Extracts of local distance

Extracts of local distance is a project by Benjamin Maus, Frederic Gmeiner and Thorsten Posselt. "Countless fragments of existing architectural photography are merged into multilayered shapes. The resulting collages introduce a third abstract point of view next to the original ones of architect and photographer." Take a look at the project video:

Extracts of Local Distance from STOESELTNTPRO on Vimeo.

Now take a look at one of the finished pieces:


[Elbberg Campus, top with detail below | image source]

The project, Elbberg Campus by BRT Architekten was featured on my weekly page in 2004:





The original photographer is Klaus Frahm, though I'm not sure if the three photos from my feature are the ones used for manipulation. Pieces of the wood louvers, curling metal facade, and wood decking can be seen in the collage, taking the space between the buildings and making it 100 times more dynamic. The image recalls Zaha Hadid's paintings, but it also makes me think of exploded diagrams, where pieces are pulled away from their final location for ease of understanding. In a sense these collages do the same thing, they extract information from the architectural photography and isolate individual pieces for regrouping into something new yet still recalling the original. Do the technique and its result have the potential to reorient how architects design space? Or are they just a commentary on the fairly consistent world of architectural photography today? Whatever their influence, they are striking images that I'm sure most architects would love to have gracing their walls.

(via PYTR 75)