- This event has passed.
Lecture: Abandoned America
November 29, 2016 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Matthew Christopher
Writer & Photographer
Tuesday, November 29
6:00 — 7:30 p.m.
Landmarks Preservation Resource Center
744 Rebecca Avenue, Wilkinsburg, PA 15221
If the creation of a structure represents the values and ideals of a time, so too does its subsequent abandonment and eventual destruction. In Abandoned America: Dismantling the Dream, acclaimed photographer Matthew Christopher continues his tour of the quiet catastrophes dotting American cities, examining the losses and failures that led these ruins to become forsaken by communities that once embraced them.
From the heartbreaking story of a state school that would become home to one of the country’s worst cases of fatal neglect and abuse to the shattered remains of what was once the largest mall in the United States, Abandoned America: Dismantling the Dream asks what leads us to leave places behind and what the consequences are of doing so.
About the presenter: Matthew Christopher has had an interest in abandoned sites since he was a child, but started documenting them a decade ago while researching the decline of the Pennsylvania state hospital system. Both of his books Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences and Abandoned America: Dismantling the American Dream are available here and through major booksellers.
This lecture is free to PHLF Members. Non-members: $5
RSVPs are appreciated. Contact Mary Lu Denny at 412-471-5808 ext. 527