Monaco is widely known as the smallest and richest country in the world, but not
for its architecture.

The tiny territory offers a phenomenal density of distinctive architectural styles. Traditional rules of urbanism have had to be reconsidered over the years, due to the Principality’s development and lack of space, naturally confined between the sea and
the surrounding mountains. Solutions are to be found upward and over the sea.

The superimposition of several generations of architectural styles – Art Deco, Belle Époque, Art Nouveau, classical and contemporary – offers an interesting playing field for analyzing and comparing various perspectives over the sea.

This series stems from a stroll along the streets of Monaco, on the roofs of these buildings and at sea. The point is not to be exhaustive; quite the opposite. It is my own gaze, at a given moment in time. Discovering such a confined territory requires time, distance, perspective and height.

A pause in our rushed daily lives, looking up to the sky to escape the urban density.

The series is displayed in a comparative, rhythmic format, like a stroll through the country. The views were made between 2012 and 2015. Rather then straightening up perspectives, as is usually the case with the German School, they are accentuated through a wide-angle lens that endlessly stretches vanishing points.

The purpose is to share these various similarities, and opposites, to arouse your curiosity, so that you will never stroll in the same way again.

Laurent Reiss