Gabriel Bauret

This volume goes behind the scenes to reveal the history and metamorphosis of the H tel de la Marine, a treasure of Parisian heritage. The H tel de la Marine, an exemplary monument on Paris's Place de la Concorde, is a superb architectural achievement constructed in the eighteenth century by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, the official architect of King Louis XV. The institution it housed was charged with choosing, purchasing, and maintaining all of the king's furniture--from beds to the simplest chair--and the crown's treasures were stored here until 1789, after which it became the site of the Ministry of the Navy for more than two hundred years. An extensive four-year restoration was completed in 2021; the building reopened to the public and features a museum, conserved apartments that highlight the tastes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, an exhibition hall, a bookshop, and three restaurants. Previously unpublished photography captures the splendor and majesty of the monument.

The earliest of the series presented in the book is Livingrooms. Helene Schmitz photographed her childhood home after a fire. It struck her how the familiar and well-known had been transformed into something else, for- eign and shocking in its contradictory beauty. Helene Schmitz has spent many years exploring man s relationship with nature and natural forces. In Western art the garden has often been used as a metaphor for paradise and plants are often seen as peaceful. The Kudzu, however, is quite the opposite: it is an invasive plant species from Asia which has grown completely out of control and suffocated all other vegetation in its progress through parts of the US South. In Kudzu Project she depicts how the vegetation has created some sort of twisted and mysterious landscape and how new sorts of spaces have emerged. The series Sunken Gardens was photographed in Surinam. Helene Schmitz traveled to the former Dutch colony.and this farm came to represent a miniature colonizing project. The construction of the farm was like a maze of fragile net enclosures surrounded by intrusive nature. In these spaces one loses all sense of who has the power. The series Earthworks was photographed in Namibia and in the early twentieth century, diamonds were discovered along the rugged coast of this former German colony. Those controlling the diamond trade became extremely rich and had a small settlement built with all the necessary conveniences. In the 1950s the houses were deserted and the strong ocean wind slowly drowns the buildings in sand. The elements have left their mark over the years. The book is a co-publication between Art and Theory and Dunkers Kulturhus.

Over the last few years, the Architecture Photographer Giovanni Presutti has photographed many of the most important buildings in major Euro- pean cities, placing a special focus on constructions built in the last decade • The methodical research and surveys which he carries out before each trip have led him to the conclusion that the majority of these buildings have two key aspects in common. The first is their very prominence; their devotion to aesthetics. It is clear that the works are produced by contemporary society, with even those featuring complicated internal struc- tures increasingly characterized by attention to exteriority. It is important to note, however, that these buildings do not lack functionality. The second is the uniformity of style and planning. Presutti encountered similar ideas and materials in every country he visited which were often completely unconnected to local traditions. This frequently made it difficult to place a certain building in a given country. It is as though the European Union, having not yet achieved political or social unity, has somehow succeeded at an architectural level • Giovanni Presutti explores these issues in Contemporanea, emphasizing the aesthetic qualities his subjects have in common; the lines, materials and reflections, as seen from different pers- pectives. In the process, he has sought out pureness of form, and created a unique context; one that is representative of our time • A foreword by Antonio Belvedere, and an introduction by the Parisian-born curator, critic and photography historian Gabriel Bauret, provide a critical perspective on this collection of images.