Five years of high culture. My series of images of the Julierturm perfectly fits the theme of this year's European Architectural Photography Prize, "Provisorium - Stopgap," and receives recognition from the jury. The building permit for the theater was granted only under the condition that it be completely dismantled after five years. During this time, the Julierturm offers its guests a breathtaking backdrop on the Swiss Julier Pass in all seasons. The audience is distributed over four floors on small galleries, looking inwards at the theater stage and outwards at the rugged, alpine mountain world. The theater is operated by the Origen Cultural Foundation, which has created several unique cultural sites in the region around Riom.
As part of my series "Modern Alpine Architecture," I photographed the tower for a day.

Architectural photography of Julierturm, Origen, Julier Pass, Switzerland

The weather forecast is not exactly promising for the photo shoot at the Julierturm. Clouds, wind, light rain, and a thunderstorm warning from 7:00 PM are the harbingers for our shoot. However, if I've learned one thing from my architectural photography in the Alps, it's that weather always creates a mood. The clouds dramatically move past the mountain ridges of the Julier Pass, creating a soft, even light that beautifully highlights the red tones of the wooden tower. There's not much time to search for compositions. We have just two hours until it starts to rain. Just enough time for a drone flight and a walk around the small mountain lake with my Hasselblad X2D. The Julierturm often hides between the grassy hills when searching for compositions. You could almost think it's shy about being photographed.

As it starts to rain, we move our shooting inside the Theaterturm (Theater Tower). The Ochsenblut-Rot (oxblood red) stained floorboards create a gloom in the entrance, which is only interrupted by the golden arches on the ceiling and the view outside. A 360° view opens up in all directions of the valley. Behind each window, a new section of alpine nature awaits, elegantly framed by the window arches.

Architectural photography of Julierturm, Origen, Julier Pass, Switzerland, entrance, Venus Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift

One of four natural wood staircases leads to the theater hall. Its width makes it appear compact. The small stage and the galleries, each accommodating six people, create intimacy and a sense of togetherness in the hall. The viewer's gaze is directed to the verticality of the room. From the stage, which can be moved in height via suspension chains, to the pentagram-like ceiling vault, the hall extends over approximately 18m.

From a technical perspective, the variety of camera technology used in this shoot is exciting for me. Together, the 1/2.3'' sensor of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, the full-frame sensor of the Canon R5, and the medium format sensor of the X2D create a homogeneous overall image that leaves nothing to be desired, even in the printed motifs.

The Julierturm will be dismantled at the end of 2023. However, Origen has already presented ideas for a permanent successor to the theater hall, building on the great success of this project.

I am very pleased about my second award at the European Architectural Photography Prize. The pictures, together with all the other winning entries, are currently on display in the Deutsches Architekturmuseum DAM (German Architecture Museum) in Frankfurt am Main.