1/14/2024 0 Comments Urban explorer killed![]() But Polzin had barely stepped into the darkened, former administration building when he fell thirty feet into an open elevator shaft. The Metropolitan State College of Denver student and two friends had gone to the massive, abandoned industrial complex to take photos and explore the inside, as many had done before. The wrongful death suit stems from a September 2007 accident - recounted extensively in the Westword feature "Gone" - that left 23-year-old Polzin paralyzed with serious injuries leading to his death a month later. Or, to put it another way: Are property owners liable if unauthorized persons injure themselves while trespassing on their grounds?īoth questions will have to be answered by a jury now that the lawsuit filed two months ago by the parents of John Polzin (pictured) against the developers and subcontractors in charge of the Gates Rubber site failed to reach a settlement. But what is it about seeing London from often dangerous viewpoints that can be so inspiring? “For different people, it’s different reasons but the biggest one is simply that they are extremely beautiful and striking and carry a very powerful aesthetic experience,” says Barnabas Calder, an architecture historian from the University of Liverpool and author of the book Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism.Should the family of a man who died after a fall at the long-vacant Gates Rubber factory be awarded damages? Johnny loved urban exploration despite the risks. Johnny's friends hope to one day show his photos in an exhibition. “He was the king of the blocks,” he says. He would answer and listen to his friend enthuse about cycling to east London to “check out a new spot.” Sometimes, though, it was a struggle for Roman to keep up with Johnny. It wouldn’t be unusual for Roman’s phone to ring at 2 AM and for it to be Johnny’s number. “Maybe not 24/7 but 23/6, he was out there. “Johnny loved seeing the world from up there,” Roman says. The "hat" Johnny described on the top of the Golden Lane housing estate. The most famous of these is the Heygate Estate, a housing estate in south London made up of more than 1,200 homes that was demolished between 20 as a part of a redevelopment plan for the Elephant and Castle area. Many council estates and tower blocks that were not listed buildings were demolished. According to a study from the London Assembly, redevelopment projects between the years 2004 to 2014 led to a drop in social housing, and a huge increase in private housing. Johnny’s goal was to document these buildings before they disappeared. “Johnny found beauty in the grittiness of tower blocks,” says Will. ![]() He also photographed the Wyndham and Comber estate in Camberwell, a popular training spot for parkour that featured in the music video for Goldie’s “Inner City Life” – his favourite song. Another was taken on the Golden Lane housing estate, which he used to describe as the “hat” on top of the block. One photo centres on two tower blocks in Stockwell, not far from where Johnny grew up. Johnny leaves behind a fascinating body of photography that shows London from a completely new perspective. Two tower blocks in Stockwell, south west London, near where Johnny grew up. ![]() The hashtag “urbex” now has over 7.5 million entries on Instagram. Viral videos of urban climbers like Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov, who run the YouTube channel On The Roofs, have also brought the activity to the mainstream. Ally Law has earned over 3 million subscribers on Youtube with his urbex videos, and once broke into the Big Brother house. London-based urban explorer Harry Gallagher, also known as has more than 240k followers on Instagram and posts shots from the sides of buildings and inside tunnels. Many “explorers” take photos of the views they encounter, often sharing on social media. It could be the top of a block of flats, an abandoned building site or in the case of Bradley L Garrett, who scaled the Shard in 2012 and brought the often nocturnal activity into the spotlight, one of its most iconic skyscrapers. Urban exploration, also referred to as “urbex”, is the practice of entering or climbing a city’s uncharted buildings.
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