Dezeen Magazine

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

Herzog & de Meuron's Dominus Winery photographed 20 years after completion

These photographs taken by Yueqi "Jazzy" Li capture the "mesmerising" dappled light inside Herzog & de Meuron's Dominus Winery.

Jazzy Li's series documents the interiors and exteriors of the Napa winery, which was completed by Herzog & de Meuron in 1997, marking its first project in the United States.

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

"The Dominus Winery is still a seminal building not only in the typology of winery architecture but also contemporary building culture in general," Li told Dezeen.

"I visited the famed building and estate to experience Herzog & de Meuron's first ever building in America and document how it has weathered in the test of time."

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

"The space surprisingly does not feel dated at all," he added. "Instead it offers an ambiance that is edgy, utilitarian, and seriously cool."

Christian Moueix, son of famed wine merchant Jean-Pierre Moueix founded the 103-acre (42-hectare) Dominus Estate as a vineyard specialising in French wines in 1982.

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

Situated on the site several hundred feet away from the main road, Herzog & de Meuron's winery was designed to be minimal and unimposing.

The long, low-lying monolithic structure's most prominent feature is its gabion walls, which are constructed from locally sourced stones of various sizes. The stacked rocks covered in metal caging filter natural light into the interior and also provide temperature control, essential to the wine-making process.

Li's photographs capture the "dappled light effect" the permeable walls create on the ceiling, flooring and walls of structure's interior in the evening hours.

"As the afternoon sun begins to graze the western facade, the dappled light effect these walls create is truly mesmerising, adding a sense of poetry to the otherwise technical and particular procedures of modern wine making carried out inside," the photographer said.

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

Inside, visitors attention is guided from the polished concrete floors and metal mesh ceilings to the long glass windows that puncture the facade to provide extensive views of the vineyard's landscape. "Much of the attention is not directed towards the interior of the rooms but the views they frame beyond," Li said.

Herzog & de Meuron was founded in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The Swiss studio won the Pritzker Prize in 2001 and has completed numerous projects around the world including London's Tate Modern and Beijing's Birds Nest Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

Since completing Dominus Winery, the firm has undertaken a number of projects in the US, such as the Jade Signature skyscraper in Miami and the Public Hotel in New York.

The studio is currently working on designs for the Tour Triangle slated to be the tallest skyscraper built in Paris since 1973 and an art museum in Vancouver.

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li

Li is a trained architect who works for New York City firm Ennead and practices photography as a hobby. In recent years he has captured several other monumental structures, such as OMA's Qatar Foundation Headquarters and Mexico City's mid-century UNAM campus.

Photography is by Yueqi Jazzy Li.

More images

Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li
Dominus Estate Photography by Yueqi Jazzy Li