British photographer Alastair Philip Wiper takes us to the utopian home of American millionaire Jerry Henderson: a fallout shelter built in 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Since the beginning of his photographic career, Alastair Philip Wiper has made his art a search for "strange beauty". This British virtuoso, based in Denmark for the past twenty years, has made a name for himself by probing the fields of industry, science and architecture.
His Unintended Beauty series, published in book form (Hatje Cantz, 2020), revealed the hidden beauty of infrastructures, exploring design issues through the prism of "our needs, our desires, our follies and our vision of the future". With The Underground House, he pushes the boundaries even further. This series, which appeared in the book Building Stories (The Danish Architectural Press, 2023), is part of a larger, long-term project, How We Learned to Stop Worrying. The title is reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove. Here, the photographer delves into the increasingly extravagant, complex and paradoxical beauty of the architectural remains of the nuclear age.

BETWEEN KITSCH, LUXURY AND EXCESS

Is it a movie set? A 1950s sitcom? An episode of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone? This fallout shelter is a bit of everything. And even more, depending on how you feel about it. For Girard B. "Jerry" Henderson (1905-1983), eccentric millionaire and board member of Avon Products, it's his "dream home". After the one in Colorado, this other underground residence, built in Las Vegas in 1978, again by architect Jay Swayze, specialized in residential bunkers, expressed his vision of the ideal habitat.

Alastair Philip Wiper invites us to a visit like no other. "Imagine, you're stuck there with friends while the world burns above, and think how long it would take before things started to get weird. That's what I was thinking about when I was there," he confides.

Here, fake rocks, artificial trees, artificial grass and Liberace-style gilding compete with American Way of Life décor, mid-century modern furniture and bright colors. The 1,400-square-meter residence is divided into two structures, consisting of a main house and a living area for friends. It features a swimming pool, in which Alastair Philip Wiper happily took a dip, two Jacuzzis, a sauna, a dance floor, a grand piano, a billiard table, a putting green, a bar, a barbecue and a fountain.

Spacious, opulent and comfortable enough, then, for partying and communal living sheltered from cataclysmic events. The businessman completed the ensemble with an adjustable lighting system, which can simulate daylight as well as starry skies, and wall-painted
landscapes with mountain and city views.

CELEBRATION OF (OVER)LIFE

"The end of one thing marks the beginning of a new one", said the Little Prince. This positive and hopeful thought could be
adapted if it wasn't shaped here by the Cold War and the fear of seeing humanity disappear under the threat of the atomic bomb. "I don't
really understand why he was so attracted to life underground. He was definitely eccentric, and I'm not surprised that his ideas
didn't catch on; most people appreciate fresh air and open skies. But at the same time, I'm glad there are people out there doing this kind of crazy stuff. It makes the world a more interesting place."

This building remains one of the wildest examples of the paradoxical architecture of the atomic utopia. Jerry Henderson obviously spent lavishly to live in this house for five years, until his death in 1983, with his second wife Mary (1905-1988). The latter then built a classic above-ground house just above it. Today, it belongs to the Church of Perpetual Life, an organization dedicated to achieving eternal life through cryonics.

With his play on line, symmetry and color, Alastair Philip Wiper continues to question the paradoxes, fantasies and ideals of the atomic age. When asked what stands out as the best thing about this era, he replies positively: "I think the beauty, optimism and hope come from nuclear projects that save lives and have the potential to save the world, like nuclear medicine and fusion experiments; things that have the potential to have a huge positive impact on humanity. But the duality remains captivating. The same machine can help destroy or save the world. This kind of contradiction is commonplace in this sector, which is what makes it so fascinating."

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