For Weiss, it’s not the popularity of a building or the architect’s name that lures him in. ‘It could also be a completely trivial building, like a supermarket or parking garage that has a charisma.’ In November last year, spurred on by the release of ‘Ricardo Bofill: Visions of Architecture’, Weiss visited one of the architect’s most notable feats, ‘La Muralla Roja’ designed in 1968 and located in Calp, Spain. Lodging in the fully-functioning apartment complex for a week, he documented the strict, alternating geometry, surreal colour schemes and sci-fi-esque shadow plays. Here, Weiss offers a window into the otherworldly realm of ‘The Red Wall’.
‘The sun was already low in the sky, casting the entire series in a warm autumnal tone. Long shadows intensified the impression of the strict architecture and add more plasticity to the images.’
’The Red Wall’, a photo series on Ricardo Bofill’s La Muralla Roja. © Sebastian Weiss, 2020
‘The photographic encounter with a building feels to me like a meeting with a strange or unknown person, there is curiosity and tension, but also respect and restraint.’
‘This architectural utopia was really a major event for me as a photographer because it is such an absurdly beautiful and surreal location, which appears sometimes like a film set or a staging.’
