Michael Wolf - Architecture of Density

[Jaakko V.]

Michael Wolf's takes of mega cities.

In his series entitled, Architecture of Density, Wolf fashioned a distinctive style of photography. He removed any sky or horizon line from the frame and flattened the space until it becomes a relentless abstraction of urban expansion, with no escape for the viewer's eye. Wolf photographed crumbling buildings in need of repair, brand new buildings under construction covered in bamboo scaffolding and fully occupied residential complexes. Wolf's disorienting vantage point gives the viewer the feeling that the buildings extend indefinitely, which perhaps is the spatial experience of Hong Kong's inhabitants.

The series is also available as a book entitled, Architecture of Density. It is published by Pepperoni Books and features 128 pages of incredible imagery.

These pictures are beautiful and horrifying.
http://photomichaelwolf.com/#architecture-of-densitiy/1

[Jordan]

Pretty interesting stuff. Totally unrelated, beyond the architecture thing, but for some reason, this came to mind: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2013/03/lebbeus-woods.html

[ConcreteMascara]

Wow. The Michael Wolf stuff is really good. Looking through his website, I feel I have to get one of his books asap.

Thanks for posting Salamanauhat!

[martialgodmask]

A quite incredible feast for the eyes out of something that to many would be mundane and/or pointless. Like it.

[ConcreteMascara]

So I was thinking of Michael Wolf's work today, specifically of this book and after a few google searches I found out Mr. Wolf died last April. Naturally his books are OOP and insanely expensive now. Still, the images online from this series are striking. Thanks again to Jaakko for creating this thread 7 years ago. Maybe his work will become available for a reasonable price in the future.

Here's a New York Time's article written about his passing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/obituaries/michael-wolf-hong-kong-architecture-density.html

[Potier]

Fascinating photos for sure. The link from the OP is dead...so here's a decent alternative:

https://www.lensculture.com/mwolf

This page holds some more links to his other work outside of architectural studies.

[pentd]

good update thanks

was there somewhere here also a thread for brutalist architecture?

i dont know man, maybe its these weird beginning-of-the-end times, but i hate how they're bulldozing the cool old houses down here in turku... why dont they flatten the ugly shit from the 70's

[Balor/SS1535]

These are some amazing photographs - I don't think a picture has ever made me dizzy before.  They remind me of abstract paintings.

[Balor/SS1535]

i dont know man, maybe its these weird beginning-of-the-end times, but i hate how they're bulldozing the cool old houses down here in turku... why dont they flatten the ugly shit from the 70's

That's how I feel where I live.  The town keeps building up the few remaining pockets of natural space to build new shopping centers that will inevitably remain empty.  They somehow make the space seem simultaneously crowded and empty.  What a shame.

[pentd]

absolutely senseless, gorgeous wooden houses from ca.100 yrs ago, all slowly disappearing and replaced by 3-5 storey blocks. and not like they needed that exact spot for that either. they could easily be renovated and updated, but instead they lock them up in a maze of legal mud, permits, and nightmare bureaucracy, so they stand empty for ages, start rotting from neglect, or get vandalized, and then mysteriously burn one night, or just get bulldozed

[Balor/SS1535]

absolutely senseless, gorgeous wooden houses from ca.100 yrs ago, all slowly disappearing and replaced by 3-5 storey blocks. and not like they needed that exact spot for that either. they could easily be renovated and updated, but instead they lock them up in a maze of legal mud, permits, and nightmare bureaucracy, so they stand empty for ages, start rotting from neglect, or get vandalized, and then mysteriously burn one night, or just get bulldozed

Even in their sorry (and regrettable) state, I would rather have uninhabited old homes than more unneeded office spaces/apartments/essentially any other structure.