Man and machine in perfect interaction

Image: © Hywel Williams Taken: 27 Nov 2008

Sad as it was to see the Stepney Hotel disappear before my very eyes, I've never seen such perfect and delicate control of a massive machine by a human being, especially with the way Andy interacted with his demolishing digger. I watched him pick up anything from single planks of wood, segments of wall and then crush them into rubble, or even delicately pick up this RSJ beam as if it was a toothpick (which was being used as a tool to hem in the rubble). It's only after looking at my pictures I can see the intense concentration in his face as he manipulated the controls - man and machine acting as one. Amazing! What was even more astonishing was to see that all the rooms appeared to be still furnished! Chairs, wardrobes and even toilets were clearly visible as the demolition progressed, but they all ended up with the same fate - rubble or being scooped into large skips which were regularly whisked away by lorries.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0