Martin Siplane Facades

Architectural photographer Martin Siplane’s 4th solo exhibition “Facades” pushes the boundaries of classic architectural photography by adding layers of color to facades from different eras in a humorous way. Siplane uses color codes in the exhibition, which on the one hand add playfulness to buildings of different ages, but allow the viewer to travel back and forth through the history of architecture in a simple way.

Siplane is a masterful “ruiner”, enricher and bender of the boundaries of the classic architectural photo. He knows how to find unexpected layers in the urban space and peel them to the skeleton or, on the contrary, cover them with new meanings. For example, scaffoldings and constructions in progress can look as characterful, perfect and ready in his photos as the buildings that are already occupied. Siplane is interested in patterns of forms, structures, unexpected constructions and concepts that arise between the building and its surroundings. 

While architectural photos taken from a diagonal angle are usually used in print as they capture more information, this exhibition features direct views of the buildings – parade or passport photos. The original photos come from Siplane’s own collection and have been captured from trips around Estonia in the years 2012–2024. 

Martin Siplane‘s (b. 1985) debut exhibition “Abstract City”, which deconstructed Tallinn’s architectural heritage in its characteristically optimistic mood, took place in the spring of 2022 in the Positiiv photo gallery in Tallinn. Another exhibition about the partial beauty of modern architecture and the temporary monumentality of the scaffolding around them called “Talling” was up at the Estonian Architecture Museum in the winter of 2022. The third exhibition “Architexture” moved across the bay, continuing the pictorial language of the debut exhibition, and was exhibited in the fall of 2023 in the Helsinki art gallery Galleria 68.