A PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE AT THE SERVICE OF ARCHITECTURE
This Italian, based in Barcelona, who is both an architect and a photographer, has immortalized the greatest figures of our time on glossy paper:
Herzog & de Meuron, Rafael Moneo, Enric Miralles, but also Álvaro Siza, tutelary figure of thePortuguese architectureIn June, Phaidon will publish a book revisiting the work of the 1992 Pritzker Prize winner, written collaboratively by the photographer and the architect. A good excuse to meet Duccio Malagamba and discuss his career.
Summer 1984. Then an architecture student, the young Duccio Malagamba was spending his holidays in Portugal. Once he arrived in Porto, he stopped on the seafront, in the city's suburbs. There he had one of the most defining encounters of his life: Álvaro Siza. Not the man himself, but his architecture, which he discovered through the swimming pools of Leça da Palmeira, then filled with children and misted by the ocean waves. An "ode to architecture," he explains.
Dazzled by the minimal resources employed in this project, and by the delicate adaptation of the context to human needs, he decided a few years later not to pursue his architectural career but instead to dedicate himself to architectural photography. This new career, which began in the early 1990s, gave him the opportunity to meet this great master of architecture in person. This encounter culminated in 2024 with this unique work: Before / After – Siza / Malagamba.
In this work, is it your view of his work or both of your views?
This is undeniably my interpretation of his work. From the very beginning of our collaboration, it has been extremely rare for him to give me any instructions on how to approach a project. In fact, the only constraint affecting my photography is his aversion to shots taken at dusk or in the evening, with illuminated buildings… Apart from that, I feel completely free to convey my own reading and interpretation of his projects.
IS ITS ARCHITECTURE EASY TO PHOTOGRAPH?
Álvaro Siza's architecture may appear simple at first glance, as it is based on subtle and deliberate gestures. A superficial photographic study of his buildings, if not approached in a complex way, would fail to convey the poetic elegance inherent in many of his design decisions. In my experience, the only way to truly grasp his gentle and inspired design is to spend time in the buildings, searching for the perfect light and angle.
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THREE OTHER OF YOUR PROJECTS?
The following projects mark a clear departure from my main activity, which primarily consists of disseminating the latest work of prestigious architects to architecture enthusiasts. Here, the more formal and intimate aspects of my work take center stage.
HABANA DECÒ
During my first visit to Havana as a tourist, I was deeply impressed by the beauty of its Art Deco architecture. Despite the poor state of preservation of the city's architectural heritage, the buildings retained an extraordinary ability to evoke the golden age the Cuban capital experienced in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. This capacity of the architecture to fascinate remained intact and was curiously enhanced by the presence of cars from the same era still circulating in the city. So, a few years later, I decided to return to Havana, where I spent a month photographing the architectural achievements I found most interesting. The idea was to publish a book, and I even commissioned the Cuban writer Zoé Valdés to write a prologue. However, the project has yet to materialize…
SOMBRAS IN THE FAWN
To mark the publication of a book dedicated to the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto (FAUP), Adalberto Dias, professor and researcher at FAUP, asked me to provide a personal interpretation of this architectural intervention. For some reason, I hadn't yet photographed the project, and by the time I received the commission, the buildings were already quite deteriorated due to neglect. For this reason, I decided to work in black and white, focusing on the interplay of light and shadow created by the various overhangs and the proximity of the different volumes. This subtle dance of light and shadow on the facades proved capable of conveying the poetry of this project by Siza, without the eye being distracted by its poor state of preservation.
STEEL SCULPTURES IN MILAN
The construction of a skyscraper is generally very complex from a technological point of view, but in the case of the Unipol Tower in Milan, designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, the sophistication of the structure reaches dizzying heights. Impressed by the imposing structural elements of this architectural intervention, I decided to represent these pieces as if they were cyclopean sculptures. Thanks to the abstraction inherent in black and white photography, these gigantic elements acquire a fascinating and unsettling presence.
Duccio Malagamba does not simply photograph a building or capture the essence of an architect. He seizes its myriad facets to take us into another dimension, magnifying the delicacy and singular details that constitute the very identity of an architectural work.
BEFORE/AFTER:
SIZA/MALAGAMBA
PUBLISHED BY PHAIDON
PHAIDON.COM
DUCCIOMALAGAMBA.COM
