Gallery: 15 Epic Photos of Buildings You'll Never Be Allowed to Enter

  • Image may contain Electronics Keyboard Computer Computer Hardware Hardware Computer Keyboard Flooring and Human
    Matt Emmett
    01

    Control

    Matt Emmett is a prolific urbex ("urban explorer") photographer, working in Europe. He shoots locations that are off limits to the public, like this control room panel from a long-abandoned power plant in Belgium.
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    Matt Emmett
    02

    Cooling Tower

    The upper platform of an old cooling tower in Belgium.
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    Matt Emmett
    03

    Vastness

    The interior view of another cooling tower in Belgium.
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    Matt Emmett
    04

    Industrial Symmetry

    The guts of an abandoned power station in Luxembourg.
  • Image may contain Machine Electronics Computer Hardware Keyboard Computer Computer Keyboard Hardware and Workshop
    Matt Emmett
    05

    Control Desk

    The buttons and knobs on this vintage control desk were found in a building used for testing gas turbine naval engines.
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    Matt Emmett
    06

    Condensing Pond

    A view of the condensing pond, in one of the Belgian cooling towers.
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    Matt Emmett
    07

    Abandoned farm Kitchen

    Not all of Emmett's photographs are of industrial sites. In fact, he says the interior shots—like this one of an abandoned farm kitchen in the Luxembourg countryside—tend to be more popular.
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    Matt Emmett
    08

    Historic Trading House

    A historic trading house in Belgium.
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    Matt Emmett
    09

    Jet Engine Test Cell

    Inside the National Gas Turbine Establishment in the UK, where early jet aircraft engines were designed and tested.
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    Matt Emmett
    10

    Majesty

    An old university in the UK.
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    Matt Emmett
    11

    Radome

    This geodesic radar dome in the Belgian countryside was once a military listening post.
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    Matt Emmett
    12

    Recurrence

    This old Belgian school is one of several sites that no longer exists. This is one reason why Emmett says he photographs for posterity: to create a historical record of buildings and sites that have been or will someday be demolished.
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    Matt Emmett
    13

    Victorian Cistern

    An underground reservoir in London.
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    Matt Emmett
    14

    Welcome to the Machine

    A jet nozzle and pressure bulkhead in one of the test cells at the National Gas Turbine Establishment. Emmett says this is where engines were "flown" under simulated supersonic speeds and altitude conditions.
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    Matt Emmett
    15

    Winch Hook

    A view of a Victorian-era sewage pump house in east London.
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