In his essay Terrain Vague, Spanish architect Ignasi de Solà-Morales discusses photography’s intertwined relationship with our built environment, and emphasises that modern architecture entered our memory and imagination by way of photography. He writes: “it has become impossible in recent years to separate our understanding of modern architecture from the mediating role that photographers have assumed in this understanding.” This project borrows its title from de Solà-Morales’ essay and closely examines a particular type of architecture found in the landscape of Tangier — one that remains unfinished and open to a future potential. The photographic images of these structures not only depict what de Solà-Morales described as “territorial indications of strangeness” but also question what lies beyond their formal and aesthetic aspects: the self-built processes involved in their creation, their sense of freedom, and the uncertainty of their future.

Image credits:

The Watchtower (dyptich), 2017
Silver gelatin print, 140 x 110 cm (each)