The demolition of the Rabot Towers has been a long time coming, but now that it's underway, the process has led to a pretty colorful surprise for the city of Ghent, Belgium. Though the public housing project once held about 840 residents, its quality and safety standards were eventually deemed unsuitable for living—one tower had only one entrance hall and elevator for 190 apartments spread out over 17 floors—and in 2009, the city decided to raze the three towers to make way for a low-density master plan of 400 new apartments. The first stage of the demolition saw the removal of the exterior walls of one tower, which revealed a bright array of interiors that the citizens of Ghent have taken to documenting.
According to a Gizmodo commenter, the colors are the work of a local artist who went in and repainted the empty rooms after the walls came down. The effect of the random color choices turned the half-dismantled project into an abstract work of art, not unlike what some photographers have documented in China's enormous high rises. Rabot will be gone soon, but for a closer look at what's been done to the place, check out photographer Pieter Lozie's series on the project.
· These Abandoned, Half-Demolished Towers Look Too Pretty to Destroy [Gizmodo]
· All Abandonment Issues posts [Curbed National]
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