Selected works by Julien Lanoo

Julien Lanoo is a Belgian photographer whose work explores the relationship between architecture, society, and the landscapes we inhabit. Through a sensitive approach to history, materiality, light, and human presence, he reveals buildings not as isolated objects, but as living environments shaped by memory, culture, and everyday life.

Working across architecture, design, urban transformation, and social research, Lanoo’s photographs examine how spaces evolve through their relationship with people, communities, and territories. His practice bridges architectural representation, documentary photography, and contemporary visual culture, creating narratives that reveal the social and emotional dimensions of the built environment.

His work has been exhibited internationally at venues and events including the Venice Architecture Biennale, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine in Paris, MAXXI in Rome, Deutsches Architekturmuseum, and the Vitra Design Museum. Since 2015, Lanoo has pursued an ongoing photographic dialogue with Vitra, chronicling the continuous evolution of the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein through each new architectural intervention. His expanding body of work presents the campus as a living landscape of architecture, design, and nature – a place where ideas, materials, and human experience intersect. Through this sustained visual record, Lanoo reveals the cultural significance and transformative character of the campus, resulting in a series of publications and exhibitions.

Lanoo is the author and co-author of several acclaimed architectural publications, including Built Unbuilt with Julien De Smedt, as well as monographic works developed with leading architects and cultural institutions. Recent publications include Novartis Campus – Pavillon designed by MDL CIRCLE & Michele De Lucchi, Khudi Bari – A Social Project by Marina Tabassum Architects, and Architecture Connecting: Xu Tiantian & Tsuyoshi Tane – Memoryscapes, the second volume in the Architecture Connecting series, co-published with the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Internationally recognised for his contribution to architectural photography, Lanoo’s studio was named the World’s Best Architecture Photography Studio at the 2021 A+Firm Awards by Architizer. His work has also received four nominations in a single year for the World Architecture Festival Architectural Photography Awards, was selected for the European Architectural Photography Prize, and received the Créateurs Design Award for Best Project Photography in 2025.

Alongside his architectural photography, Lanoo maintains an analogue practice that explores the relationship between image, memory, and place. His analogue series documenting the 110 Star Homes in Mtwara, Tanzania, has been nominated for Best Project Photography at the Architizer Awards, reflecting his continued exploration of how design can improve lives and shape more resilient futures.Julien Lanoo is an architectural photographer.

He looks at the architectural world with a deep understanding of its historical and social layers as well as the visible and intangible connections between nature, light, and materiality.

Lanoo’s photographic career has covered such topics and fields as architecture, design, social integration, urban transformations, and their dwellers.

His work has been exhibited widely, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Cité de l’architecture in Paris, MAXXI in Rome, and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, among others.