New York after Hurricane Sandy, USA. 2012
On view through 8 September at the ICO Foundation museum is the first major retrospective on the work of Iwan Baan, one of the world’s leading photographers of architecture. ‘Moments in Architecture’ is a traveling show curated by Mea Hoffmann and produced by the Vitra Design Museum, and lands in Madrid as part of the official section of the PHotoESPAÑA 2024 festival.
The exhibition gathers a sampling of all the areas covered by the Dutch photographer (Alkmaar, 1975) since the early 2000s, with shots of building works of renowned contemporary architects – among them Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, Kazuyo Sejima, and Tatiana Bilbao – and iconic images like a darkened Manhattan in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Baan has traveled the world and explored booming megalopolises on all the continents, documenting the heyday and crises of the real-estate sector, the densification of populations, the evolution of urban fabrics, and personal experiences.
In his own words: “What’s important is the story, which is very intuitive and fluid. I am not as interested in the timeless architectural image as in the specific moment in time, the place, and the people there – all the unexpected, unplanned moments in and around the space, how people interact with that space, and the stories that are unfolding there.”
Beinecke Library, New Haven, USA., 2017. SOM
National Stadium, Beijing, China, 2008. Herzog & de Meuron
CCTV Headquarters, National Stadium, Beijing, China, 2011. OMA
Elbphilharmonie Philharmonic, Hamburg, Germany, 2017. Herzog & de Meuron
Secondary school of Gando, Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso, 2021. Kéré Architecture
Baku, Azerbaijan, 2011
Biete Ghiorgis, rock-hewn church, Lalibela, Ethiopia, 2012
M+ Museum, Hong Kong, 2022. Herzog & de Meuron
Tiébélé, Burkina Faso, 2021
National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar, 2019. Jean Nouvel
Teshima Museum of Art, Tonosho, Japan, 2010. Ryue Nishizawa
National Taichung Theater, Taiwan, 2016. Toyo Ito
