"During the making of this new film for the exhibition, we took the opportunity to slow down and reflect on the way our work forms part of a narrative that the buildings go through after completion and now we’re asking the audience to do the same. We hope that they’ll enjoy the chance to pause as well, and observe how these spaces are used, misused, what they have in common and what makes them different."
Jim Stephenson.
The show has been created in response to the theme of this year’s London Festival of Architecture, which is "In Common". Displayed as a dual-screen installation, the exhibition will work on different scales to explore the idea and impact of a "shared place" and the contextual detailing that makes them successful. In this form, "The Architect Has Left The Building" will ask its audience to pause for a moment, and imagine the stories that are unfolding on the screen, while offering an opportunity to reflect and immerse themselves in the vision of the filmmaker, a vision that creates a space for the viewer to engage with a subtle visual connectivity that spans fifteen years of Stephenson’s career.
The life of buildings explored through moving images. "The Architect Has Left The Building" by Jim Stephenson. Photograph by Agnese Sanvito.
The work, edited and sequenced with photographic artist Sofia Kathryn Smith, features a soundscape composed by long-time collaborator Simon James.
A wide range of projects and people are featured in the installation, ranging from schools in Hackney, east London and Berkshire, to galleries and museums stretching from Cornwall to the Lake District. Stirling Prize-winning universities are used to show how the very best architecture in the country can frame daily life, while a community centre in West London reveals the small moments created when different groups use a single building.
The presentation aims to quietly disrupt the traditionally neat visions of these perhaps familiar buildings often presented to the public, and instead offers a textural, atmospheric experience - a theme that runs throughout much of Stephenson’s work.
The life of buildings explored through moving images. "The Architect Has Left The Building" by Jim Stephenson. Photograph by Agnese Sanvito.
Featured in The Architect Has Left The Building:
-National Youth Theatre by DSDHA.
-Cambridge Mosque, Marks Barfield.
-Airdraft, Benedetta Rogers and Thomas Randall Page.
-Kingston, Grafton.
-Magdalene Library, Niall McLaughlin.
-Windermere Jetty Museum, Carmody Groarke.
-Horris Hill, Jonathan Tuckey.
-Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Feilden Fowles.
-Tate St Ives, Jamie Fobert.
-Tintagel Bridge, William Matthews.
-London Bridge, Grimshaw.
-Sands End, Mae.
-Brittania Leisure Centre, Faulkner Brown.
-Hackney New School, HenleyHalebrown.
-Cambridge Mosque, Marks Barfield.
-Airdraft, Benedetta Rogers and Thomas Randall Page.
-Kingston, Grafton.
-Magdalene Library, Niall McLaughlin.
-Windermere Jetty Museum, Carmody Groarke.
-Horris Hill, Jonathan Tuckey.
-Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Feilden Fowles.
-Tate St Ives, Jamie Fobert.
-Tintagel Bridge, William Matthews.
-London Bridge, Grimshaw.
-Sands End, Mae.
-Brittania Leisure Centre, Faulkner Brown.
-Hackney New School, HenleyHalebrown.
