Architectural Photos in the mid-nineteenth century, the first known photograph was recorded where the clear presence of a human figure is identified, and it is no coincidence that the context that makes up this photo is the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, where the urban and architectural context has a starring role. From this daguerreotype, one of the disciplines associated with architecture emerged that is gaining strength; architectural photography, which currently turns out to be a great narrative resource for the documentation and dissemination of phenomena that occur through architectural objects and architecture itself.
The year that has just ended brought with it an enormous amount of virtuous photographs that are a witness to the human footprint in our world through architecture. This is a list that shows the best architectural photographs of the year 2021.
1. Center Pompidou – Yu Tzu-Chin | Architectural Photos
A building that stands out from its urban context, thanks to its structural elements and pipes of exuberant scale and vivacity where the colors create a visual composition. Yu Tzu-Chin is a Taiwanese photographer who sublimely and subtly captures part of the composition and plasticity of this building, whose main contrast is the comparison between the scale of the architectural object and the size of the person who is passing right in front of it- being a small reminder that architecture as a human expression can be prominent in contrast to our very existence, but not for that reason more transcendent.
2. Santa Lucia, Álvaro Obregón – Santiago Arau
This photograph would seem taken from a dystopian film, but it is a reflection of the phenomenon of urban inequality that exists not only in Mexico, if not in many Latin American countries. The Álvaro Obregón region is a highly urbanized area that is usually known for its large skyscrapers and corporate buildings, but which stands out for the marked social contrasts that exist and that are evident in its residential architecture. A constant division and the use of physical barriers are visible in areas that are geographically located in the same neighborhood, but with different realities. This photograph is the sample that shows that the work of designers in the world should not be focused only on the aesthetics of buildings but also on making our cities more homogeneous and fair.
3. CapitaSpring – Kevin Siyuan | Architectural Photos
What was once a parking lot from the 1980s is now CapitaSpring, a mixed-use complex located in the heart and financial district of Singapore, where its 280 meters high stand out from the city’s skyline. The photography of this building highlights its delicate design, whose geometry gives plasticity to the façade that also integrates plant elements among its architectural elements. Siyuan’s photography is an example that despite not having the entire building in the frame, it is possible to capture the key elements of a building that exemplify the character of the whole and show the real scale of the building, compared to urban elements such as the vegetation of the sidewalk and the cars that pass in front of it.
4. Macau – Feitong Du
Since its construction in 1970, the Hotel Grand Lisboa Macau has been the subject of controversy for its sumptuous façade, but it undoubtedly stands out among the landscape of the area. Feitong Du shows two versions of the city- the one that turns out to be the usual urban landscape with its streets trafficked by cars and motorcycles, but which stand out for the beautiful and almost involuntary composition generated by the balconies along the entire street. The other shows how the focal point of the photograph is the Grand Lisboa hotel, where, thanks to the angle at which the photograph was taken, the prominence of the building stands out almost as if it were alone at the end of the street.
5. Arborist – James Kerwin | Architectural Photos
The author of this photograph is an artist who has excelled during his extensive career in capturing buildings that have been abandoned and the way they are absorbed into their surroundings, where the primary focus is to capture rich color palettes and straight lines through the camera lens. Arborist is the photograph of a greenhouse that poetically shows how vegetation has recovered its place through windows and spreading across the floor. The color palette captured in the image reflects the chromatic and color scale that is intrinsic to the vegetation going from the intense greens to the brown colors that characterize the death of the tree leaves.
6. St. Paulus Church – Roberto Conte
The duality that exists in this photograph is of remarkable beauty- of a heavy and hard material such as concrete, but mixed with a bold geometry for the time. The concrete ceiling and walls appear as if they had been bent through the origami technique. The Italian photographer, who is one of the most important architectural photographers, captures with great precision the characteristics of the interior of this building, and intangible elements such as the light entering through the lanterns in the ceiling that irregularly bathe the walls, highlighting each of the concrete faces.
7. Landscape Moli Restaurant – Xiao Tan
Shenyang is the provincial capital and the most populated city in the province of Liaoning, where this beautiful restaurant arose. It stands out for the geometries of its interior, where the elements that make it up sometimes act as a wall or become the ceiling, and in some cases, both. Xiao Tan is a Chinese photographer whose characteristic style is expressed in his photographs. He takes advantage of the intensity of the lighting, the reflection of the materials, and the composition that is generated together of these elements, to create photographs that fulfill the function of capturing a moment or place, becoming highly complex visual pieces.
8. The Three Houses of Shirakawago – Jordan McChesney
The historic village of Shirakawago is one of the main tourist attractions in the Japanese Alps area, noted for unique-looking dwellings in the Gassho-zukuri architectural style. Its primary element is a steeply sloping roof that supports the snow precipitation that is very abundant in this mountainous region. McChesney is the talented Canadian photographer who captures this landscape, which portrays forcefully the value of this area and the elements that characterize it – the abundant vegetation, the low clouds, and the architecture- that led to these villages being one of the World Heritage Sites in 1995.
9. Shaw Auditorium – Kris Provoost
Within the facilities of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is this auditorium that stands out for the continuity of its façade, which is also reflected in the interior. This photograph by Kris Provoost shows together a series of elements that, in isolation, would not have an apparent connection, but that together, have an unmatched power and expression, such as the large windows and skylights in the ceiling and the bridges that connect the various circulations in addition to capturing daily life within this building on its multiple levels.
10. Aman Resort in Marrakech – Robert Rieger | Architectural Photos
Rieger is a German-based photographer who captured the charm of this Moroccan resort, noted for its connection to the natural landscape of the area. The beauty behind this photograph may seem simple, but achieving near-perfect symmetry in the photograph is an extremely complex endeavor. In addition, a leading element of this image is the body of water that works as a mirror of the building and gives movement to the photo, while blurring the silhouette of the facade as it approaches the viewer.
References:
Tzu-Chin, Y. (2021). @jackill0501 [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/COvaiY3nq6Z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Arau, S. (2021). @santiago_arau [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUqMyEfpC4C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Siyuan, K. (2021). @ksy.yuan [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXDaWnSvGlJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Feitong, D. (2021). @feitongd [Instagram]. Available from:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2RBqDF-O4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Kerwin, J. (2021). @james.kerwin [Instagram]. https://www.instagram.com/p/CWB42Fqsm2b/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Conte, R. (2021). @ ilcontephotography [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CW6TLAPt4V5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Tan, X. (2021). @ tanxiao8686 [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPszdxeM0xE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
McChesney, J. (2021). @ jordan_mcchesney [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWs69cDPtpf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Provoost, K. (2021). @ krisprovoost [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXyE25uvvAZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Rieger, R. (2021). @ robertrieger [Instagram]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXZC7rxM537/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
