The Julien Lanoo studio in Belgium has just been named World’s Best Photography Studio 2021 at the A+Firm Awards. This recognition rightly rewards work of extreme precision and beauty.

Work by this photographer from Comines-Warneton has already been widely exhibited, notably at the Venice Biennale of Architecture and the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the City of Architecture in Paris and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum. In 2017, he and Julien de Smedt co-wrote the book Built Unbuilt, which covers 16 years of work by JDSA. More recently, his photographs appeared in The Vitra Campus: Architecture Design Industry. His continued research into the complex relationship between humans and their environment, which is a central subject of his photography, was presented in 2018 as In[Cognitus], a monograph exhibition at WAAO in Lille.

Julien Lanoo: ‘I see architectural photography as a way of capturing a very specific moment in time, aspirations and problems that are part of the human condition. The spatial relationship between a user and their environment unveils hidden stories and meanings, capturing the story of a specific, unique moment in time. A builder, a passer-by, a woman waiting at the bus stop: they are all unaware that they are key players in the creation of a new environment. I view photography as a way of telling a human story.

Architecture is built with a purpose in mind – be it social, financial or political – and can be viewed as a romantic connection between mankind and their intellect, evolution and history. One could say that the value of architecture does not lie in what its creators add themselves, but the way in which it lives and serves its users. I integrate these elements into my work by analysing situations, observing the community from an architectural perspective and adding the subliminal layer of modern living to the objective analysis of architecture.'