While architecture is designed for the function of the present, it is remembered through the remains by the descendants. Countless civilisations have risen, flourished and disappeared in the very land that today’s generation steps on. However, even long after these societies cease to exist, they leave behind evidence of their time beneath nature’s weather- waiting to be rediscovered to tell the tale of their makers. The past is unveiled in cracked walls, weathered motifs and collapsed courtyards. It was swiss architect, Le Corbusier who said, “It is necessary to understand history, and he who understands history knows how to find continuity between that which was, that which is and that which will be”. And ruins become this continuity. Studying abandoned buildings and retracing their lives by piecing together what was once traded, worshipped and governed will tell us that very story. (Cooper, 2018)
Pompeii: The City Buried In Time
A Roman city, in southern Italy, was buried under 6 to 7m of volcanic ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, preserving it remarkably intact for the explorers of the eighteenth century. Pompeii revealed an entire urban settlement frozen in time. Archaeologists uncovered bathhouses, bakeries, taverns, theatres, complex drainage systems and residences, offering insights into Roman daily life in Pompeii. Public bathhouse complexes with heating systems, called hypocausts, pools and dressing rooms, implying a culture that was deeply invested in hygiene and social gathering. (Jashemski, 2026)
Parallels to modern-day life can also be drawn from evidence of political graffiti on walls, showing civic engagement and street-side food counters, called thermopolia, that exposed habits of public dining similar to today’s fast food culture. Social hierarchy existed in the city, derived from how large courtyard houses laden with art, frescos, mosaics and paintings were found in sharp contrast to smaller, densely packed dwellings, located closer to the commercial area of the city, with religious shrines called lararia in them, amidst other artefacts of daily life. Facts of trade and travel through the city were determined from patterns made by mere wheel marks in the stone streets. Through the ruins, Pompeii communicated a complex Roman urbanism. (Jashemski, 2026)
Machu Picchu: Abandoned City
In the fifteenth century, under the rule of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, Machu Picchu was a city built into the Andes Mountains. After the Incan civilisation fled due to undetermined reasons, the site was later discovered in 1911. The city was laid out in terraces, formed on the contours, with stairways, aqueducts and stone pathways connecting through the city. These terraces also acted as agricultural land, supporting cultivation, water management, all the while stabilising the slopes of the Andes. The Incan civilization demonstrated high environmental intelligence. They combatted seismic challenges through the dry stone masonry, which allowed the buildings to withstand tremors without the use of mortar. (Machu Picchu 101 | National Geographic – YouTube 2017)
Architecture and planning in the Incan society suggested that astronomy and spirituality played a great importance in their understanding of life. They worshipped the sun god, Inti, in ceremonial structures like the Temple of the Sun and tracked the solar calendar at the Intihuatana sundial on the summit. The citadel reflected architectural alignment with the equinoxes and solstices that they believed allowed their kings and priests to communicate with the gods and manifest cosmic powers for better agricultural results and hence, prosperity of the civilisation. Social hierarchy in Machu Picchu was reflected in the masonry quality of the structure of elite and religious spaces, as compared to the utilitarian spaces. The ruins of this abandoned city pointed towards a civilisation that had a lifestyle deeply connected to landscape, climate and a ritualistic belief.
Kalibangan: The City Left Behind
Sometime between 3500 BCE and 1750 BCE, part of the Harappan civilisation settled along the bed of the ancient Saraswati River. It was divided into a fortified citadel and a lower residential town in grid planning, indicating a planned urban zoning and administrative organisation. A primarily agriculture-based city, Kalibangan demonstrated a direct connection between pre-Harappan and mature Harappan civilisations and is recognised as one of the third most important sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation. A regulated civic planning was evident from the measured streets, gateways, bastions and brick fortifications, while a systematic spatial organisation was hinted at in the residential neighbourhoods. (Kalibangan – Wikipedia 2026) (Kalibangan, Overview, archaeological findings, significance 2026)
The farming practices were organised into criss-crossed furrows at right angles, reflecting a mixed cropping technique, best suited to the semi-arid conditions of Northwestern India. Ritualistic practices were evident from fire altars in households and ceremonial platforms that were unearthed in the city, which was quiet to this city unlike other settlements of the Indus Valley. Some of the artefacts unveiled at the site indicated terracotta-based tandoor ovens, Harappan seals and circular copper bangles. Another major revelation was the use of standardised brick sizes across the settlement, which hinted at a coordinated labour system and construction practices that were common to the Indus Valley Civilisation. The city unearthed under these ruins was revealed to be one that was rooted in agriculture, planning and environmental adaptation.
Today, In The Eyes Of The Future
Across centuries, abandoned structures continue to carry traces of human ambition to the future, and today’s contemporary architecture will eventually communicate the values of the present through layers of reinforced concrete, steel and glass. Skyscrapers and parametric buildings would imply technological innovations and a futuristic thinking towards icon building on the skyline, much like pyramids and ornate temples have survived to this day. Climate-responsive techniques in facade, renewable technologies and adaptive systems would indicate an era that is moving towards a sustainably conscious development.
Ruins, even though abandoned, continue to serve as information blocks past their functional lifetime, preserving evidence of human aspiration, belief systems, environmental understanding and cultural identity across time. Every civilisation leaves stories behind, and perhaps ours would be discovered in concrete, stone, steel and dust.
Citations:
Cooper, P. (2018) The timeless allure of ruins. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180112-the-timeless-allure-of-ruins.
Jashemski, W.F. (2026) Pompeii – excavations, Ruins, archaeology | Britannica, History of excavations. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Pompeii/History-of-excavations.
Editors , B. (2026) Machu Picchu | elevation, tourism, location, history, facts, maps, country, & photos | Britannica, Machu Picchu. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Machu-Picchu.
NatGeo (2017) Machu Picchu 101 | National Geographic – YouTube, Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnMa-Sm9H4k.
Ziółkowski, M. S., Kościuk, J. and Astete, F. (2015) ‘Astronomical observations at Machu Picchu: New interpretations of the Intimachay and Torreon’, in The Inca Empire: New Perspectives. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, pp. 213–236.
Kalibangan – Wikipedia (2026) Kalibangan. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalibangan.
Vajiram (2026) Kalibangan, Overview, archaeological findings, significance, Kalibangan, Overview, Archaeological Findings, Significance. Available at: https://vajiramandravi.com/upsc-exam/kalibangan/.
Editors , B. (2023) Kalibangan | Indus Valley, Archaeology, Harappan, & map | Britannica, Kalibangan. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Kalibangan.
Patgaonkar, J. (2021) Kalibangan: A Harappan City reveals its secrets, Kalibangan: A Harappan City Reveals its Secrets. Available at: https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/monuments/kalibangan.
Rastogi, A. (2024) Architecture in the eyes of the new generation – RTF | rethinking the future, Architecture in the Eyes of the New Generation. Available at: https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/rtf-fresh-perspectives/a13391-architecture-in-the-eyes-of-the-new-generation/.
