Thomassons: when useless architecture becomes hyperart

Thomassons: the architecture that serves no purpose and is therefore art

Staircases that lead nowhere? Doors that open onto nothing? They are not construction mistakes: they are Thomassons, an artistic concept coined in the 1980s by the Japanese artist Genpei Akasegawa. The idea is simple but devastating: when an architectural structure loses its original function but remains standing, it becomes a work of art in its own right.

The etymology is curious: the name comes from an American baseball player, Gary Thomasson, who was signed by a Japanese team for a fortune and turned out to be a complete failure. In the same way, these structures are functional "failures" that, by failing to fulfil their purpose, attain a higher aesthetic category.

Some classic examples are staircases that end in a wall, balconies with no access, or pipes that connect to nothing. In Spain, Thomassons are often found in abandoned or half-renovated buildings. A photograph of a closed railway line running through a building is a perfect example: it no longer carries anything, but its presence creates a visual tension that many consider art.

The interesting thing is that Thomassons do not seek to be art; they are art because they have ceased to be useful. In a world obsessed with efficiency, remembering that the useless can have aesthetic value is, at the very least, a necessary provocation.

With the rise of social media, more and more enthusiasts go out hunting for these urban "hyperart" pieces. The irony is that, by documenting them, they may be killing them: once pointed out, a Thomasson stops being an anonymous accident and becomes an attraction. But as long as cities keep changing, there will always be new absurd corners waiting to be rediscovered.