Joining an architect and a photographer on location for a photo shoot is always enjoyable and sparks curiosity in the diverse work spaces that exist beyond your own. In between shot set-ups there is discussion and a bit of clean-up, but there is time to see the space on a number of levels. At the recent shoot for our client at Ipsen, a biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, I came back to a concept we have visited at PAYETTE before – there is art and beauty inherent in science. From the equipment and supplies to under the microscope; I saw artistry everywhere. At Ipsen, the energetic palette of blues, yellow and green reminded me of an image from one of PAYETTE’s mailers celebrating our science buildings.
architecture as beautiful as the science within
Art is intertwined in physical environments, under microscopes, within the camera frame. It is more about focusing your lens a certain way. The results can be cool and surprising: appreciation for a work environment, an abstract magnification, or a beautiful architectural shot.
Related: this post sparked a conversation with a colleague on the art of Geoff Williams who literally has a different lens: art captured by the scanning electron microscope. Check out Nanoscape.
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.