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City of Ruins
- scottshea 14y agoUm... wow... words are not enough...
- planetguy 14y agoActually I think words are sufficient. As in "Oh man, those three and a half seconds of actual video of the reconstruction were awesome, it'd be nice if there were more of that" edit: I found the full video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrlE99I_Q9A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrlE99I_Q9A
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- suprgeek 14y agoAwesome imagery here...when I first read the title though it made me think this was going to be about Detroit again. The levels of destruction and abandonment there even today have to be seen to be believed.
- vecinu 14y agoCan you elaborate a little? I'm not familiar with what destruction happened in Detroit.
- eli 14y agoI believe Suprgeek is referring to the impact the financial crisis has had on the city: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.html http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.htm...
- mkr-hn 14y agoDetroit's decline started long before 2008.
- suprgeek 14y agoeli is correct that is exactly the photo essay that came to mind about Detroit. Having personally driven thru Detroit and witnessing large Swathes of the area totally abandoned freaked me out completely
- planetguy 14y agoOnce again, in action, the unnamed law that decrees that any article about anything happening in any country in the world inevitably turns into a thread about much worse things are in the US.
- joshAg 14y agowhere does he say that modern-day detroit is worse than 1945 warsaw? i didn't see anything to suggest that that s/he thought detroit was worse warsaw. is it possible that you are reading to far into the comment?
- mc32 14y agoThe interesting part about Detroit, amongst others, is that Detroit's "ruins" are due to an exodus of industry and followed by population. That's to say, it's not exactly due to gov't mismanagement or some kind of systemic failure. The failure is more individual --for example, company goes bankrupt --leaves building. But no one comes in to rent the building out. In other cases, it's due to buildings reaching their useful life --and not getting torn down properly (in this case, too costly for the gov't since no one is willing to build, as they would in other cities). All this is aggravated by the flight form the city to the suburbs and elsewhere. To put it succinctly, this is more organic, than artificial. So, for example, you could be in a nice building and look across the street and look at a dilapidated building in disrepair. It's a weird juxtaposition but one shaped by economics and demographics.
- mikeash 14y agoHow dare people occasionally relate a link to something they're reminded of from their home country.
- GigabyteCoin 14y agoAs a person of polish descent, I was heartbroken to visit Warsaw and see beside ~90% of the most beautiful buildings a little plaque and statement basically reading "this is a reproduction, the original was bombed to hell in WWII and here is a picture of the ruins".
- rmk2 14y agoI'd say it's already very impressive that they managed to reproduce how things looked. Now, I've never been to Warsaw, but judging from other cities I've seen that have been destroyed in a similar way, many cities -- and especially city centers -- never even managed to evoke the original looks. From their modern day form, you can only guess how the city used to look like, given enough fantasy (if at all possible). So while it is a huge tragedy, at least what you see are reproduction, not 50's/60's concrete blocks that were built out of necessity to supply somewhat affordable commercial and residental space.
- jwr 14y agoAs a Pole raised in Warsaw I can give you a different perspective: it's actually surprising for children to see things which were not destroyed and are original. I still remember my younger brother, as a 10-year old, visiting one of the French Loire castles and asking my parents: "so, all this was rebuilt after the war, right?". We should all learn. Never again.
- fibertbh 14y agoWhat technology is being used to create this?
- pwny 14y agoFrom their job application forms, it seems like they use a lot of Autodesk 3D modeling tools along with Adobe creative processing/finishing software too. I'd also really like to know what software packages were used exactly.
- itomek 14y agowhats also sad is how the Russians took advantage of the situation and instilled communist rule for the next ~50 years.
- run4yourlives 14y agoWhat's really sad is how the city was rebuilt afterwards. The absolute last people you want rebuilding a grand city are Soviet engineers. If you've never been to Poland, land in Warsaw, spend a day or two, then head south to Kraków. The amazing disparity between a city leveled in WWII and rebuilt by communists and a city untouched by the Nazis (and therefore the Soviets) is heartbreaking.
- arethuza 14y agoI can second the recommendation to visit Kraków - it really is gorgeous, even compared to my home town of Edinburgh. However, if you are visiting Kraków for pleasure I can also strongly recommend a day you will not enjoy: a visit to the nearby Auschwitz and, worst of all, Auschwitz-Birkenau. If you do go, I would recommend making sure you go with a guide - the one we had did an excellent job of explaining what we were seeing. One comment in particular he made I will never forget, while we were standing looking at the remains of one of the huge gas chambers he said: "More people died in that room than at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined"
- jwr 14y agoA visit to the Auschwitz camp should be mandatory for all aspiring politicians. What you see and experience there changes the way you look at the world afterwards. For anyone with a soul, the words „never again” will be forever engraved in your mind.
- bobwaycott 14y agoI'd suggest dropping "aspiring politicians" and leave it at "should be mandatory for all."
- brazzy 14y agoUnfortunately, for far too many people the full text of the engraving will be "Never again will we allow good people (i.e. those who think and look like me) to suffer things like this - no matter how many evil people (i.e. those who are very different from me) we have to kill to prevent it".
- peterb 14y agoMy father fought in the Warsaw uprising when he was 16 years old. He spend the next year as a prison of war in a forced labor camp. This video has brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for posting it.
- zbyszek 14y agoThe Warsaw Uprising museum (http://www.1944.pl/ http://www.1944.pl/) is well worth a visit. For a long time this history was suppressed as it didn't fit in with the prevailing orthodoxy that the Red Army did all the liberating. The existence of the museum is the culmination of many years of work by people like my grandmother, who also took part in the uprising, in preserving the history and pushing for its recognition.
- Dove 14y agoI am struck by the relative peace, prosperity, and safety of our time. It is a costly gift from those of my grandfather's generation. I feel compelled not to waste it.
- jwr 14y agoThis is exactly why I (being Polish) go to vote in every election. I feel I do not have the right to say "nah, I don't really care" — I haven't earned it. I owe a debt to our grandfathers, who ran around with guns, fighting for our freedom, as well as to my parents' generation, who managed to break out from under communist (Soviet) rule. People who did run around with guns have earned the right not to go and vote — I did not.
- rmc 14y agoI am struck by the relative peace, prosperity, and safety of our time in Europe.
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- jscheel 14y agoWow, Platige Image has really knocked it out of the park with this. Kinda reminds me of the awesome work they did on their short film "The Cathedral". I still remember being in awe of that when it was at siggraph years ago. It would be incredible to see this done to Dresden as well, another city that was absolutely decimated by the war.
- mietek 14y agoHave you seen the Witcher 2 intro they made? Incredible: http://www.platige.com/frontend/project/the_witcher_2_intro http://www.platige.com/frontend/project/the_witcher_2_intro