Isozaki Isolation
October 2021
This exhibition presents a series of photographs by William Hall documenting Obscured Horizon (2011), a set of three enigmatic desert structures by the visionary architect Arata Isozaki. These minimalist works—Winter, Spring/Autumn, and Summer—are not quite buildings but rather fragments: an exposed stairway, a plinth, a vaulted shelter. They serve not as homes, but as meditative spaces, inviting contemplation in the vast desert landscape.
Isozaki, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect known for his fluidity across architectural movements, conceived these works as elemental gestures, inspired by Kamo no Chomei's ancient essay Hojoki and the Japanese concept of ma (the space between). Constructed from board-marked concrete, these structures offer minimal shelter, balancing rawness with human scale.
Hall’s photographs capture the tension between these rough, unfinished forms and the harsh desert setting. Through his lens, Isozaki’s works become poetic reflections on isolation, silence, and the void, resonating with the architect’s early experiences of post-war destruction. In these quiet, utilitarian forms, Isozaki explores the extravagance of simplicity, inviting viewers to consider the profound beauty of nothingness.
October 2021
This exhibition presents a series of photographs by William Hall documenting Obscured Horizon (2011), a set of three enigmatic desert structures by the visionary architect Arata Isozaki. These minimalist works—Winter, Spring/Autumn, and Summer—are not quite buildings but rather fragments: an exposed stairway, a plinth, a vaulted shelter. They serve not as homes, but as meditative spaces, inviting contemplation in the vast desert landscape.
Isozaki, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect known for his fluidity across architectural movements, conceived these works as elemental gestures, inspired by Kamo no Chomei's ancient essay Hojoki and the Japanese concept of ma (the space between). Constructed from board-marked concrete, these structures offer minimal shelter, balancing rawness with human scale.
Hall’s photographs capture the tension between these rough, unfinished forms and the harsh desert setting. Through his lens, Isozaki’s works become poetic reflections on isolation, silence, and the void, resonating with the architect’s early experiences of post-war destruction. In these quiet, utilitarian forms, Isozaki explores the extravagance of simplicity, inviting viewers to consider the profound beauty of nothingness.
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