The exhibition features a large part of the work of the Dutch photographer Iwan Baan, considered one of the world’s most prominent architectural photographers.

Iwan Baan. Moments in Architecture, makes its first international stop at the ICO Museum from June 7 to September 8, with an exhibition that is part of the Official Section of PHotoESPAÑA 2024. The exhibition, from the Vitra Design Museum, is curated by Mea Hoffmann and consists of photographs and film material that offer a panoramic view of 21st-century architecture around the world.

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“Iwan Baan. Moments in Architecture” exhibition at Museo ICO
June 7 – September 8, 2024
Museo ICO
C. de Zorrilla, 3, Centro, Madrid
Spain

The ICO Museum inaugurates today Iwan Baan. Moments in Architecture, the first comprehensive retrospective on the photographic and documentary work of the Dutch artist, considered a world reference in architectural photography. The exhibition, from the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, is part of the Official Section of the PHotoESPAÑA 2024 Festival and begins its international tour, with the ICO Museum being the first stop. The presentation of the exhibition included the participation of the artist, Iwan Baan; the curator of the exhibition and the Vitra Design Museum, Mea Hoffmann; its director, Mateo Kries; the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Spain, Roel Nieuwenkamp, and the director of the ICO Foundation, Lucinio Muñoz.

The exhibition, Iwan Baan. Moments in Architecture, promoted by the Vitra Design Museum, is divided into four sections – Perspectives, China, Cities, and Continuities – through which examples of all areas of his work from the early 2000s are shown. In a paradigm where digital media have revolutionized images, Baan’s work stands out by moving away from traditional standards of architectural photography. For the photographer, the context surrounding the building and the people who inhabit it are as important as the documented construction itself. In this way, he shows the buildings and everything they are capable of accommodating.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by the ICO Foundation together with La Fábrica and under license from the Vitra Design Museum, which includes more than 600 photographs by the artist. In addition, these are accompanied by texts from Beatrice Galilee, Marvin Heiferman, Hans Ibelings, Mea Hoffmann, and Iwan Baan himself: the most comprehensive monograph to date on the work of the Dutch photographer. Iwan Baan is a photographer recognized for his innovative approach to architectural photography. Baan has traveled around the world, documenting both thriving megacities and areas in crisis, capturing the rise and fall of the real estate sector, population density, and urban evolution. His ability to tell personal stories through buildings adds a human dimension to architecture, highlighting the perspective of how constructions interact with their environment and affect people’s lives, and vice versa.

Thus, the importance of Baan’s work lies in his ability to show architecture not only as static art but as a living and dynamic element within a broader context. His photographs document impressive structures while inviting reflection on the social and cultural impact of built spaces. Thus, his work constitutes an exploration around the world. This approach has changed the way architectural photography is valued, making Iwan Baan a key figure in the promotion and understanding of contemporary architecture.

The exhibition features iconic images from the early 2000s – from “official” portraits of architectural monuments to images of Manhattan after Hurricane Sandy. It also includes film material and little-known images of informal constructions, from a circular Chinese village to a monolithic Ethiopian church, from self-built apartment blocks in Cairo to the Torre de David in Caracas. “The important thing is to tell a story,” explains Iwan Baan. “And this is something very intuitive and fluid. I don’t seek timeless images of great architecture as much as the specific moment, the place, and the people in it, all the unexpected and unplanned moments that happen in a place and its surroundings, how people live there and what stories emerge from it.”