Architecture nominee

My interest has focused on abandoned places reclaimed by Nature because of the ecological consciousness that moves me since my youngest age. Indeed, this series carries the message that Nature is stronger, and that whatever happens to Man, She will always be there. It also asks the fundamental question of the place of Man on Earth and his relationship with Nature. Far from being pessimistic, and at a time when Man’s domination of Nature has never been so extreme, it aims to wake our consciousness.
Man builds, Man abandons. Every time for his own peculiar reasons. Nature does not care about those reasons. But one thing is for sure, when Man leaves, She comes back and She takes back everything.
This series also tells the story of the inexorable progression of Nature, from the infiltration in abandoned places, through the moment where She grows inside them, until their collapse. Burial comes next along with the disappearance of all traces of Man.
French poet Léo Ferré said “With Time goes, everything goes”. So, when Nature and Time take back what Man abandoned, what will be left of our civilization?

Jonk travels the world looking for abandoned places.
Today, he has visited more than one thousands of them in more than forty countries on four continents.
With time, his interest has focused on what appeared to him to be the strongest in this vast subject of abandonment: Nature taking over. It is poetic, even magic, to see this Nature retaking what used to be hers, reintegrating through broken windows, cracks on the walls, spaces built by Man and then neglected, until sometimes guzzling them up entirely.
In March 2018, he released the book Naturalia on the topic and currently works on volume II.
In June 2018, he quits his job in the finance to fully dedicate himself to this project.
Since, two other books have been released and his work has been featured in prestigious paper publications (Der Spiegel, Corriere della Sera…) as well as on prestigious web platforms (National Geographic, Smithsonian, ArchDaily, AD, Lonely Planet…). It has been part of many group shows across the world (Paris, Rome, Athens, Budapest, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Seoul, Tokyo…) as well as several solo shows in Paris.
Several personal exhibitions of Naturalia are planned for 2019 and 2020.