The Village by Gert Robijns
The ghost town depicted in these images by photographer Tim Van de Velde is a replica that Belgian artist Gert Robijns built to recreate part of the village he grew up in (+ slideshow).
![The Village, Het Dorp by Gert Robijns The Village, Het Dorp by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_18sq.jpg)
Constructed on a former military airfield just a few miles away, the fake buildings included a full-size copy of a church and neighbouring house, both entirely stripped of colour.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-by-Gert-Robijns_19sq.jpg)
"I got the idea to make a parallel world for my dead grandfather," Gert Robijns told Dezeen, after explaining how he was approached by the Mayor of the nearby village to make a temporary public artwork.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_2.jpg)
"The idea was to create a mental archtitectural context, splitting the world into a concrete and a mental world," he added. "The idea was that the world was slightly changed while still repeating itself, since it stayed close to the original."
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_5.jpg)
The artist built the structures using chunky chipboard and a metal framework, and each building has only part of a facade. This means that the scene can only be viewed from one angle before the skeletal framework is revealed to the eye.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_6.jpg)
Robijns described how the installation attracted both tourists and local residents. "People from the village came to look at 'themselves' from a certain distance and people from the art world came to visit both the replica village and the original place," he said.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_7.jpg)
The exhibition ended in December and the structures have since been dismantled.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_12.jpg)
Other recent architectural installations we've featured include a bridge held up by balloons and a set of star-shaped lights in the desert.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_10.jpg)
See more stories about installations »
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_14.jpg)
See more photography by Tim Van de Velde on Dezeen, or on the photographer's website.
![The Village by Gert Robijns The Village by Gert Robijns](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/01/dezeen_The-Village-Het-Dorp-by-Gert-Robijns_3.jpg)