Iwan Baan’s first retrospective opens at the Vitra Museum

Iwan Baan, CCTV Headquarters, Beijing, China, 2011, designed by OMA © OMA © Iwan Baan

CCTV Headquarters by OMA, Beijing, 2011 © Iwan Baan

‘Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium in Beijing, China by Herzog & de Meuron © Iwan Baan

Mikimoto Ginza 2, Tokyo, Japan, 2006, Architecture: Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects. (c) Iwan Baan

House NA, Tokyo by Sou Fujimoto Architects (2011) © Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan, M+ Museum, Hong Kong, China, 2022, Architecture: Herzog & de Meuron © Iwan Baan

Teshima Art Museum, Tonosho, Japan, by Ryue Nishizawa (2010) | image © Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan, National Taichung Theatre, Taiwan, 2016, Architecture: Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects. Photography: Iwan Baan (c)

International Fair of Dakar, Senegal, by Jean-Francois Lamoureux, Jean-Louis Marin, Fernand Bonamy (2013) image © Iwan Baan

Beinecke Library Yale University, New Haven by SOM © Iwan Baan

Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland by SANAA © Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan, Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center, Plasencia, Spain, 2017, Architecture: SelgasCano © Iwan Baan

The Vitra Design Museum explores the relationship between architecture and photography as it hosts a landmark retrospective of Iwan Baan’s images.

The show, titled Moments in Architecture, is curated by Mea Hoffmann and brings together 20 years of the Dutch photographer’s work and includes his depictions of iconic buildings and the architecture of everyday life.

Baan’s images are drawn from around the globe and are often rooted in the busy landscapes of cities such as Tokyo, London or Lagos. Exhibition-goers can enjoy Baan’s interpretation of Herzog & de Meuron’s ‘Birds Nest’ National Stadium in Beijing, China, the Jean Nouvel-designed national museum in Doha, Qatar, and photography of Ethiopia’s rock-hewn churches.

Iwan Baan, Biete Ghiorgis, Rock-Hewn church, Lalibela, Ethiopia, 2012 © Iwan Baan

Many of Baan’s images utilise the human figure to emphasise the size and scale of the surrounding building and environment. His work also questions how people relate to architecture, for example, via his ‘Informal Vertical Communities’ series, which captures the 750 families living in Caracas’ incomplete Torre David skyscraper.

As Baan puts it: ‘I am not so interested in the timeless architecture image as much as the specific moment in time, the place, and the people there’.

‘Moments in Architecture’ is on show at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, until 3 March 2024.