Decaying Budd Plant Inspires ‘Ruin Porn’ Photographers

Defunct manufacturer Budd Co. moved closer to corporate extinction this week with a bankruptcy filing that sets the stage for talks with thousands of retirees and their dependents who have been receiving medical and other benefits.

Founded more than a century ago in Philadelphia, Budd produced everything from automotive chassis to artillery shells to railroad cars. Now its abandoned factory complex is a favorite hunting ground of so-called ruin porn fans—urban explorers and photographers seeking beauty in industrial decay.

“Streets Dept, a website of Philadelphia street art, offers renditions by three photographers of what’s left of a sprawling industrial site.

Budd started out as the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Co. in Philadelphia in 1912, and made its name in stamped steel products, including automotive parts. It became known for streamlined steel passenger cars that made railroad travel speedier and easier in the tough years of the Depression.

By 2006, when the last operations were sold off or closed, Budd was also involved in aluminum and plastics.

Aside from environmental and asbestos liabilities of about $30 million, most of the debt Budd wants to tackle in bankruptcy relates to its retiree obligations.

Parent ThyssenKrupp North America said it supports Budd’s decision to file for bankruptcy to address the liabilities left over from decades of a heavy-manufacturing past. Budd’s parent, which is part of the corporate family of German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG, is absorbing pension obligations under a settlement agreement, and inviting talks with retiree representatives about how to wind down a program of health and insurance benefits.

Write to Peg Brickley at [email protected].