Felix Friedmann’s photographs of the 2004 Olympic Park in Athens depict the site as if it has just been abandoned. Though architectural photographs are often devoid of people, his images have an uncanny air of foreboding, of apocalypse or political curfew. The empty stadia, by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, look pristine, apart from a few tell-tale marks of rust around the structural joints. It is a ghost village, with empty seats, torchless floodlights and silent loudspeakers. A ceremonial arch, built to welcome visitors and for the opening parade of Olympians, resembles the skeletal remains of a beached whale, through the ribs of which you can see glimpses of the arid Mediterranean landscape.

Text by Cristopher Turner for PIN – UP Magazine