Xavier Delory

Born in Liege, Belgium

Lives & works in Brussels

info@xavierdelory.be​

 

Between Documentary Photography and Speculative Fiction, My Work Explores the Forms and Narratives of Contemporary Architecture, Questioning the Ugly, the Ordinary, and the Symbolic.

Like the postmodern architect Robert Venturi, my approach embraces complexity, ambiguity, and contradiction.

 

With a degree in interior architecture, I then specialized in architectural photography. After several years working in architecture firms, I gained a deep understanding of design processes and the challenges linked to built space. I also had the privilege of assisting Brussels-based artist Jean Glibert, which nurtured my interest in integrating artwork into architecture.

For some time now, I have been reflecting on architecture through partly fictional creations derived from photographic manipulations. I am particularly drawn to buildings that are under construction, derelict, or abandoned—staging an aesthetic of vandalism and street art in dialogue with the history of ruin.

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My previous series—such as Habitat, Fermé le dimanche, and Formes urbaines—are inspired by phenomena like residential standardization, peripheral no man’s‑land zones, and the transformation of metropolitan landscapes. Other projects, including Pèlerinage sur la Modernité, After Sol Lewitt, and Open Space, revisit architectural and art history, highlighting their fragility and societal preservation choices.

Today, I continue my visual research by exploring the possibilities of generative artificial intelligence. This process yields visuals entirely created from prompts, as well as interventions on my own photographs, to which I integrate a fictional dimension through AI.