“Houses are built to live in, not look on; therefore, let use be preferred before uniformity, except where both may be had.” – Sir Francis Bacon, Essays: On Buildings, 1623.
American Suburbs is photographic series depicting the architectural characteristics of American suburbs as a signifier to domestic utopia and perfectness. The photographs are of contemporary, American suburbs as hyper-real environments. The term hyper-real is not an example of material artificiality, or a type of simulation, but as an example of commonplace and familiarity.
Photographed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Colorado, California, and many other states throughout the US, the project is an illustration of an environment that is too real and too perfect. As form follows function, the fantasy of post-war suburban living alludes to misrepresented lifestyle ideals- cleanliness, consistency, structure, and safety. They bridge the definition of real and surreal, as they are examples of a falsely romanticized and idealized environment.