The Wildwoods, a collection of shore towns situated on a five-mile-long barrier island in southern New Jersey, contain a group of midcentury modern motels that make up the largest concentration of resort architecture in the US. They remain fully functioning and virtually unchanged since their original construction, in many cases over fifty years ago. Built solely to cater to the annual influx of summer tourists, the motels are shuttered and vacant for nine months a year. Their boldly-colored facades and futurist details sit in contrast against the eerie emptiness of the winter months, transforming these towns into real life abandoned film sets. Infused with space-age optimism and utilizing the iconography of exotic destinations, they represent the way America’s middle class vacationed during the postwar era. With this project, I explore how tourist destinations, designed and known for summer recreation, look during the off-season, when they are deserted and void of any life.
