Landscape Architecture

At Hundven-Clements Photography we relish challenges. So when Link Landskap Arkitektur, based in Oslo, decided to conduct a study of their recently completed landscape projects we were more than happy to help. Landscape architecture has not directly played a prominent role in our core business previously and therefore had to be approached with extra care.

The primary challenge is that projects are often literally the walkways, steps, greenery or our cities infrastructure. So finding the right light to describe the projects was critical. Whilst a range of contemporary day time images focusing on human interaction formed the core of the documentation (which can be viewed here : Landscape Architecture Portfolio), the client was very excited by the more alternative night shots. Here is a small selection. Please let us know what you think.

Structural Divinity Slideshow

The symbolic design of contrasting religious architectural buildings across Southern Africa provides a fascinating insight into the colonial ideologies of Europe and the subsequent environments that remain.

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Contemporary Cinema Design.

This is the latest completed project from the Norwegian design firm Fuggi Baggi. Using experimental lighting and structural techniques they have produced a stunning space that can be adapted for multiple purposes. At Bergen Kino the ceiling consists of drilled aluminum plating pre pressed in to a series of wave like structures. Independently controllable RGB lights have then been fitted, being RGB any desired colour can be created and even low resolution graphics can be displayed using the lights. The cinema resides in an old theatre which used to be double the height of the existing space.

I found the whole experience of photographing the space surprisingly relaxing. With long exposures of up to 5 minutes I really had time to appreciate the subtle nuances of colour and spatial design in the auditorium. Whilst tempted to enjoy a film in the space I decided ‘Bob The Builder’ was probably not the most productive use of my time! The rest of the Bergen Kino complex is due to be renovated over the next 3-4 years.

Frank Gehry Architect, Cinémathèque Française, Paris, France.

PARIS: For the better part of a decade, this city’s only Frank Gehry building has been standing abandoned, a sad monument to a failed American dream.It was planned as a new headquarters for the American Center of Paris, which was founded in 1931 and had long drawn crowds to its rambling Left Bank home as a place to discover American culture and to learn English.

But the dream of a dazzling image went sour. The new center opened in June 1994 – and closed just 19 months later.

Bad planning was one culprit. The new center absorbed almost all the £21 million raised by the sale of the old center on the Boulevard Raspail, leaving little to cover its running costs. With a minimal endowment, dwindling private donations and no U.S. government support, the organization was forced to put Gehry’s neo-Classical-style and Cubist creation up for sale.

Now, thanks to the French government, the building has begun a new life, this time as the headquarters of the Cinémathèque Française, the legendary film center that was the cradle of the New Wave movies of the 1950s and ’60s. To make this happen, the government chipped in about £11 million for the building and spent £20 million on adapting its interior.

Extensive alteration was necessary. Originally designed around exhibition spaces, artists’ studios and a state-of-the-art theater, it now has to accommodate four new movie theaters of different sizes and France’s film library. But the original atrium has survived, and two floors are still reserved for exhibitions, while its distinct exterior remains unchanged.

What makes this transformation unusual is that it was not carried out by Gehry, although he did participate in the selection of Dominique Brard of l’Atelier de l’île as the project’s architect. “It’s unique for someone else to rework a contemporary building designed by a living architect,” Brard told Libération, the Paris daily. “Above all, Gehry!”

Article by Alan Riding, International Herald Tribune.

La Biennale di Venezia preparations.

The Venice Biennale (Italian: Biennale di Venezia; also called in English the “Venice Biennial“) is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years (in odd years) in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it, as is the Venice Architecture Biennale, which is held in even years.The first Biennale was held in 1895; during the first editions, decorative arts played an important role. The event became more and more international in the first decades of the 20th century: from 1907 on, several countries started installing national pavilions at the exhibition. After World War I, the Biennale showed increasing interest in innovative traditions in modern art. Between the two World Wars, many important modern artists had their work exhibited there.

Here you are treated to a private view of the space prior to the great festivities and extravaganza that will form the main event, running between September 14th – October 23rd 2008. I was very kindly shown around by the Head of Press for the prestigious event. It is a stunning historical venue that has a very special atmosphere, the expectation of the creative energy that will consume it for the next few months in contrast to the current silence and tranquility, quite magical.

The hot list of architects and artists consists of : GEHRY PARTNERS, LLP, ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTSATELIER BOW WOW, BARKOW LEIBINGER ARCHITECTS, NIGEL COATES, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO, DROOG DESIGN+KESSELSKRAMER, & GUALLART ARCHITECTS.

 

Nordic Pavilion, by Architect Sverre Fehn, Venice, Italy.

 

Arsenale I, Venice, Italy.

 

Arsenale II, Venice, Italy.

 

Arsenale III, Venice Italy.

 

Arsenale IV, Venice Italy.

 

Arsenale V, Venice, Italy.