Compelling view of our urban relics

All over Brisbane, remnants of past lives and livelihoods sit forlornly … waiting. Do you ever wonder about their past? Do you care about their future?

Some people are driven to explore. Like urban archeologists they document these ruins. Sometimes with surprising results. read more

Abandoned, but not forgotton

Urban exploration – ‘urbex’ – has become a global phenomenon. People seek out abandoned buildings, closed subways, disused alleys, all sorts of deserted places, and photograph them. One such curious and intrepid individual is a Brisbane woman known only as Bianca.

In 2012, she started to share her discoveries through a Facebook page, Abandoned Brisbane. Now she has amassed more than 20,000 followers. As often as possible, she heads out on her trusty bike to find forsaken buildings and capture their ‘beauty’ for posterity. Moments frozen in time, before they are lost.

Of course, this type of exploration must be done with extreme caution. We most certainly do not condone irresponsible risk-taking or law-breaking.

But, like Bianca, we care deeply about Brisbane’s history and character, and we share her interest in architecture. What she does allows us to peep into the past, wonder about the people who occupied these abandoned shells, and imagine their stories.

There are humble cottages, once-grand old homes, even quite modern houses obviously recently occupied. There are brutal industrial buildings, warehouses and offices, sprawling homesteads that might have been hospitals or convalescent homes.

Some are burned, others just empty, with only peeling wallpaper, rotting timbers and torn, faded curtains. Occasionally they are surprisingly intact, still furnished with lovely old pieces, hiding interior gems like ornate ceiling roses and wood paneling. Personal items may remain, poignant clues to the lives of former inhabitants.

Bianca might be an uninvited guest. But she clearly appreciates and respects these deserted places. She never breaks in, only entering places left open, and she doesn’t disturb or deface. She takes nothing but pictures. And she “doesn’t share locations, to protect what remains of these places.”

Anyone posting comments regarding locations is censored and banned from her Facebook page. She is also disappointed to have had to stop posting exterior photos in come cases where valuables or relics remain inside. Thieves and vandals are seriously frowned upon.

What makes Bianca’s posts so compelling, apart from their raw content, is her obvious talent as a photographer. We can’t help but wonder what she does, where she works, when she isn’t on urbex missions. She clearly has an eye for detail and an artistic flair for composition, not to mention a passion for the hunt.

It’s a love that has driven her to explore well beyond Brisbane, including a mission to Japan, the country she says provided her original inspiration. There she explored and photographed amazing unoccupied and neglected places – whole unit buildings, mansions, retro hotels, bridges, cement silos, hospitals.

Many of the homes and buildings that appear on Abandoned Brisbane are awaiting the wrecking ball. So the images Bianca posts are their visual epitaphs. Looking at some of the gracious examples of Queensland architecture left to ruin, we can’t help hoping they’ll be saved and restored. So often, the new housing or unit developments that take their place are at odds with the character of the surrounding neighbourhoods.

But sometimes there are happy endings. One beautiful old property that stirred up plenty of interest on Abandoned Brisbane was a very shabby but original Art Deco block of flats in Brighton Road, Highgate Hill. (We can reveal the location because it is, happily, no longer abandoned.)

Someone we know fell in love with it, tracked down the owners, convinced them to sell, and is now renovating to reinstate her glamorous 1928 style. She is being reinstated and extended to create two stunning three-level town homes, showcasing all the modernist-inspired Art Deco features and oozing contemporary luxury. One of these is now for sale, awaiting new inhabitants to begin a new chapter.

We will always advocate for homes of architectural and historic value to be preserved. But we understand it isn’t always possible. So isn’t it great that Bianca, through social media, is allowing them to live on in pictures and stories, and encouraging people who care to fill in the history of these Brisbane places?

www.facebook.com/AbandonedBrisbane