A House for Culture by Nicolas Grospierre highlights the formal similarities between kibbutz and kolkhoz buildings, constructed in places that are spread thousands of kilome­tres apart.

The buildings are separated not only by their geographic location but also by the cultural context and political systems in which they were created. On the other hand, they are tightly connected through the universal language of modern architecture and culture. The photobook contains 139 photographs by Nicolas Grospierre, taken in Israel, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The photographs are supplemented with critical essays by researchers of modern architecture: Yuval Yaski, Mart Kalm, and Pedro Gadanho.

Nicolas Grospierre (b. 1975) is an architectural photographer and artist. He grew up in France and has lived in Poland since 1999. Before turning to photography, he studied political science and sociology in Paris and London. He uses photography as a creative tool, focusing on both documentary projects and conceptual themes. His documentary work often explores collective memory and the hopes associated with modernist architecture, revisiting these themes at a time when the utopias once associated with the style have lost much of their power and significance. The conceptual side of his practice is based on creating a dialogue and a game with the viewer, who is drawn in through visually striking – even sensual – images and installations.

In 2008, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the 11th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, together with Kobas Laksa, for the Polish Pavilion exhibition Hotel Polonia. The Afterlife of Buildings.

Recipient of the Paszport Polityki award in 2012.

A House for Culture. An enquiry into the architecture of the kibbutz and the kolkhoz  
Author: Nicolas Grospierre
Graphic design: Kasia Kubicka
hardcover
202 pages
1st edition, Warsaw 2022
ISBN 978-83-962825-2-1 (PL), 978-83-962825-1-4 (ENG)
Price: PLN 150 (Polish-language edition), EUR 35 (English-language edition)