Silence Of The Lamps: 10 Abandoned Light Bulb Factories

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The Harworth Glass Bulb factory in Yorkshire, UK was built in 1949 with the purpose of supplying Great Britain’s light bulb manufacturers – ALL of them – with the glass portions of their bulbs. A mound of unused ground glass sits forlornly in the photo at top, seemingly poised for a butterfly-like transformation into elegant glass light bulbs when the factory closed in 2006. The images above date from January of 2009 and come courtesy of DerelictPlaces.

Fading To Black

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When Osram Sylvania closed their lighting products plant in Central Falls, RI in September of 2014, it was the end of a years-long process that saw the factory’s workforce shrink from around 500 to just 88. The photos above, taken by Flickr user H.C. Williams in July of 2009, depict a once-thriving industrial complex on its deathbed.

Lights Out

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Built in 1922, the sprawling POLAM Philips factory in Warsaw, Poland manufactured vacuum tubes and mercury lamps until 1991 when the company went bankrupt and the factory closed.

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Various attempts have been made to re-purpose the enormous building but all have failed due to extensive mercury contamination within – the result of decades of haphazard use of hazardous materials. All images c/o Urbanqatsi.