<p>While more conventional art can be tucked neatly away on gallery walls, houses have a much larger footprint. And when a home outlives its most basic function of providing shelter, a decision has to be made as to whether it is ultimately worth saving. Modernist homes like those designed by Paul Rudolph face an additional challenge as products of a stark, concrete-laden brutalist style now seen by many to be cold and uninviting.<br>Photographer Chris Mottalini visited three abandoned Rudolph homes awaiting demolition. His photos present these onetime symbols of opulence and power at their most vulnerable and defeated. Rich, full-color photos show sunlight playing across shattered windows, dusty stairs, and ruined living rooms, presenting a view of modernism that few have seen before. The photos speak to the ephemeral nature of contemporary taste, and its uneasy relationship with history, as well as the consequences of modernism on our visual lexicon. And in a final coda, the pictures themselves serve to preserve these masterpieces long after time and tastes move on. </p>

After You Left / They Took It Apart: Demolished Paul Rudolph Homes

Arts & Photography

Mottalini, Chris

Photography & Video

Columbia College Chicago Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mottalini, Chris. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mottalini, Chris

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mottalini, Chris. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

After You Left / They Took It Apart: Demolished Paul Rudolph Homes