Return to the Wild

 

The blogging couple behind Sweet Juniper write about raising kids in Detroit, the city sometimes called "The City That Civilization Abandoned."  

In their series "Feral Houses," they document a few of the estimated 10,000 abandoned houses in Detroit.  10,000! 

 

They call them "feral" because like the feral dogs of Detroit, stray dogs that have essentially returned to their primitive state and learned how to survive on the streets, these houses are slowly returning to a "wild" state. 

  

I like this concept because it makes it sound like the houses were natural things that people found and tamed, and that they are now returning to the wild.  The image above particularly makes it feel like someone had once come and discovered this house behind all the vines and chopped them down, and now the vines have returned to take back the house.

  

They explain that as the lime-based paint and other materials deteriorate, they provide the perfect environment for growing vines.  Also, trees will often begin to grow right into and up through the house, as seen in the image at top.

  

  The sign in the yard above reads, "WILL THE LAST PERSON TO LEAVE DETROIT PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS?"

via ReadyMade