Architecture & Design Shortlist

Shot at night in Sendai, Japan, this series looks at districts built almost entirely for service: shops, offices, car parks, truck fleets, an amusement park, a petrol station. All were photographed after the last of the day’s workers had left, using only the available light. The photographer was drawn to how these banal structures, which are almost invisible during the day, become theatrical once night falls and the human flow stops. The architecture, machinery and a few lit windows seem to act by themselves, leaving only quiet traces of people and a soft, almost post-apocalyptic melancholy.