Integral Lens IEC Presentation

3rd Integral European Conference Siofok, Hungary May 26, 2018 Paper presentation

Integral Lens Exploring a multi-perspectival approach to architectural photography Mark DeKay | Pygmalion Karatzas

Introduction DeKay / Karatzas collaboration Mark is a professor of architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Pygmalion is an architect and architectural photographer based in Greece.

Mark wrote the book ‘Integral Sustainable Design’ and supervised Pygmalion’s Fulbright Artist Scholarship project in 2015-2016 in United States.

Introduction Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory Integral Theory as defined by Ken Wilber has been applied to the fields of education, medicine, psychology, business, politics & governance, socially engaged spirituality, consciousness studies, ecology and sustainability, human rights, art & literary theory, architecture and city planning.

Its five core components are: 01. Levels (or stages) of collective human development, 02. States of consciousness, 03. The 4 quadrants / perspectives (covering individual, collective, interior and exterior dimensions), 04. Lines of human development (specific areas / fields of expertise & practice), 05. Types of manifestation.

Integral Theory is based on a cross-cultural comparison of human knowledge, experience, and inquiry. It challenges us to hold multiple simultaneous perspectives and to address different levels of awareness across the spectrum of human development. We believe it is a helpful model in analysing complex phenomena; and considering the scope, breadth, and multifaceted aspects of the subject matter.

Quadrants, Levels, States, Lines, Types Ken Wilber, The Integral Vision, 2007 graphic by Stephen Lark, formlessmountain.com, 2008

Introduction Integral Theory in architecture & sustainability

The four fundamental perspectives represent different knowledge domains that are always integrated within the discipline of architecture.

It is useful before jumping in to an integral view on architectural photography, to take a look at how these perspectives inform architecture itself.

1) The Perspective of Behaviors is in the individual-objective value sphere. Practitioners take the viewpoint of science and engineering; it is empirical. It values what can be measured and weighed. It is concerned with how buildings work and perform, their functions, parts, details and elements.

2) The Perspective of Systems is in the inter-objective value sphere where parts are related into wholes. Practitioners take viewpoint of the complex and social sciences. Ecology rather than physics is often the model, but architecture itself is quite at home here in its own right, as a discipline that orders form based on resolving a complex set of issues.

3) The Perspective of Cultures is in the inter-subjective value sphere where meaning is generated out of shared interaction with others.

Practitioners interpret architecture’s meaning and generate new cultural communications using the symbolic language of design. This viewpoint includes the stories, myths and narratives that we make significant about the built environment.

4) The Perspective of Experiences is the singular subjective value sphere in which architects focus on individual occupants’ interior sensations, feelings, emotions, consciousness, responses, and aesthetic experience. Of architecture’s “firmness, commodity and delight,” it is delight. This perspective also can be used to examine the designer’s own intentions and experiences.

Quadrants in Architecture & Sustainable Design Mark DeKay, Integral Sustainable Design, 2011

Introduction Integral Theory in art

The Expressivist Approach: maintain that the power of art lies in its ability to express something; namely some intuition, vision, impulse, or feeling of the artist. Artists from this school predominately used art not as a means of merely imitating an objective reality or focusing on the purely formal elements of their medium but as a vehicle for expressing some interior state.

The Formalist Approach: argued that the true locus of art lies not in the artist’s original intent (which they dubbed “the intentional fallacy”) but rather in the structural integrity of the artwork itself and the formal elements in it. Artists using this approach turned their focus away from the expression of feelings and concentrated on a more “realistic” attitude, usually recording exterior events as objectively as possible.

The Reception and Response Approach: argued that the true meaning and value of art is to be found in the interpretation that a community of viewers assigns to it, and on the recognition of the cultural background, the viewer response, historical reception, and historicity. Art is no longer an autonomous or solitary affair; the majority of postmodern artists used their art as a means of facilitating a response in the viewer, by emphasising the multiplicity of interpretations.

The Symptomatic Approach: the meaning and nature of art is found in larger social currents, which operate mainly in the background of the artist and artwork. That is to say, the artwork is “symptomatic” of these overall social forces and their dysfunctions, which are typically investigated by approaches such as Marxism, feminism, racism, imperialism, and so on. Artist focused more on the depiction of social identities and inequalities (e.g. economic, gender, political, ecological).

Matt Rentschler, Introducing Integral Art, 2006.

Major approaches to art in the four quadrants.

Adapted from Ken Wilber’s ‘Integral Art and Literary Theory’

Art is in the Maker The Primal Art Holon

Art is in the Artwork The Artwork Holon

Art is in the Viewer The Viewer Holon

Art is in the Hidden Intent The Context Holon

PART 1 Analysing architectural photography with the integral framework

photographic perspectives - historical examples photographic views - historical examples photographic types - contemporary examples beyond postmodern - contemporary examples

Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p1

Looking back at the history of architectural photography in the 20th century, we can point to four distinctive approaches/ perspectives: 1. Walker Evans’ ‘documentary style’ represents a relatively objective view, using little intervention between object and subject to descriptively record the American rural vernacular culture through its buildings and cityscapes. In that sense, it is a third-person view of architecture, intentionally taking – as much as possible – the photographer’s point of view out of the frame.

Walker Evans, Rural Church, S. Carolina, 1936. (documentary, representational)

Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p2

2. Alfred Stieglitz’s ‘Pictorialist movement’ presents a highly subjective view of the built environment, a first-person view in which reality is less important than impression. The photographer’s intention is to engender an aesthetic experience, rather than present a topographic record of the scene. The expressive possibilities and artistic potential of the medium are the primary focus, in an aspirational dialogue with the powerful internal – and more intangible – characteristics of fine arts.

Edward Steichen, The Flatiron Building, New York, 1904 (artistic, self-expressive)

Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p3

3. Charles Steeler’s narrative and symbolic imagery from the Ford Motor Company plant, we are presented with an inter-subjective view, enrolling the viewer in a cultural story where the built environment’s meaning takes priority.

Photography in this case sits inside a second-person view, a perspective of “we”, with the intention gravitating towards the collective interpretation and influence as symbols.

Charles Sheeler, Criss-Crossed Conveyors, Ford Plant, Michigan, 1927. (symbolic, interpretive)

Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p4 4. Bill Hedrich’s ‘Fallingwater’ image from Edgar Kaufman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and commissioned by Architectural Forum magazine.

This is photography intended to make the best presentation of an architect’s work and to be published broadly for the consumption of and influence on future clients and study by other architects.

This kind of editorial photography is driven and defined by the situation, the context of its production, and as such takes as its basis a different inter-objective view, the institutions and regulations of the architectural profession and the building market business and networks.

However true they are to documenting, to providing an aesthetic experience, or becoming iconic symbols; they are primarily products set in the complex plural world of socio-economic systems.

Bill Hedrich, Edgar Kaufman House, PA, Frank Lloyd Wright, arch. 1937 (commercial, editorial)

Photographic perspectives: 4Q framing, p1

The four photographic perspectives DeKay / Karatzas, 2018 Placing the 4 historical examples in Integral Theory’s quadrants

The Photographic Eye self-expression, intention vision & intuition mental states, perception inner voice, truthfulness subjective beauty aesthetics & fine arts

The Photographic Frame the subject matter formal elements of composition internal structure & rhythm observable features technical skills objective documentation

The Photographic View cultural interpretations collective symbols historicity, theories reception & response semiotics, meaning movements, styles values & worldviews

The Photographic Practice socio-economic contexts media outlets, editing exhibitions & display means of production, technology assignment briefs, rights business & branding institutions, networks

Photographic perspectives: 4Q framing, p2

We can expand further our discussion of perspectives to address more directly architectural photography by considering: 01. The photographer 02. The making process of photography 03. The photograph itself and its subject 04. The viewing of the photograph.

The four photographic perspectives DeKay / Karatzas, 2018 Some aspects of the four perspectives of Integral Architectural Photography

Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p1 From quadrants we now move to levels.

The “Early Realists� (traditional level): Photographers prioritised rigorous observation, a mastery of technique and composition, and a deep desire to understand something of the world they found around themselves.

They systematically recorded for extended periods of time subjects with unprecedented intensity and attentiveness.

Scrupulous documentarians, artists who resisted overt aesthetics in order to prune photography down to its essence: the clear expression of the subject.

Berenice Abbott, Changing New York, 1929 - 1937 Traditional, Realism

Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p2

The “Early Realists� (traditional level): Beginning to mid-20th century Eugene Atget (1857 - 1927) Berenice Abbott (1898 - 1991) Walker Evans (1903 - 1975) Dorothea Lange (1895 - 1965)

Eugene Atget, Photographe de Paris, 1897 - 1927 Traditional, Realism

Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p3

The “Design Photojournalists” (modern level): The Modern Worldview gives rise to a differentiation between the image and what it represents, while introducing the articulation of individualism and the personal expression of the photographer.

Modern architectural photography strive to both represent the building objectively, thus, including Traditional Realism, but also now to give viewers the experience of “architecture as space”, and therefore going beyond the Traditional level.

Julius Shulman, Case Study House No.22, 1960 Modern, Spatialism, Iconic

1930s to present Julius Schulman Ezra Stoller Balthazar Koran Lucien Herve Hedrich & Blessing Helene Binet Paul Warchol Peter Aaron Roland Halbe Juergen Nogai Brad Feinknopf Richard Bryant Ake Eson Lindman Thomas Mayer

Photographic Views (levels/stages): historical examples, p4

The “Design Photojournalists� (modern level): The Modern view represents also the dominant and iconic image of a building that captures and portrays the essence of the project, in contrast to the vernacular view that treats all views equally informative.

Architectural photographers become wellaccepted authorities in the field, and by working closing with architects and editors, influence the cultural and economic aspects of the industry.

Ezra Stoller, TWA Terminal, 1962 Modern, Spatialism, Iconic

1930s to present Julius Schulman Ezra Stoller Balthazar Koran Lucien Herve Hedrich & Blessing Helene Binet Paul Warchol Peter Aaron Roland Halbe Juergen Nogai Brad Feinknopf Richard Bryant Ake Eson Lindman Thomas Mayer

Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p5

The “New Topographists� (postmodern level): The Postmodern View looks at broader contexts to understand and expand the subject matter.

Postmodern architectural photography developed critical perspectives towards the built environment and emphasised its urban and social systems.

Images are stripped of any artistic frills and reduced to an essentially topographic state.

The banal, everyday, the industrial, the urban sprawl, became the subjects of their lens, undermining the commodity status of the post-war art object.

1960s to present: Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, Lewis Baltz, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Ed Ruscha, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky,

Ed Ruscha, Every Building on Sunset Strip, 1966.

Postmodern, Pluralism, Contextualism

Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p6

The “New Topographists� (postmodern level): Postmodern architectural photography incorporates elements of straight as-is representation (traditional) and spatial complexities (modern), but the emphasis is no longer in the buildings themselves as documentation or design; rather a blunt mirror of the man-altered landscape and our cognitive dissonance to its global implications.

1960s to present: Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, Lewis Baltz, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Ed Ruscha, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky,

Stephen Shore, La Brea Ave & Beverly Blvd, 1975.

Postmodern, Pluralism, Contextualism

Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p7

One of the defining characteristics of the Postmodern worldview is contextualism, the understanding of anything by placing it into a larger context.

Postmodern photography seeks to explain and situate architecture as a response to urban and social context.

With Alan Karchmer’s image of the Steger Center we can see this shift from architecture-asspace to architecture-ascontext.

Alan Karchmer, Steger Center, University of Cincinnati, 2006 Postmodern, Pluralism, Contextualism

Photographic Lenses: Combining Perspectives with Views Sixteen Lenses of Architectural Photography DeKay / Karatzas, 2018.

Beyond Postmodern: From an Integral Worldview one can see the full developmental unfoldment and find some healthy value to include from each preceding view.

Using these four basic worldviews and four distinctive perspective as a framework, we can generate sixteen unique and valid prospects on architectural photography.

Metaphorically, we term these, “Lenses�.

Photographic types: from topographic to expressive Iwan Baan

- representational, objective, - “pure” applications include historic survey and documentation, archeology, anthropology, building science, restoration, etc.

topographic / documentary

Beijing National Stadium, China Tim Griffith

Irene Kung

- a synthesis of points of view between photographers, architects, publishers, - mostly for use within the architecture industry, - firms’ portfolios, competitions, publications, real estate, etc.

- subjective, abstract, expressionistic, impressionistic, multi-media, - primary point of view the photographer’s inner vision, concept, technique - gallery prints and display, public or private space decoration, exhibitions, etc.

editorial / commercial

expressive / fine art

Photographic Groups: Levels + Types

Intersecting the integral framing of levels and types produces the figure shown here.

Examples of photographers are grouped in significant and influential clusters.

We are interested in an integrally-framed mapping of the field.

Photographic grouping based on type and worldview DeKay / Karatzas, 2018.

Integral State + Documentary Type = “Reconstructionists" Edward Burtynsky, ’Water’ series, 2011.

We present some contemporary examples whose work, we feel, includes and transcends the three photographic views, while they masterfully combine all-quadrant perspectives.

The examples also cover the typological spectrum.

- stunning visual language, - global scale / cross-cultural documentation, - active engagement with social and environmental implications, - ability to communicate with audiences from different worldviews, sets Burtynsky’s work apart from other postmodern topographists.

Integral State + Documentary Type = “Reconstructionists"

Yiorgis Yerolymbos, ‘Car Park roof waterproofing’, Niarchos Cultural Center, 2014.

From 2010 to 2016 Yerolymbos documented the construction of the Niarchos Cultural Center in Athens, designed by Renzo Piano. His series ‘orthographs’ were taken hanging from a 100 m. crane looking straight down to the construction site.

We see both objective documentation of the construction process, and an abstract order our of the complexity of the site.

He uses a single point of view, flattening all spatial features as in the Traditional level, while the stripping of any artistic frills reduces the image to an essentially topographic state characteristic of the Postmodern level.

The project became a highly successful exhibition, communicating both the institution’s brand and the photographer’s cultural interpretation.

Integral State + Editorial Type = “Aperspectivists" Iwan Baan, Makoko Floating School, Lagos Nigeria, 2013.

Baan’s ‘Makoko Floating School’ is part of his book & exhibition ’52 Weeks, 52 Cities’.

It is an engaged commentary on human living and survival strategies, and on the relationship between people, social use and the built environment.

The aerial point of view reveals the larger contextual systems.

At the integral level we have the inclusion of multiple perspectives: architecture as setting for life, as a dynamic interaction with natural and social processes.

Integral State + Editorial Type = “Aperspectivists" Fernando Guerra, The Building on the Water, China Alvaro Siza architect, 2014

Fernando Guerra has been a pioneer in the way architecture is photographed and divulged. 19 years ago, he opened studio FG+SG together with his brother, and both are responsible in large part for the diffusion of Portuguese contemporary architecture in the last fifteen years.

Fernando Guerra is an architectural photographer. His training, however, is as an architect. His gaze is divided between two distinct modes of constructing the world. Given this fact, he is in a prime position to personify the metamorphosis of the field of photography that will lead the practice of creating images to eventually identify itself, in part, with the field of architecture, with over 1200 projects photographed to date.

Integral State + Expressive Type = “Neo-Pictorialists“ David Burdeny, Floating Village, Vietnam, 2011.

- raw immediacy of threshold places, liminality, - bridging the concrete with the ephemeral, - the sublime in the ordinary, - minimalism - suchness, - the witness - pure interaction between form and space The process of “concretising interiority” (one characteristic of Integral Art according to Jean Gebser) has this basic flow: 01. The photographer experiences a creative intuition, 02. He then conveys that intuition into the image, 03. The viewer contemplates on the image and receives that intuitive transmission.

This intangible thread between the three parts of this process are beautifully present in Burdeny’s ‘Floating Village’.

Integral State + Expressive Type = “Neo-Pictorialists“ John Kosmopoulos, ‘New Olympus’, New York, 2016.

Fine art photography is a style or genre of photography that offers a harmonious composition of elements within a frame of reference whose content provides aesthetic, sensory, and sometimes surreal qualities that fulfill the authentic, creative, and personal vision of the photographer as artist while heightening the emotional and psychological response of the observer. It is an established but evolving discipline in photography whose essential condition is the ‘felt aesthetic’ (the feeling of being immersed in and inspired by something intellectually and imaginatively beautiful). This type of photography is often exemplified by but not limited to black and white compositions, various exposure lengths, and eclectic subjects (e.g., abstract, architecture, landscapes, nude portraits, etc.). It may also be interpreted by refined theories and concepts across disciplines (e.g., philosophy, psychology, literature, music, film, culture, semiotics, mathematics, science) and past and current trends in art, photography and technology in part or in whole. It is often defined in contrast to journalistic, documentary, and commercial photography. It also adheres to quality standards in postprocessing and printing as part of the creation of art. © John Kosmopoulos

PART 2 Presenting the ‘Integral Lens’ photographic project of Pygmalion Karatzas

‘Integral Lens’ project: An integral approach to the study and representation of the built environment through the photographic medium.

Trip statistics: 9,600 miles flying, 4,200 miles driving, 1,300 miles public commuting, 750,000 steps walking, 12,000 still images taken, 65,000 images in timelapse video, 150 buildings and locations from 12 cities, 142 days on the road.

Thematic series: Nortigo Boomeritis Serial Vision Future Memories Aperspectival Empire State of Mind AQAL Views

Sequence: Architectural details Building portraits Project portfolios / monographs Intimate urban scenes Cityscape panoramas

‘Nortigo’ is an exercise in shifting points of view as a gesture to reveal new and interesting information, compositions and feelings from spaces designed to form tangible connections between above and below, by looking straight up towards the ceiling, atrium or sky. The progression from indoor to outdoor spaces supplements the introvert/extrovert design polarity, while the pairing of classical buildings with modern, postmodern and cosmogenic architecture allows for comparative viewing experiences and a diverse showcase of the built environment.

Series ‘Nortigo’, Experience Music Project Museum, Seattle, Frank Gehry Architect, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series ‘Nortigo’, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge, Renzo Piano Architect, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Rockefeller Plaza, New York, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

‘Boomeritis’ presents stand-alone portraits of buildings with the long exposure shooting technique using neutral density filter. We depart from straight photography to fuse the boundaries between representational and expressionistic image making.

Lake Point Tower, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Aqua Tower, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Details of skyscrapers and public buildings, frontal views of iconic architecture, presented in a way that highlights the formalistic aspects of design, while the blurring of time is intended to give them a timeless feel.

Desaturated or monochrome treatments emphasise the tectonic elements of subjects, and the manual blending of different exposures in post-processing adds presence, depth and complementary lighting.

WMS Boathouse, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Long exposure photography makes people slow down, observe buildings closer, do research and field survey, revisit locations under different light conditions, and by doing so enriching their understanding and awareness of the built environment.

Boomeritis aims to inspire people to not only view architecture as a two dimensional image representation, but to motivate them to experience it more comprehensively.

St. Mary of the Assumptions, San Francisco, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

In ‘Serial Vision’ streetscapes are combined with architectural landmarks.

The black and white high contrast rendering and the candid moments are a tribute to the classic street photography genre.

Street photography is associated with the joy of simply walking around the city, observing the interaction between people and their surroundings, and creating a dynamic balance of the elements by way of framing and composition.

EMP Museum, Seattle, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series: ‘Serial Vision’, National WWII Museum, New Orleans, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Red Rock Amphitheater, Denver, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Union Station, Denver, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Cloud Gate, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series: Future Memories

Community Rowing Boathouse, Boston, Anmahian Winton Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series: Future Memories

National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Voorsanger Mathes Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series: Future Memories

New World Symphony Hall, Miami, Frank Gehry Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series: Future Memories (editing) -

ARCAID IMAGES, Architectural Photography Agency DIVISARE Atlas of Architecture PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris

New World Symphony Hall, Miami, Frank Gehry Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series: Future Memories (editing) National September 11 Museum & Memorial, New York, Snohetta Architects & Davis Brody Bond, edited by mimoa.eu

Series: Future Memories (editing) Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center, Nevada, Line and Space Architects, edited by Pygmalion Karatzas

‘Aperspectival’ is taking a more intimate look at the man-altered landscape, influenced by the visual vocabulary of the ‘New Topographics’ and the metropolitan condition ‘terrain vague’ as defined

by Ignasi de Sola-Morales.

Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

In contrast to the carefully designed and integrated city-planning projects, contemporary cities are also characterised by their obsolete and unproductive spaces, undefined, without specific limits. As such they manifest as spaces of freedom and represent an anonymous reality outside the urban regeneration policies.

South Beach, Miami, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

This highly influential movement from the 70ies was a break from the romantic and idealistic view of both urbanism and countryside and offered a more straight, and sometimes blunt, look at the manaltered landscape. It was a timely critical realisation of the cognitive dissonance maintained by the modernist ideal. As such became more than just a viewing perspective, it expressed the condition of postmodernity.

Art Deco District, Miami, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Chicago riverwalk skyline, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

With the ‘Empire state of mind’ series the scale is broadened to open vistas, in search of the iconic and the genius loci.

Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

The coupling of urban with rural locations reflects the dominant dichotomy of contemporary living, while the 2x1 ratio follows the panoramic feeling of vastness.

Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Venice Beach at sunset, Los Angeles, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Experiencing the American landscape, I am reminded of Rem Koolhaas ‘Bigness’: “Beyond a certain scale, architecture acquires the properties of Bigness.

Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Manhattan Skyline at dusk, New York, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

The best reason to broach Bigness is the one given by climbers of Mount Everest: “because it is there.” Bigness is ultimate architecture.”

‘AQAL Views’ is a series of long exposure urban waterscapes. Blurred ocean and moving skies meet building silhouettes and auxiliary structures in a merging dance between the perpetual and the ephemeral. As the shutter takes more time to let light into the sensor, so the photographer takes more time to get absorbed by the scene, and invites the viewer to have a similar unifying visual experience.

Lower Manhattan, New York photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Having lived most of my life near water, a deep connection with this element has been formed. Scenes that combine cityscapes with waterscapes are dear to my heart in a primal level. Arriving in places, the new and unfamiliar instinctively is counterbalanced by the familiarity of the waterfront.

Lo Presti Park, Boston, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

At the end, when we put aside all the analyses and pause from all the search, we find what they refer in Zen as “the beginner’s mind”, a fresh look as if we just witnessed the wonders of this world. When all is said and done, comes a peaceful feeling of completion and the shear joy of being.

Bay Bridge, San Francisco, photo Pygmalion Karatzas

When we momentarily drop all we know and the anxiety of the unknown, we can rest in “one taste”, in the unifying consciousness that all are one. We all live in “AQAL space” and such is our viewing.

Charles River esplanade, Boston photo Pygmalion Karatzas

Integral Lens interview series

Arcspace.com is an architecture website that features today’s most creative projects as well as the most influential of the past. It was founded in 1999 by architect and independent curator Kirsten Kiser. Since 2012 it is run and operated by the Danish Architecture Centre. DAC’s goal is to disseminate knowledge about architecture and urban development, to create a broad interest for new ideas traversing traditional boundaries, and to show how architecture creates cultural and economic assets for people, the industry and society at large. The Camera section is an online exhibition dedicated to professional architectural photography as well as artistic photography related to the built environment. As photo editor and in collaboration with chief editor Robert Martin we have been selecting and presenting photographers’ work, exclusive q&a discussions, and various stories and news related to the fields of communication and visual discourse.

With the selection of photographers and the q&a discussions we explore architectural photography aspects such as: the background biography and influences of the photographers, the overall vision and approach, the relationship between architects and photographers, specific key projects in assignments and personal work, film and digital, print and online means of production and distribution, business aspects of the industry, editing, commercial and artistic expressions, gear and technological advancements, awareness and transformative experiences, the interaction between people and their built environment, movements, styles and sub-genres, future plans and broader collaborations between photography and architecture, workshops, teaching, apprenticeship.

Arcspace’s q & a in the 4 quadrants Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018

overall vision & approach, awareness & perpection, transformative experiences, biography, typological expressions, intetions & concepts

key projects assignments & personal work interaction between people & the built environment, workflow, craftsmanship

background & influences, relationship between architects & photographers, movements & styles, workshops, teaching, apprenticeship, collaboration between architecture & photography

film & digital, print & online media, production & distribution, editing & post-processing, gear & technological advancements, agencies, business aspects

In 2013 with the exhibition ‘Beyond the Assignment: defining photographs of architecture and design’, organized by the Julius Shulman Institute and Woodbury University School of Architecture in Los Angeles, the work of ten renowned American architectural photographers and the contemporary buildings they capture were presented. We are also observing the co-creation of the perception and analysis of architecture from the various perspectives/fields involved in its dissemination: magazine editors, social media platforms along with architects and photographers. This collective work curated by Bilyana Dimitrova is a prime example of editorial architectural photography.

In 2014 the exhibition ‘Constructing Worlds: photography and architecture in the Modern Age’, organized by the Barbican Art Gallery in London, and the companion book by Phaidon ‘Shooting Space: architecture in contemporary photography’ was edited by Elias Redstone.

It explores the relationship between architecture and photography in the representation and investigation of various aspects of the built environment: from the transformation of a metropolis after the Great Depression, to the adverse consequences of modernity in the vernacular countryside, from arcane industrial archetypes to urban piecemeal growth in the Middle East and Asia, from a deeper understanding of architects’ intentions to artistically capturing icons of the 20th century, from contemplative images of space to imagined environments, to name a few.

With this collection we are introduced to distinguished artistic expressions of architectural photography.

In recent years, the subject matter - architecture itself, has been analysed from an integral framework. Examples of such an approach include the nine-part critical campaign of Architectural Review’s editor Peter Buchanan titled ‘The Big Rethink: towards a complete architecture’ in 2012, introducing Ken Wilber’s integral theory to the architectural audience, which “establishes a new framework for the design of 21stcentury buildings and cities”. Another example is the seminal book ‘Integral Sustainable Design: transformative perspectives’ by professor of architecture Mark DeKay from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2011 published by Routledge.

Approaching the medium of photography and the subject matter of architecture in a holistic manner, is the underline intention of these series. Applying it to the framing of the project itself, meeting people, institutions and cases who fill in the pieces and enrich the content. Editorial and artistic architectural photography is thus explored further documenting a comprehensive spectrum of the relationships between photography and the built environment.

Conclusion of part 2: indicative & applicable 16 lenses / prospects - UL

Indicative aspects from Integral Lens project, Interior / Individual quadrant Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018

Conclusion of part 2: indicative & applicable 16 lenses / prospects - UR

Indicative aspects from Integral Lens project, Exterior / Individual quadrant Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018

Conclusion of part 2: indicative & applicable 16 lenses / prospects - LL

Indicative aspects from Integral Lens project, Interior / Collective quadrant Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018

Conclusion of part 2: indicative & applicable 16 lenses / prospects - LR

Indicative aspects from Integral Lens project, Exterior / Collective quadrant Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018

PART 3 Summarising integral photography themes with examples from contemporary photographers

01. All-quadrant transmissions 02. Catalysing human development 03. Photography as an Integral Transformative Practice 04. The built environment as a dynamic phenomenon 05. Typological fluidity 06. Multi-level communication & pluralistic dissemination 07. Combining themes

Tim Griffith, Riverside 66, 2014. (UL)

Integral Photography theme #1: All-quadrant transmissions, p1

Takes its inspiration from the seminal 20th century “set piece” images of a building that took additional time, logistics and resources to produce and were intended to become the iconic representations of the project.

By appropriating his own editorial work, Griffith’s post-processing fuses the boundaries between the objective and subjective views while the dominant presence remains in the interior perspective.

The carefully selected elevated point of view merges the shape of the building with the urban fabric, and in that way it also crosses over to the LR quadrant.

Fernando Guerra, Cabo de Villa, 2015. (UR)

Takes its inspiration from satellite-like “peeking” to give us a bird’s-eye view of the animate and inanimate interactions that are carefully positioned to reflect key design features of the project.

While Guerra captured the building fully, this image illustrates a dialogue between abstraction and representation while the dominant presence remains in the exterior perspective.

Irene Kung, Inter-Active Corp, 2010. (LL)

Integral Photography theme #1: All-quadrant transmissions, p2

Part of her book ‘The Invisible City’, a direct reference to Italo Calvino’s novel, Invisible Cities.

With a selection of historic and contemporary architectural landmarks from around the world, she treats them as otherworldly ‘scapes’ reminiscent of imagery from the unconscious, the realm of dreams and visual archetypes.

The building is taken out of its original urban context and floats weightless on the open sea with the curved walls as sails.

The image is an art work based on the author’s vision (UL) yet heavily charged with cultural inter-subjective themes.

Iwan Baan, New York after the storm, 2012. (LR)

Part of his book ’52 Weeks, 52 Cities’, an engaged commentary on human living and survival strategies, and on the relationship between humans, social use and the built environment on a global scale.

For most shoots Baan rents a helicopter to capture his subjects from above, to get some distance from ‘architecture-in-isolation,’ and reveal the larger contextual systems at play.

While the boundaries between documentation and interpretation are blurred, the dominant presence remains in the inter-objective perspective.

Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p1

At the heart of the creative process we find the evolution of consciousness itself.

A deeper function of the creative impulse is to experience the transformation from internal intuition to tangible product.

The Zen aesthetic has a rich history of embedding in its creative fields notions of: transience, stark beauty, natural patina, profound grace, and subtlety, as an integral part of daily life.

A network of cultural practices with the meditative state for creator and user at its core.

Jean Gebser identifies one characteristic of Integral Art as “concretizing interiority�.

For this theme we have selected photographers who’s work directly or indirectly speaks to this subtle concretising interiority.

Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p2

Citret’s work includes landscapes, waterscapes, cityscapes, construction sites, interiors, and street photography.

- making the ordinary extraordinary, - aligning mind, heart and eye, - gentle yet firm presence, - direct connection with the viewer.

Mark Citret, Power Lines and Plowed Field, 2003. (topographic/expressive)

Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p3

The creative duo of Jesús Marina Barba and Elena Morón Serna have collaborated on photographic projects since 2003.

“We are interested in the eastern idea that the body itself activates space and not the space alone. We like to play with the same principle of the active presence that materialises itself in the interior space of the ‘Ma’ in Japanese culture.”

Approaching iconography as a representation of our perception, both in the way we create and view it, becomes an opportunity to understand and expand our spatial consciousness.

Marina_Morón, She’s asleep #14, 2014. (topographic)

Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p4

Archistract Art – “A classification of fine art photography that focuses on the abstract qualities of various architectural styles and subjects using monochrome or colour compositions while highlighting patterns, forms, geometry, and gradations of light and shadows across various exposures. ‘Archistract’ is a portmanteau of the words ‘architecture’ and ‘abstract’. It is a style of abstract and architectural photography that has recently evolved into a cohesive and functional vision combining elements and traditions found in abstract art, architecture, and photography as a whole.”

- John Kosmopoulos

John Kosmopoulos, Ideality, OAKA Athens, 2013. (topographic/expressive)

Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p5

- transience, impermanence and imperfections of wabi-sabi, - a mind not occupied with emotions or thoughts, - looking at the work with loving-sight, without intellectualising the experience - brings a state of unobstructed communion with the subject.

Nathan Wirth, Wake (Richard Serra sculptures), Seattle, 2010. (expressive)

Integral Photography theme #3: photography as an integral transformative practice

Integral Photographic Practice Modules: - Vital (energetic): How much can I enter into a raw photographic flow state?

- Technical (physical): How skilful can I be with the techniques and craft of photography?

- Critical (mental): How accessible can I be to the larger forces and social systems of the photographic world?

- Psychological (shadow): How well can I surpass my creative barriers?

- Public (social): Do my presentations entertain, educate and enlighten?

- Ethical (interpersonal): How much can I give back to my community?

- Contemplative (spiritual/transpersonal): How aware can I be of my entire photographic practice and process?

Integral Photographic Practice Modules Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018.

Integral Photography theme #4: The built environment as a dynamic phenomenon Welsey's 2 year long exposure of the construction sites in Berlin is one extreme topographic way to capture processes.

Silly’s Timeless series is using the intentional camera movement technique in a more expressionistic way to capture the vibrant pulse of city life.

Michael Welsey, Berlin construction site, 2-year exposure, 1997-99

Fabrice Silly, Timeless #4, 2013

Integral Photography themes #3: Dynamic phenomena

another way to capture and present dynamic phenomena is with the use of time-lapse and hyper lapse videography, as shown here from the video ‘EXPO 2015 Milano Glimpses’.

“EXPO 2015 Milano Glimpses”, Timelapse & Hyperlapse videography, Pygmalion Karatzas, 2015

Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p1 A second way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at images of similar subject and shooting method: Even though, all three images are taken from a carefully selected elevated vantage point, and the subjects are cropped to extend indefinitely beyond the frame, the viewing experience is quite different.

Michael Wolf, Architecture of Density, 2005.

Wolf’s image from the high-rise residential towers of Hong Kong, confronts the global urbanisation issues of human scale and density. topographic

Yiorgis Yerolymbos, Tower 25, 2016.

Yerolymbos’ image brings the viewer to a portion of the building as a close-up facade details and yet it captures all key elements of the design in a masterful architectural abstractions. editorial

Shannon McGrath, Guggenheim Bilbao, 2011.

McGrath’s image is using the sculptural and chromatic features of this iconic building as her motifs and brushes in an expressionist painting. expressive

Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p2 A third way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at the results of international photography competitions.

Selected results from 17 competitions from 2014 to 2018 have been catalogued and can be viewed here: https://www.pygmalionkaratzas.com/integrallenscompetitiontypes

Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p3 A third way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at the results of international photography competitions.

Selected results from 17 competitions from 2014 to 2018 have been catalogued and can be viewed here: https://www.pygmalionkaratzas.com/integrallenscompetitiontypes

Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p4 A third way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at the results of international photography competitions.

Selected results from 17 competitions from 2014 to 2018 have been catalogued and can be viewed here: https://www.pygmalionkaratzas.com/integrallenscompetitiontypes

Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p5 A third way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at the results of international photography competitions.

Selected results from 17 competitions from 2014 to 2018 have been catalogued and can be viewed here: https://www.pygmalionkaratzas.com/integrallenscompetitiontypes

Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p6 A third way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at the results of international photography competitions.

Selected results from 17 competitions from 2014 to 2018 have been catalogued and can be viewed here: https://www.pygmalionkaratzas.com/integrallenscompetitiontypes

Integral Photography theme #6: Multi-level communication & pluralistic dissemination, p1 Dionisio Gonzalez, NovaAcqua Gasosa II, 2004. (editorial)

Gonzalez’ ‘Cartographs for removal’ reimagines informal Brazilian favelas by stitching together photographs from Sao Paolo with seamless architectural renderings.

Photorealism and photography nowadays appear more and more interchangeable, blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality.

Photography in this case is used as an architectural proposal to argue that sensitive micro-interventions can be more effective than demolition and displacement.

Even though the subject matter is a difficult and complex one - like the degradation of large city areas - the artist has chosen to strike a balance to entertain, educate and enlighten with his work.

Integral Photography theme #6: Multi-level communication & pluralistic dissemination, p2

With a career spanning 40 years and 47 books from 30 countries, Kenna’s uncompromising vision is rooted in: - the craftsmanship of printing and the alchemy of the darkroom, - a conscious focus on the relationship between places and the traces people leave on them, - extensive revisits to the same location, - a tender gaze of subtle beauty, - fleeing yet meaningful connections of transitory revelation making the photographic act a holistic process of connecting with the world, resonating between photographer, image and viewer.

Michael Kenna, Ratcliffe Power Station Study 41, 2003. (expressive)

Combining integral photography themes

We are finishing with an example outside the architectural photography category to suggest that this integral photographic approach can be applied to other photographic genres; and to note that the above mentioned themes are rarely found in a single image or even a series of images, but rather when we examine a photographers body of work holistically.

Gregory Colbert, ’Ashes and Snow’, 2005.

Nomadic Museum, New York, 2015, architect Shigeru Ban

Combining integral photography themes:

Even though Colbert’s ‘Ashes & Snow’ project is not in the architectural category, his original and unique personal style combining expressive and documentary types, the number of years spend with his subjects and the physical training he had to undergo, the giving back to the community with the foundation for animal use royalties, the combination of still images and feature-length meditative videography, the nomadic museum designed with recycled material, the level of reception and response his work resonates with, make his work an inspirational example of integral photography.

Gregory Colbert, ’Ashes and Snow’, 2005.

Nomadic Museum, New York, 2015, architect Shigeru Ban

CODA When we define “integral” using the Wilber/AQAL definition, we take into consideration quadrants, levels, lines, types and states. In this sense Integral architectural photography becomes a panoply of practices. When we talk about “integral” as a level beyond Postmodern, we are considering the developmental line within each quadratic perspective.

The Integral Lens pays homage to the major past and present genres of the field.

Put together, they highlight four broader functions of the historic relationship between architecture and photography, as highlighted by curator Pedro Gadanho: - Documenting and portraying the built environment and the urban condition, - Making architecture with photography, - Producing architectural critique and contributing to the urban discourse, - Establishing an expressive dialogue with the contemporary urban landscape and aspiring to something greater.

Integral Lens Map - photographic quadrants, levels, states, lines, types.

Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018

Mark DeKay

Pygmalion Karatzas

archdesign.utk.edu/people/mark-dekay

www.pygmalionkaratzas.com