How the Other Half Lives On: The Abandoned Halves of Paired Townhouses

Posted by Urbanist in Architecture, Pictures, Travel & Places on March 17, 2009 at 1:47 pm


Ever wonder what happens if a conjoined twin perishes while still attached to their sibling? In much the same way, Camilo Jose Vergaga explores the results of having one half of a building deserted while the other half remains inhabited.

In some cases, one half has undergone radical renovations and looks entirely different than its mate. In other cases, the old one has been cut from the new, leaving a lopsided half on its own. Sometimes the impacts cut deep as one half rots and and is filled with squatters while the other is maintained.

More than your typical urban decay images of abandoned places, this juxtaposition of occupied and unoccupied shows the stark before-and-after contrast – the then as well as the now, side by side in a way rarely seen.

In poor neighborhoods, when someone is taken to the hospital or otherwise leaves their home the neighbors and police tend not to watch out for the place in order to prevent problems. As the population of Camden continues to decrease these mismatched pairs only grow in number.

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12 comments to "How the Other Half Lives On: The Abandoned Halves of Paired Townhouses"

  1. Alex
    March 17th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    The one that's burnt is interesting. The whole set is kind of like neighboring lawns I've seen in many places - one side green and manicured, the other side is dry and dead.

    Perhaps the better thing to do is sell the other half to the existing owner cheap.

  2. marishka
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:25 pm

    I'd be kinda pissed about the rats in the nasty half trying to take up residence in my neat half!

  3. Skipweasel
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:29 pm

    Sometimes it goes the other way - our front garden was a mess until last year. I'd been busy doing other things in other bits of the house and it was getting embarassingly awful. So we fixed it...
    http://www.skipweasel.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/garden/

  4. felixthecat
    March 17th, 2009 at 7:04 pm

    I'd be more worried about the bums and druggies in the other half. Not that rats are ideal neighbors.

  5. Alex
    March 17th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Child labor, Skipweasel?

    Just kidding - it looks great!

  6. Sadie
    March 17th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    I know nothing about architecture (all I know is what lincoln logs taught me). Wouldn't the whole structure come down in one half was removed or rotting? Surely it can't be stable.

  7. Non
    March 18th, 2009 at 3:17 am

    If I lived in the good half of one of these houses, I'd break down a wall and use that other half if nobody was in it, then just pretend like it was always that way. :P

  8. Polx
    March 18th, 2009 at 4:39 am

    That first one looks like Baltimore.

    Of course my understanding of that city is totally from The Wire.

  9. Miss Cellania
    March 18th, 2009 at 5:40 am

    Where I come from, these are called duplexes. Does no one use that term anymore?

  10. Gail Pink
    March 18th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    @ Non- agree completely.

  11. ted
    March 19th, 2009 at 12:17 am

    No, Miss Cellania. A duplex is originally one house, but split into two separate dwellings. These would be called semi-detached.

  12. hoobyjuice
    March 19th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

    sounds like an opportunity for adverse possession!


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