#Japan #Tokyo #GARDE Gallery #Nicola Maniero #Urban Portraits

Nicola Maniero's Solo Exhibition "Urban Portraits"

The ADF (NPO Aoyama Design Forum) is set to showcase the 38th installment of its Art Gallery Project, featuring the solo exhibition titled "Urban Portraits" by Italian architect and photographer Nicola Maniero. This exciting event will take place at the GARDE Gallery in Omotesando, Tokyo, from March 2 to March 13, 2026.

In this exhibition, Maniero shifts the focus away from traditional representations of cities through architecture and iconic landmarks, instead exploring the human presence embedded within public spaces. Through expressions, gestures, and brief encounters, the exhibition illuminates the psychological and emotional states generated by dense urban living. The portraits on display are birthed from spontaneous meetings found on streets, in stations, and in transitional spaces.

The exhibition captures moments where attention briefly strays, defenses loosen, and one's inner self momentarily emerges, portraying these instances not as definitive identities, but as fragments that echo the instability and ambiguity characteristic of contemporary urban life.

By intentionally omitting explicit contextual information, the exhibition distinguishes itself from conventional documentary impulses, reducing the surrounding urban environment to mere traces of light, texture, and atmosphere. When the focus shifts to the ‘faces’ that accumulate the pressures of urban life, themes of fatigue, solitude, resilience, fragility, and quiet resistance coexist within a single frame, revealing thresholds between the inner and outer worlds, the private and the public.

Refusing to present grand or symbolic expressions of the city, the exhibition offers an alternative interpretation grounded in proximity and encounters. The portraits arise from unplanned situations, shaped by the photographer’s physical presence and the unpredictable dynamics of public spaces. This approach acknowledges the ethical tensions inherent in street photography while emphasizing uncertainty over dominance and existence over possession.

Collectively, these portraits converge to form a complex image of the city itself. Rather than presenting a coherent narrative or linear flow, the exhibition showcases a series of interconnected moments resonating through posture, gaze, and emotional tone. Repetitions and differences create a rhythm where shared situations emerge, presenting the city not as a fixed environment but as a continually generated relational space shaped by the people who navigate through it.

Ultimately, in a context ruled by speed, consumption, and visual overload, the exhibition "Urban Portraits" invites viewers to pause and confront the presence of others, suggesting a more contemplative observation of urban life. It indicates that understanding the city goes beyond monuments and skylines, instead revealing itself through fleeting, ephemeral, and deeply human moments that unfold within.

About Nicola Maniero

Based in Tokyo, Nicola Maniero is an Italian architect and photographer who studied architecture at the University of Venice (IUAV). He has long been interested in the relationship between space, perception, and daily life. Since 2010, he has been affiliated with Kengo Kuma & Associates and is currently a partner involved in cultural facilities, infrastructure, and urban projects across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

His architectural practice is characterized by a strong sensitivity to context, materiality, and public spaces. He has engaged in complex international projects that explore architecture as a mediator between landscape, social use, and collective experiences. This background profoundly informs his perspective on photography as an extension of architectural thought rather than a separate field.

Parallel to his architectural endeavors, Maniero has developed independent photographic research focused on contemporary urbanity. His work delves into urban life at a human scale, paying attention to marginal situations and fleeting moments that fall outside planned representations. Instead of portraying architecture as an object, he investigates how built environments are inhabited, perceived, and emotionally experienced.