive objects. This website is dedicated to the celebration of industrial ruins. These are not the romantic ruins of the countryside and classical Rome. They are messy, dirty and decaying. Nevertheless, they are places we can visit to escape the seamless conformity of so many of our cities, places of mystery and conjecture.
http://www.sci-eng.mmu.ac.uk/industrial_ruins/