#Photographing the world 1 windows
Windows in Alpine regions take their inspiration from the mountains themselves, with their soaring arches, peaks, and elaborate scenes that frame many of the region’s windows. In Venice, sun-inspired tones reflect the city’s warmth and hospitality. Gaze into the tiled windows of Lisbon and see the Moorish influence on the city’s history. As a result, Gonçalves chose to showcase his collection city by city, highlighting the subtle differences that separate one city’s windows from another’s. As in individual buildings, that distinction shows its face best through the city’s various windows. That evolution formed the basis of this work.ĭuring his study, Gonçalves discovered that not only do buildings themselves have a distinctive identity but cities, too, have their own design aesthetic. Across cultures, across time, window designs have evolved and adapted, much as humankind itself. The way in which every architect, every owner has visualized that barrier inspired Gonçalves to showcase the sheer variety of that vision. A safe place from which one can view the world beyond. One small glass pane that separates the exterior from the civilization inside. Others, following Frank Lloyd Wright’s lead, create buildings whose windows extend the occupants’ line of sight way beyond the physical boundaries of the home to encompass nature itself. The plain, rustic windows of a peasant dwelling contrast with those of a palace, whose royal owners demonstrate their power and wealth with flashy, opulent windows with intricate design and gilt trim. Humility-or a lack thereof-in a building’s original owner often reflects in the building’s windows. How they create that bridge defines the personality of its builder-and those who commissioned him.
Because they serve as a bridge between nature and the building’s interior, they bring nature’s vitality inside the building. Though in every era, architects have dazzled with their ability to transcend the status quo to achieve timeless beauty coupled with efficient design, it is in the building’s windows that it comes to life, says Gonçalves.
Called “Windows of the World,” the collection zeroes in what Gonçalves sees as the source of a building’s personality-its windows. Inspired by the genius of architects throughout history, photographer André Vicente Gonçalves set out to capture one part of that genius for the world in his latest collection.
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