M+ - Herzog de Meuron

The past 2 years I have been following the construction of Hong Kong’s latest landmark: M+ Museum in West Kowloon Cultural District. Earlier in June 2020, I ventured out again to continue the documentation process as M+ is finally nearing completion in West Kowloon. It is the 2nd landmark project of Herzog & de Meuron in Hong Kong, it is a very neat massing (with a beautiful sleek tower part) overlooking the Victoria Harbour. Looking forward to step inside when it opens to the public early next year. 

Building: M+
Location: Hong Kong
Time: June 2020
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron - Farrells - Arup

China2025.nl Guest Blog

In June 2020 I wrote a guest blog for China2025.nl. The subject: Hong Kong’s housing crisis and the issues it will need to solve in the coming decades to stay relevant.

The blog was accompanied by a new series of photographs I have been working on the past months.

An excerpt of the blog (in dutch)

“Van een indrukwekkende skyline met glinsterende skyscrapers tot hyper-dense woonwijken. Van nauwe straatjes met druipende AC units, tot uitgestrekte natuurlijke landschappen. Van onmenselijke drukke metrostations tijdens de spitsuren tot ongerepte wandelpaden die je (even) doen denken dat je alleen op deze wereld woont. Van Michelin sterren restaurants op de 100e verdieping met zicht over Victoria Harbour tot lokale eetstalletjes met wegwerp stokjes aan de kant van straat. En al deze contrasten maken Hong Kong een razend interessante stad – als alles goed loopt.

En dat doet het al even niet. Het probleem ligt onder andere in nog één van die grote contrasten die Hong Kong kenmerken: de levenskwaliteit en meer in detail: de woningen. Je kunt er bijna niet naast kijken, de luxueuze woontorens die gebouwd werden op de flanken van de bergen op Hong Kong Island. Uitgestrekt en met een ‘million dollar view’ (als zal dat in Hong Kong wel eerder een ‘ten million dollar view‘ zijn.) Echter de overgrote meerderheid is genoodzaakt om in de hyper-dense woonwijken te wonen wat verder uit het centrum: de Hong Kong New Towns.”

Read the entire blog here: CHINA2025.NL

Palace Museum topping out - Rocco Design Architects

One of the main cultural venues of the West Kowloon Cultural District has topped out. The Hong Kong Palace Museum is located on a prominent plot in the West Kowloon park, overlooking the Victoria Harbour. I am eager to see how the project starts the shape up.

See more about the Palace Museum on the Rocco Design Architects website.

APAlmanac feature: 'Beautified China'

Beautified China was very much the start of my venture into China, now 10 years ago. China gave me a platform to develop myself as an architect, working at Zaha Hadid Architects, Büro Ole Scheeren and gmp von Gerkan, Marg and Partners Architects. It also gave me a place to transition from designing the architecture to capturing architecture.

Architecture Photography Almanac, a blog focusing on Architecture Photography, recently asked me about how I got my start in China and how I for a couple of years used both architecture and architecture photography to mutually benefit each other.

To quote the interview:
“The more that I would visit and photograph buildings, the better able I was to understand architecture, and the better designer I was becoming.” The flip-side is also true. Provoost credits his experience as an architect in allowing him to “not just take pretty pictures, but really understanding these buildings and the cities they inhabit.”

Read the entire interview over at APALMANAC

Avontuura feature: Life and work of an Architectural Photographer during a pandemic

Karl van Es, founder of Avontuura wrote:

“There’s no doubt we’re living in an unprecedented time. Closures, quarantine, and social distancing have become the new normal. While much of the architectural industry has been disrupted by the pandemic, it made me question what life must be like as an architectural photographer right now. The very nature of their job requires them to be outside; to travel across country and capture moments in time – how has their life changed in the age of COVID-19? 

I thought it was high time to check-in with architectural photographer Kris Provoost. Kris has been living and working in China for the better part of a decade now. His life has taken him across Asia, photographing some of the most high-profile buildings on the continent. Now based in Hong Kong, I imagined that life for him hasn’t been normal for quite some time now, as, prior to the pandemic, civil unrest was the order of the day with mass protests dominating the news waves in the days and months leading up to where we are now.”

Excerpt of the interview:

“You mentioned that you’re trained as an architect. Your website mentions that you’ve worked for high-profile design firms like Zaha Hadid Architects, Buro Ole Scheeren, and gmp. What caused the shift in your career and how has your experience as an architect shaped the way you think about photography? 

I was always very interested in understanding how buildings work. Showing how buildings work was also my approach back when I was still designing buildings across China. Eventually, evolving into architectural photography allowed me to spend time on a variety of different typologies, to try to understand what makes them the way they are. What were the intentions of the architect? In my photography, I always aim to tell that story. How do people use the building, how is it perceived in its context, and how does it fulfill its duty? I fully believe that I wouldn’t be the architectural photographer I aim to be if I wasn’t an architect first. “

Read the full interview over at AVONTUURA

NTU Cosmology Hall - Kris Yao Artech

On a beautiful full days in Taipei, I was tasked with photographing the NTU Cosmology Hall designed by Kris Yao | Artech. Set on the perimeter of the National Taiwan University, this articulate building features an unique facade that visually changes when moving along the building. I like this project very much, especially when overlooking from the Central Park on the university campus.

Building: NTU Cosmology Hall
Location: Taipei
Time: November 2019
Designed by Kris Yao | Artech
Photographed for Kris Yao | Artech

Ocean Park Marriott - Aedas

Set in the stunning natural scenery of Hong Kong, this resort consists of 3 similar corner buildings that enclose a leisure pool area. 

Building: Ocean Park Marriott
Location: Hong Kong
Time: September 2019
Designed by Aedas
Photographed for Aedas

Peak Galleria - Aedas

Aedas has given the legacy Peak Galleria mall on the world famous Peak in Hong Kong a fresh look. 

I was asked to photograph this shopping mall on some beautiful blue sky days end of last year. (and before every Hong Konger started wearing face-masks)

Info:

Building: Peak Galleria
Location: Hong Kong
Time: December 2019
Designed by Aedas
Photographed for Aedas

MTR Stations Diamond Hill and Kai Tak - Aedas

Aedas has completed 2 new MTR stations in Hong Kong (Diamond Hill and Kai Tak). 
They form part of the Sha Tin to Central link that will eventually connect all the way to Central and make Kai Tak a second CBD in Hong Kong. 

Info:

Project: Diamond Hill and Kai Tak MTR Stations
Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong
Time: February 2020
Designed by Aedas
Photographed for Aedas

National Kaohsiung Center of Arts - Mecanoo

For years I couldn’t grasp how a massive building like this would work. When I finally got the chance to go there, I was perplexed. Enjoyable outdoor urban space in-between the 2 “slabs” with nice amount of people on a weekday (pre-Covid-19). 

Glad I got to “feel” this one.

Info:

Building: National Kaohsiung Center of Arts
Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Time: November 2019
Designed by Mecanoo