“in the late 1970s a group of people living in the borough of hackney in east london began building a structure on a derelict lot in their neighborhood. they continued building until last january. the story of the project’s origins are a mystery. All that is known is that because the residents couldn’t decide on what they wanted to build, they made three rules. one: they would build without discussion, plan or blueprint. two, when they were on the building site, no one was allowed to speak. and three, the building would never be completed, in that anyone at any point could decide to take it in a new direction. so the structure was built for thirty years, until last year when the council sold the land to a developer who tore it down in january.” the structure is the subject and inspiration for the book ‘the rest is silence’ with photos by Emanuel Almborg.