Single lane wooden bridge with rusted patina of steel frame spanning the Crowsnest River in Blairmore, Alberta Eroded concrete bridge pilings of a rail bridge spanning the Crowsnest River in Blairmore, approximately 80 m east of the single lane vehicular bridge above
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Michael Leeb
residual structures inevitable ends
With the passage of time architecture becomes a remnant shadow of its original design and built form. The very idea of permanence in architecture is itself a weak concept. These two images reveal the obsolete and weakened infrastructure of two single-lane bridges in the Crowsnest Pass through erosion, weathering, neglect and a lack of both utility and need. Despite the strength, intended solidity and permanence of concrete and steel, the unintended consequence is eventual – failure. The permanence and the pursuit of architectural legacy closely associated with auteurship inevitably must be reconciled with its antithesis: environmental change or a state of flux that is the invariable result of entropy. ~
infrastructure | weather and use by michael j leeb
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