LARX.ARCHITECTURE in St. Moritz Switzerland - Visual Diary

Visual Diary

This journal is a collection of ideas, case studies and thoughts: a visual diary. All photos by LARX.

Season of tranquility

October 2024 - Villa Monastero's botanical garden in Varenna, stretching along two kilometers of Lake Como, is a remarkable blend of Italian and English garden design, featuring a diverse range of mediterranean, subtropical, and temperate plants. Originally a 12th-century Cistercian convent, the villa was later transformed into a grand residence, and today the garden is home to exotic species like cypresses, agaves, succulents, and rare blooms, making it both historically and botanically significant.

In autumn, the garden radiates a peaceful beauty as the vibrant foliage transforms into warm tones.

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Engadin Uninterrupted vol. 4

September 2024 - Summer atmospheres in Engadine on 8x10" gelatine silver prints: Caroggia (916 m), Piz Roseg (3'936 m), Piz da’Acqua (3'124 m), Piz Linard (3'410 m), Aua da Sagliains (2'163 m).

'Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.' Albert Einstein

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Naoshima, Japan - Island as a canvas

August 2024 - As time, weather, and seasons change, art, architecture, and the verdant natural surroundings offer a constantly evolving visual and contemplative experience.

While there are wonderful artworks, the primary focus is on the island and its residents. The art enhances the charm of the island, offering a deeper perspective. It's not just about viewing the art; it's about the insights it provides, both through eyes and heart.

Hiroshi Sugimoto - Time Exposed, 1980-97
Yayoi Kusama - Pumpkin, 2022
Hiroshi Sugimoto - Glass Tea House 'Mondrian', 2014
Kazuo Katase - Drink a Cup of Tea, 1987-94
Kan Yasuda - The Secret of the Sky, 1996

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Rooftop forms with a view

July 2024 - 'Light creates ambience and feel of a place, as well as the expression of a structure.' Le Corbusier

Unité d'Habitation in Marseille

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Wake

June 2024 - 'I want to hold the field by using the speed of the skin. I still want to have the weight, but not as the first manifestation of the piece.
(...)
Each module is identical and comprises two S-sections that are inverted in relation to each other. As the S-sections lock together, the concavity and convexity of one side lock to the convexity and concavity of the other side.
(...)
What’s important is your moving between them, through them, and around them as they undulate.'

Richard Serra - Wake, 2003. Weatherproof steel, five units of two torus sections, each 4.3 m × 14.7 m × 2.09 m, plates 5 cm; overall 4.3 m × 38.1 × 14 m. Permanent installation at the Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Washington.

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Echoes of the Andes

May 2024 - Machu Picchu, situated in the verdant peaks of the Peruvian Andes, offers a compelling juxtaposition of celestial spirituality and earthly craftsmanship. Its meticulously crafted stone structures, adorned with iconic terraces and temples, evoke an ancient era rich in culture and spirituality, shrouded in an ethereal embrace of mist and mystery.

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Yakisugi

April 2024 - Japanese traditional wood preservation techniques, notably Yakisugi or Shou Sugi Ban, involve charring the surface of wood to create a protective layer and enhance durability. This process yields a rich, dark color and unique texture, accentuating the wood's natural beauty. These photos pay homage to its timeless allure.

Details from Teshima, Kagawa, and Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan.

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Year of the Dragon

March 2024 - Rural areas of China - in these landscape photographs the dynamics and tension of the valleys, natural forms, surfaces and textures inspire us with their playfulness and power simultaneously.

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Metropolitan Perspectives

February 2024 - The geometric elegance of New York's exterior impressions and proportional compositions.

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Sculpted by time

January 2024 - From towers offering panoramic views of the Ionian sea and sky to labyrinthine interiors of stone and arches, Castello Maniace in Syracuse, the fortress of Ortygia Island invites us to traverse the corridors of time.

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Engadin Uninterrupted vol. 3

December 2023 - Winter atmospheres in Engadine on negative scans of 4x5 " sheet film and 8x10" gelatine silver prints: Buaira 1'918m, Piz Buin 3'312m, Plan Grand 1'802m, Ago di Sciora 3'205m.

'Every experience is a form of exploration.' Ansel Adams

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Bold statement

November 2023 - An iconic, modern presence at a unique location amidst the timeless existence of the elements of nature.

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum by Oscar Niemeyer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1996).

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Serene structures

October 2023 - The beauty of the supports for tree branches in traditional Japanese gardens.

Some photographs from the Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu.

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Miami Art Deco

September 2023 - 'Too much is never enough.' 'If you create the stage setting and it is grand, everyone who enters will play their part.' Morris Lapidus

Details of Avalon Hotel (Albert Anis, 1941), Colony Hotel (Henry Hohauser, 1935), Starlite Hotel (Gilbert M. Fein, 1952) and Hotel Victor (L. Murray Dixon, 1937) in Miami Beach.

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Mediterranean panorama

August 2023 - Villas on the island of Capri, integrated into the coastal cliffs overlooking the sea - creating a harmonious blend between human-made structures and the surrounding landscape.

Villa Malaparte, Villa Monacone in Capri and Villa San Michele in Anacapri.

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Engadin Uninterrupted vol. 2

July 2023 - Summer atmospheres in Engadine on negative scans of self-developed 4x5" sheet film: Piz Murters 3'012 m, Piz Plavna Dadaint 3'167 m, Val Roseg 2'019 m, Ova da Trupchun, Piz Fier 3'058 m, Aua da Murtaröl.

'It is all very beautiful and magical here - a quality which cannot be described. You have to live it and breathe it, let the sun bake into you.' Ansel Adams

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Earth and Sky

June 2023 - Inspiring tension between the dynamic, solid architectural volumes and the open empty space, facing to the ocean and to the sky.

Salk Institute by Louis Kahn in San Diego CA

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Abandoned wells

May 2023 - 'The well bottom is like the bottom of the sea. Things down here stay very still, keeping their original forms, as if under tremendous pressure, unchanged from day to day.' Haruki Murakami

A visual exploration of abandoned wells in Italy.

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Tropical balance

April 2023 - 'I want to get to Key West and away from it all.' Ernest Hemingway

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Lonely Stations

March 2023 - The elevated railway Green Line of Chicago offers a unique blend of industrial and residential architecture. The unbroken linear expanse of industry juxtaposes with the human-scale proportions of the surrounding homes, creating a symbiotic spatial quality that is truly special.

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Lighthouses

February 2023 - Amidst the admiration of the tall, cylindrical structures of the lighthouses paired with their special locations of the high, rocky coastlines, we turn our attention to their symbolic significance. The bright beam of light radiating from the top of the lighthouse and being noticed from miles away is a sign of guidance, safety and stability. Their constant presence in the landscape, standing tall and firm represent hope and endurance and stand for solitude and peacefulness.

Collection of Lighthouses: Neist Point Lighthouse, Isle of Skye, Scotland; Faro de San Agustin, Asturias, Spain; Faro de Cabo Ortegal, Galicia, Spain; Torre de Hercules, Galicia, Spain; Lighthouse of Porto Maurizio, Imperia, Italy; Lighthouse of Punta Palascia, Lecce, Italy; Old Point Loma Lighthouse, San Diego, USA; and Kilauea Lighthouse, Kauai, Hawaii, USA.

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Soft light

January 2023 - As we seek calm light, we find it in the atmosphere of traditional Japanese architecture. Panels of Shoji paper and fine timber frames diffuse the light, while creating a soft and glowing effect in the space - these translucent membranes are delicate and ephemeral, and their subtle beauty is an integral part of the design.

Some details from the Tenryu-ji and Nanzen-ji Temples in Kyoto.

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Engadin Uninterrupted

December 2022 - The process of slowing down gives unexpected delight. Using a large format camera with 4x5” sheet film transforms the whole procedure of photography into another level which results in seeing in a completely different way.

This note is a homage for the method itself. It is about our relationship to nature, through light and time. Unique atmospheres in Engadin on self-processed 8x10” silver gelatine work prints: Piz Cornet, Val Verda, Grevasalvas, Piz Madlain.

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Longitudinal rhythm

November 2022 - With the outstanding spaces of the renaissance architecture of Vicenza and Mantova we allow our imagination to draw away as a visual meditation. Walking through these spaces guided by the rhythm of architectural elements on the sides results in a distinguished and uplifting feeling. Steadiness and solidness forms vitality and dynamism. Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza, Cattedrale di San Pietro and Palazzo Ducale in Mantova.

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Noguchi Museum, New York

October 2022 - 'The essence of sculpture is for me the perception of space, the continuum of our existence.' 'Everything is sculpture. Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture.' Isamu Noguchi

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High Altitudes

September 2022 - 3700 m above sea level and higher. In these photographs of the high altitude areas of Bolivia and Chile we are fascinated by the quality of the colors, the lightness of the air, the openness and limitlessness of the space.

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Spaces of Val Bregaglia

August 2022 - 'All the art of the past rises up before me, the art of all ages and all civilizations, everything becomes simultaneous, as if space had replaced time. Memories of works of art blend with affective memories, with my work, with my whole life.' Alberto Giacometti

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Faraglioni

July 2022 - Stella, Mezzo and Scopolo off the Island of Capri. The sea and the sky, the sea and the rocks, the sky and the rocks - all in the special quality of that mediterranean light and the abstractness of form, surface, edge.

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Urban Patterns

June 2022 - Regardless how beautifully homogeneous a cityscape is, we focus on details, we search for characteristics, uniqueness. How far is the distance from the whole where we still catch the smaller contrasts, the effects of light and shadow? How deep can we focus? Some framed cut outs of the city of La Paz, Naples, Matera, New York and Tokyo.

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