In this work, Hiroshi Sugimoto revisits some of the most iconic buildings of modern architecture worldwide, photographed with a large-format camera whose manual adjustment allows him to work with a very distinctive focus. Through this technique, each building is enveloped in a delicate blur that transforms its presence and alters our perception of architecture.
 
The Japanese photographer thus proposes a journey beyond the buildings themselves, inviting reflection on the meaning of architecture in people's lives and, at the same time, on the role of photography in representing the built environment.
 
True to his way of turning artistic practice into a form of thought, Sugimoto explains in his text: “At the beginning of the thinking process, an architect conceives a building as an ideal. As the project progresses through plans and drawings, this ideal evolves under the constraints of budget, materials and feasibility. During construction, the original idea becomes fragmented until it almost disappears. A building is the result of continual compromises between the imagined ideal and reality. Refusing to submit to these compromises is the hallmark of great architects.”
 
Through Hiroshi Sugimoto's eyes, these iconic structures shed some of their purely functional character and become truly painterly works.
 
Architecture is the fourth title in a collection devoted to the artist's major series, preceded by Dioramas (2014), Seascapes (2015) and Theaters (2016).