Defrosting a Frozen Building

This cold storage facility in Chicago may not draw your attention from the outside, but had you entered the building a few months ago, you’d be surprised to see what was inside. After nine decades of cold storage and lack of proper maintenance, the whole interior was full of cave-like stalagmites and stalactites. Once the Fulton Market Cold Storage Company, which was renting the premises, decided to move out, it was sold to a bike component manufacturer SRAM. However, in order to use their new space, SRAM had to defrost the building first.

Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture were hired do the work, however, such sight couldn’t go unarchived. This is why photographer Gary Jensen was asked to photograph this indoor ice age phenomena. The video at the end of the article shows the defrosting process, where you see the team using propane heaters to dissolve the ice crystals.

Photos: garyrobertphotography.com