Agustín Scuoteguazza

Amsterdam Bricks

Amsterdam Bricks is an ongoing project of urban exploration. Since my arrival in Amsterdam in 2018, I have been deeply influenced by its brick modernist architecture, which began to flourish a century ago. Brick Expressionism and the Amsterdamse School have defined the character of many Dutch urban spaces, particularly in Amsterdam. My daily commute often takes me through H.P. Berlage’s Plan Zuid, an area that has served as a canvas for brilliant architects such as Michel de Klerk, Piet Kramer, and Margaret Kropholler, among others.
As I dedicated more time to large format photography, I realized that the exploration of modernist brickwork would guide my curiosity. The large format camera requires me to meticulously consider structure, with the crosshairs on the ground glass emphasizing the formal presence of lines. This process demands heightened attention to the geometry and relationships before the lens, transforming my transit through the city into a deliberate and contemplative practice.
Pauses are crucial in this process, which I experience as quasi-cartographic. Humanistic geographer Yi-Fu Tuan tells us that "if time is conceived as flow or movement, then place is pause” (p. 198). This concept resonates deeply with photography—not only in the deliberate act of making photographic decisions and taking a pause, but also in the mechanical pause created by the shutter, which captures a representation of photons within a specific time frame. In this way, as Tuan would say, the abstraction of space is transformed into place imbued with meaning (p. 199), mapping my world as an inhabitant of Amsterdam.
This selection of photographs is characterized by the presence of bricks and windows, the physical absence of humans, and the indirect human presence evident in the built and lived environment. I engage with buildings to highlight their sculptural qualities while remaining mindful of the lived dimension added by inhabitants. The deterioration, flower pots, parked bicycles, and abandoned objects constantly remind us of the relationship between place and identity.
Every place, with its unique characteristics and human traces, shapes the identities of those who inhabit it. Simultaneously, the collective identity of the inhabitants influences and molds the character of the place. In this way, Amsterdam Bricks serves as a personal document of the places in my daily life, inviting viewers to reflect on their own connections to place and identity.

Reference: Tuan, Yi-Fu. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001.

I was born in 1994 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. In 2013, I moved to New York City, where I lived on a sailboat on the Hudson River. During my time in New York, I studied theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the City University of New York, and worked in various Off-Broadway theatres. In 2018, I relocated to Amsterdam, where I earned a BA in Literary Studies from the University of Amsterdam and an MA in Art History from Leiden University. My photography, characterized by the use of a large format camera, explores the silent narratives within built environments. I am particularly interested in the sense of place and the dynamic interaction between individuals and their surroundings.


Instagram: @aguazza