(image courtesy: elRojo)

There is something immensely powerful about the aesthetic of “urban decay”. Growing up outside of Detroit, your GearCrave editor knows this quality all too well. In a city that progress forgot, the fingerprints of a long-dead industrial revolution are everywhere. Factories, schools, office buildings and more are abandoned– much like their prior inhabitants. Where most of our American Society has moved on from these architectural footnotes, there is a rising community of “extreme explorers”, those that would break laws and fence chains alike, just to explore our architectural past. “Abandoned Places“, the book by Henk ven Rensbergen documents the growing trend of amateur archaeology in an urban environment. This book explores our own innate drive to explore a history that while recent, it is hopelessly abandoned in the name of progress. You don’t want to miss this one, GearCravers. This is arguably the most engaging, interesting coffee table-bound book you’ll find this year.

Buy: $39.20