This past winter, the West Vancouver Art Museum presented an exhibition of the photographs of Nic Lehoux, a longtime contributor to RECORD. The work, says Lehoux, “emphasizes the importance of human interaction in public spaces, and the need for us to share experience in close proximity.” The exhibition, which is scheduled to travel to Venice for the Biennale (now postponed until 2021) has taken on a new significance in light of the COVID-19 crisis. “The images seem to reflect another era, although that era was just a few months ago,” says the photographer. “But, if anything, the pandemic has reinforced the fact that experience is rooted in the human psyche and will not change.”
Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center
Lehoux hoped to capture the Icelandic culture’s intensity and whimsy with this image depicting Henning Larsen’s green building shimmering in the light as runners at the start of the Reykjavik marathon race by, and a band strikes up.
Gohar Khatoon Girl’ School
For this complex in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, the late Robert Hull of Miller Hull Partnership, in collaboration with the University of Washington, engaged sustainable strategies to enable the school to limit resource consumption while providing a comfortable environment in a challenging context. The students also contributed to the design process. “This project,” says Lehoux, “exemplifies what architecture does at its best: enhances and heightens the human spirit.” Read the article.
Kimbell Art Museum Expansion
This image, shot in Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s addition to Louis Kahn’s masterpiece in Fort Worth, Texas, depicts the ability of even large-scale institutional architecture to foster intimacy and solace.
Hive
In 2017 Studio Gang erected an installation in Washington, D.C.’s National Building Museum. It consisted of three domed structures made of silver and magenta cardboard tubes. Lehoux immortalized the artwork with a series of photos that communicate its power to engage as visitors shared the experience of occupying the volumes.
Vanke Center
Shooting Steven Holl’s enormous mixed-use building in Shenzhen, China, Lehoux focused on a singular moment. “The girl peering behind the building skin in this abstract composition exemplifies human curiosity about architecture and its details,” says the photographer.