manuel alvarez diestro captures the sombre tower blocks of caracas

manuel alvarez diestro‘s latest photography series has taken him to the venezuelan capital of caracas. in his most recent project, diestro has captured the tower blocks of the city, resulting in a bleak snapshot and highlighting the decay and social unrest. by focusing on the neglected high-rise architecture, the collection of images portrays a somewhat grim and forlorn picture of the city through the grey colors and tones.

images © manuel alvarez diestro

generally, when diestro photographs cities, he walks, cycles or takes public transport to travel around the streets. however, the unusual aspect about this project is that all the images were shot from behind the window of a car. as one of the most dangerous places in the world, diestro had to take a bulletproof vehicle to see the city, and this can be seen in some of the images through the reflection of the glass, further conveying the ominous atmosphere to the viewer.

the objective of the series was to capture a prison-like atmosphere, in a fast paced and unsettling manner. these tower blocks were mostly built in the seventies during a period of economic expansion, generated mainly from the oil industry. these days, caracas is going through social unrest and the towers have become metaphors of a city at the point of collapse. diestro’s images are characterized by the dark, forbidding mood and altogether effectively convey the bleakness of the tower block architecture.

project info:

project name: ‘caracas tower blocks’

photography: manuel alvarez diestro

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom