Check Out Jim Stephenson’s “The Architect Has Left The Building” at RIBA This Summer

Architectural photographer and filmmaker Jim Stephenson has a thought-provoking, dual-screen exhibit at the Royal Institute of British Architects‘ London Festival of Architecture this summer. The film is essentially a lesson in people-watching in post-occupancy architecture and explores how humans interact with the spaces they are immersed in, whether as intended or not.

The Architect Has Left The Building opened on June 3rd, 2023 and runs until August 12, 2023.

It can be viewed at RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London on Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Architect Has Left The Building has been edited and sequenced with photographic artist Sofia Kathryn Smith, and features a spatial soundscape composed by long time collaborator Simon James, creating a unique textural and atmospheric cinematic experience in the Architecture Gallery. The work asks the audience to pause for a moment, and to imagine the stories behind the scenes unfolding in front of them, while immersing themselves in the vision of the filmmaker, a vision that allows the viewer to engage with a subtle visual connectivity that spans fifteen years of Stephenson’s career.

RIBA

In conjunction with his exhibit, Jim will be hosting an evening of special talks called “Fast Forward” on June 15th at RIBA. The talks begin at 7 p.m. and “consider the joy of place-making and celebrating the communal spaces that are the ‘common ground’ between all users of architecture.”

The event is part of the 2023 London Festival of Architecture. You can get more details about Fast Forward and purchase tickets here.