DARK CITY, 2026
This work explores the agency of architecture and designed nature in Europe’s largest inner-city urban development project, HafenCity in Hamburg, Germany. A hypermodern space that, in Baudrillard’s terms, functions through simulation, where simulacra and staged environments generate a hyperreality detached from local history or cultural roots. These places intrigue me because they seem like experimental setups: places where we see our society reinventing itself while simultaneously losing itself. They speak less of progress than of acceleration, of control, of the longing for order amid the chaos of an overly complex present.
I understand my photographs primarily as door openers to inner images and spaces of association that reflect the process of how new urban spaces emerge and the utilization of nature. The intention of the work is to invite viewers to question the logic of these spaces: Which interests and aspirations are behind the designs? Which forms of coexistence and nature do we encounter today? And what might this reveal about our future habitats?