Why do abandoned concrete buildings decay so fast?

[Ethilrist]

@Snarky_Kong

So a bunch of guys take a boat out to some shit hole island and do hard labor for many hours to slightly alter the appearance of a building… what’s part two of this plan?

Film a movie there?

[tellyworth]

That looks like a HDR image, which exaggerates the contrast.

There are more images of the same place by the same photographer here, including a similar one without HDR processing:

http://www.haikyo.org/abandoned/ghost-towns/gunkanjima-hashima-island/

[Snarky_Kong]

@Ethilrist

Film a movie there?

The OP said it inspired a location, not that scenes were filmed there. If a movie was filmed there, I suppose it’s possible.

[Colophon]

@Snarky_Kong

The OP said it inspired a location, not that scenes were filmed there. If a movie was filmed there, I suppose it’s possible.

The article I read said that they couldn’t film the Bond movie on Hashima because there’s too much asbestos.

[CalMeacham]

I’m surprised at how quickly decay can progress when buildings atren’t constantly kept up.

Pleasure Island was an amusement park built by Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood, who built Disneyland. It ran from 1959 to 1969, the longest of any of his post-Disney parks. Admittedly, they were built as amusement park buildings, but they weren’t temporary structurresd – they were meant to last. Even given that there was vandalism and fires, I’m amazed that by five and six years later the park looked as if it had been abandoned for a lot longer, with almost complete deterioration and trees growing where they hadn’t been:

http://friendsofpleasureisland.org/images/toczydlowski/circa/circa1975.htm

PLEASURE ISLAND: WHAT CAME AFTER photo collection from John Toczydlowski

PLEASURE ISLAND: MORE WHAT CAME AFTER

http://friendsofpleasureisland.org/images/toczydlowski/may75/may1975.htm

[Ethilrist]

@Snarky_Kong

The OP said it inspired a location, not that scenes were filmed there. If a movie was filmed there, I suppose it’s possible.

Oh, whoops. Miss a couple words from the OP and it’s a completely different thread. I was thinking along the lines of “so, you want to pay us ten million dollars to completely level a ruined military base from WWII on an island nobody goes to? Okay!”

[scr4]

@Ethilrist

Oh, whoops. Miss a couple words from the OP and it’s a completely different thread. I was thinking along the lines of “so, you want to pay us ten million dollars to completely level a ruined military base from WWII on an island nobody goes to? Okay!”

I’m not trying to pile on, but wanted to point out that it’s an abandoned mining town; it’s never been a military base. The nickname “battleship island” is based on its appearance (tiny island covered with concrete buildings), not its function. Also, people do visit this island - there are regular sightseeing tours. Considering its importance in architectural history (one of the buildings is the first concrete high-rise apartment in Japan, and many buildings date back to WWII or earlier), I think people would object to the buildings being damaged on purpose.