Love motels in Santo Domingo disguised as grand palatial structures and quiet communities feature in this photo set by American photographer Kurt Hollander.
The Happy City series documents a number of motels used for sex, built among car repair shops, gas stations and parks on the outskirts of Santo Domingo ? the capital city of the Dominican Republic.

"The images are of a group of huge, extravagant love motels located on an industrial highway in Santo Domingo," Hollander told Dezeen.

Hollander, who spent four days taking the images, has captured the exterior of the structures. All are devoid of people to leave an element of mystery to the activities that take place inside.
"The photographs, taken at dawn or dusk and without any people in frame, are intended to accentuate the emptiness of this architecture of desire, leaving it to the viewer to imagine what goes on behind the closed doors," Hollander said.
Bold, illuminated signage adorns a number of the motels, whose names include Obsession, Te Javi, Cariño and Happy City ? after which the series takes its name. Each motel has a different design, ranging from ornamental buildings to those that resemble small villages.

"Even though they were all built around the same time and were bankrolled by many of the same investors from China, each is a lavish tribute to a different architectural vernacular," the photographer added.

"Some of the motels were designed to look like exclusive subur...