Ordos: Stillborn City

Adrien Golinelli’s (b. 1987) photo essay combines fine art and documentary photography. The city of Ordos in China has only existed since a few years ago, but is already a ghost town. One of countless new city projects in China, Ordos is the biggest, the most megalomaniac, and the worst situated one: in the middle of inner Mongolia’s vast steppe, in a region lacking water and trees. Originally, Ordos was set to welcome at least a million inhabitants, but repelled by its harsh climate and exorbitant prices, barely a few thousand ever settled. There is no activity in Ordos, except building Ordos.