Abstract
The central theme of Alberto Petrò’s pictures are urban scenes in decline. He registers a status quo, not a slow process. To make this difference clear, let us first consider the general stages that a building’s life cycle goes through. Buildings usually last several generations, and even centuries are not unusual. Only disasters can destroy buildings in minutes. The life cycle is always a process of decline and it typically takes place as follows: the use – i.e. the utilisation of the function – decreases. This can manifest itself, for example, in flats no longer being rented out and therefore standing empty, shops being abandoned, the city council no longer maintaining its parks, craft businesses dying out. Use is the condition that prevents decay, because the user (i.e. the occupant or owner of the building) is interested in preserving the building fabric because it is the guarantor of protection or income. The less the building is used, the faster it deteriorates. The main causes of decay are as follows: Depopulation of the region, inability of residents to carry out necessary repairs, deliberate vacancy of old dwellings, damage caused by weather and the natural decomposition of building materials. Finally, when buildings are completely empty, we have a state that could be described as pre-ruinous or decline. The final stage of the cycle is the uninhabitable ruin. This continues to decay into debris. Etymologically, the word “drum” comes from Old High German where it means “splinter” but also “end piece”. The verb “drümen” means “to break into pieces”. As fragments, debris is only material evidence of the building and marks the end of a process of destruction.