The reality of all building is that erection requires subtraction, removal and demolition. Even when building on an empty plot of land, construction requires materials, like wood, stone and aggregates, that must be extracted, mined from somewhere else. Censori’s project is arguably radical in its dismantling of bourgeois taste. There’s a long history of ruins being fetishised by the architectural profession, from Piranesi’s studies of Ancient Roman cities to John Soane’s drawings for the Bank of England in deterioration, and more recently in Sub’s work for Balenciaga and in Anne Holtrop’s concrete work. What if ruin and decay is all we have left?

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