The illusion of the timelapse hides the fact that these demolition processes take an awfully long time as they have to break through all of the architectural technologies that we rely on to be very strong.
In 2011, I remember standing in the Christchurch CBD and watching one of these huge jaw-like machines crunch away at concrete and reinforcing steel. The machine itself was sitting on a hill of rubble of its own creation and a powerful cannon of water was used to drench the dust that would otherwise smother the adjacent surroundings. Hardly as dramatic as a blow up demolition, this building was the MLC Building (cnr Hereford and Manchester St), one of the first highrises in Christchurch at 11 storeys. Before the large Boxing Day aftershock it was planned to be saved. Talking to some of the locals standing around watching the building go down, there is a nostalgia to think that this huge building will become void, then as the memory fades, something else will replace it.
The MLC Building's staircase to nowhere.
Those interested in building demolition may be interested in this much cleaner and eco-friendly process used in Japan... that makes skyscrapers seem to disappear layer by layer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23076-how-to-make-a-skyscraper-disappear.html