Launch of the book ‘Eminent Architects. Seen by Ingrid von Kruse’

On 21 February 2013 Ivorypress hosted the launch of the book Eminent Architects. Seen by Ingrid von Kruse. A title that compiles over thirty portraits of the most renowned architects of the last two centuries taken by this German photographer. Aside from the artist, the event was also attended by Marta Thorne, executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and associate dean at the IE University School of Architecture, author of the foreword; and architect Rafael Moneo, 1996 Pritzker Prize-winner and winner of the Príncipe de Asturias award for the Arts in 2012, who is one of the figures portrayed by Von Kruse.

With a meticulous, demanding and intuitive observation, Ingrid von Kruse has photographed the people responsible for the most outstanding projects in the world. Norman Foster, Oscar Niemeyer, Richard Meier or Zaha Hadid are some of the professionals that have stood before Von Kruse’s personal lens.

The photographer always works with her analogical Hasselblad camera, and only uses natural lighting. The good climate of each of the photographic sessions in personal settings, workspaces, or the architects’ recent constructions are reflected in each portrait. The result is a deep and intimate insight into each of the characters portrayed and their work.

The portraits in the book are complemented by statements and reflections by some of the architects in it. A selection of sketches, drawings and mockups completes the particular vision of this German artist. A selection of these portraits was exhibited at Ivorypress on the day of the presentation.

Among the architects captured by Von Kruse’s lens are Tadao Ando, Gottfried Böhm, Mario Botta, Santiago Calatrava, David Chipperfield, Peter Eisenman, Frank O. Gehry, Meinhard von Gerkan, Hans Hollein, Bjarke Ingels, Helmut Jahn, Rem Koolhaas, Phyllis Lambert, Daniel Libeskind, Volkwin Marg, Rafael Moneo, Ryue Nishizawa, Ieoh Ming Pei, Dominique Perrault, Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Kazuyo Sejima, Álvaro Siza, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Albert Speer, Oswald Mathias Ungers and Peter Zumthor.

Ingrid von Kruse was born in Hamburg and studied photography at the Polytechnic University in Essen (1978-1981). During the following years she began to focus more and more on portraiture. Her books have been the subject of several international exhibitions, such as Europe Taken Literally, Time and Moments and Venice — Voices between the Stone and the Sea. Her work has become an important part of various public and private collections.