CITY TALES

The starting point for this series of pictures was an excursion to the Europaviertel (name of quarter) in Frankfurt am Main which is deemed by many to be Germany's most spectacular urban development project. Walking through this as well as other, less modern quarters, I focused at first on facades and the historical transformation they reflect. How did the ambiance and lifestyle of those quarters, and the city as a whole, and their identity change along with the new development? The buildings of older quarters frequently are arranged around a square or small local park with children’s playgrounds and kiosks (‘Wasserhäuschen’ in Frankfurt), an outside meeting place for residents. Contrary to the Europaviertel, which is much more compact, uniform in appearance, and a bit faceless, older quarters have a human touch and are rather unique. The trend towards greater uniformity led to me to perceive the buildings from a more abstract perspective. In the end, the buildings and their facades flattened to surfaces, lines, light and shade.