About Cathedral of Junk
An ordinary residential street in South Austin hides one of the city’s least ordinary backyards. Since 1988, Vince Hannemann has assembled discarded objects into the Cathedral of Junk, a towering, walk-through environment made from bicycles, signs, bottles, appliances, cables, hubcaps, toys, metal parts, and almost anything else that can be attached to the growing structure.
The work is not simply a heap of discarded material. Paths, rooms, stairs, arches, platforms, and narrow passages wind through the construction, while familiar household objects appear in unexpected places overhead and inside the walls. Some sections are organized by color or object type. Others look as if decades of garage sales have fused into architecture.
Hannemann began building without a master plan, and the structure evolved piece by piece as more material arrived. That slow accumulation is part of what gives the place its character. Objects that would normally be thrown away have become structural pieces, decoration, texture, and occasionally something visitors have to duck beneath.
The Cathedral of Junk remains on private residential property, so it is not a place to visit unannounced. Access has traditionally required calling ahead and respecting whatever visiting rules are in effect. From the street outside, there is little warning that a huge maze of salvaged material has been growing behind the house for decades.