Silent World: What Makes A City A City

Lucie & Simon, a French/German duo of photographers, recently put together a series of humbling photographs of huge urban spaces completely devoid of activity. The photographs (also with an accompanying video that ably mixes in Philip Glass and Daft Punk) show some of the busiest places in the world (Tiananmen Square, Times Square, Place Montparnasse) almost entirely empty, save for the built forms that contain the spaces.

The series has gained its fair share of coverage, including over at DesignBoom, the Atlantic, and Curbed, and rightly so. These images are a poignant reminder that, despite the monumental importance of permanent parts of our public spaces, what makes a city a city is the temporary elements within it: the people, the hot dog vendors, the signs, the road constructions, the demonstrations, the ebb and flow of humanity. Click here to check out the entire series!