A hulking edifice built on stilts in the “brutalist” style of architecture, stands next to a large IKEA location in the Long Wharf district of New Haven, Connecticut. This massive concrete building, designed by noted modern architect Marcel Breuer, was a neglected, empty eyesore for many years.

In early 2022, on a mid-pandemic shopping trip to IKEA, I was surprised and amazed to see signs of a gut-rehab under way! Months later, it was a full-blown renovation project-in-progress, complete with construction vehicles, dumpsters, and that lingering dust left behind by old sheetrock getting removed, new sheetrock being compounded and sanded in prep for paint. Here’s a shot of the building so you can see what I’m talking about:

So I took a few iPhone photos of the “hulking edifice” on my last visit and had some fun editing variations of my favorite shot from the batch, using the Hipstamatic app. Here’s a gallery of demented, deconstructed, edited, rebuilt, reconstructed results:

Camera: iPhone 13 Pro Max
Editing: Hipstamatic app
Photographer: Russ Murray / remages
Subject: The Pirelli Building
Location: New Haven, Connecticut

©russ murray