Japan Works

Aglaia Konrad’s photographic work probes the social, cultural, economic, political, and historical parameters that inform architecture and urbanism.

Japan Works is the result of her journey through Japan in the autumn of 2019. Using a pre-compiled list of places with exceptional architecture, Konrad took thousands of photos in Tokyo, Itoigawa, Kyoto, Nagoya and Osaka.

In addition to mostly iconic, post-war Metabolist architecture, Konrad also took a large number of photos of nonspecific architectural moments and infrastructure that, with the same intensity, give their own impression of the architectural landscape in Japan. Free associations of full-page photographs alternate with contact sheets documenting her itinerary. These are informed by postscript glosses written by architect and critic Julian Worrall.