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Detroit Urbex

Photographs of the city's abandoned schools and factories, paired with the records of the people who taught and worked in them.

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How to get the most from it

Detroit Urbex sits in Liminal Spaces under Weird, filed as coffee break.

  • Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
  • It works on a phone or a desktop, so open it on whatever is nearest.
  • It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
  • No account needed — you can start without signing up.
  • Go in expecting something unsettling and brainy.

About this category: Photographs of places with nobody in them: dead malls, empty pools, corridors at 3am. An aesthetic that has no right to be this affecting.

Good for

  • Filling a coffee break properly
  • A little creeping unease
  • Giving your brain a workout
  • A quiet break at your desk
  • Killing time on your phone
  • Trying it with zero commitment

Detroit Urbex: quick answers

Is Detroit Urbex free?

Yes. Detroit Urbex is free to use and needs no account.

Do I need an account to use Detroit Urbex?

No. You can use Detroit Urbex without signing up for anything.

Does Detroit Urbex work on a phone?

Yes. Detroit Urbex works on phones as well as desktop browsers.

Is Detroit Urbex safe for work?

Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.

How long does Detroit Urbex take?

We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.

More in Liminal Spaces

All 13 in Liminal Spaces
  • Street-level archaeology of the city — old lamp posts, painted signs and vanished railways, walked and documented since 1999.

  • Long-form expeditions into Japan's abandoned mines, hotels and theme parks, written by somebody who actually climbed in.

  • Directory of the emptied-out settlements of the American West, one short paragraph and one faded photograph at a time.

  • The channel that turned the Backrooms into found footage, shot with unnervingly good camera work and almost no music.

    • 10 min
    • Sound on

Same mood: unsettling

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