“If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.” So says Rule 34 of the internet , and a Tumblr called Scaffoldage — dedicated to “skeletal archiporn” — proves it true again. Don’t worry, it’s only porn in the metaphorical sense: lovingly curated, lushly detailed photographs of…. scaffolding. You know, the stuff that holds buildings up while they’re being built. Turns out it’s pretty beautiful on its own:

The photos on Scaffoldage range from the quotidian to the hyper-arty, but they are all awesome in the literal sense of the word — it’s easy to forget in order for architecture to accomplish anything more ambitious than a mud hut, scaffolding — copious, dizzing, architectural-in-its-own-right — is a necessary condition. I mean look at these MC Escher-esque arrays: someone had to design all this! And I’m betting he or she doesn’t have a fancy nameplate at an architecture firm to show for it.

To Scaffoldage’s credit, they don’t just geek out on visual patterns — they highlight the invisible human element, too. These meta-architects build the buildings that buildings need in order to get built. Let us now praise (should-be) famous scaffold-builders!