On September 24, renowned architectural photographer Iwan Baan, who has documented the Serpentine Pavilion’s 23-year history, delivered a lecture at the Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Center in Korea. Baan, originally from the Netherlands, studied photography at The Hague’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and began his career in documentary photography. His transition to architectural photography was sparked in 2004 after meeting architect Rem Koolhaas, when he was invited to photograph OMA’s CCTV Headquarters project in China. This collaboration ignited his passion for capturing the life and human connection within architecture, a theme he’s explored since.
In his lecture, Baan shared his experiences documenting the Serpentine Pavilion, a structure he has revisited annually since 2006. His first encounter with the pavilion was through Koolhaas’s design, where contrasting black boxes and translucent spheres inspired Baan’s fascination with light and shadow in architectural spaces. His relationship with the Serpentine continued as he documented various pavilion designs each year, from SANAA’s reflective, steel-clad 2009 pavilion, which merged into the natural surroundings, to Sou Fujimoto’s 2013 cloud-like steel frame structure, blending architecture, nature, and human interaction.
This year, Minsuk Cho’s Archipelagic Void, composed of five structures around a central white space, draws on traditional Korean architectural themes. Baan captured the pavilion’s dynamic interaction with the park’s surroundings, portraying it as an open space where lines and forms organically align with people’s movements.
Throughout his work on the Serpentine Pavilion, Baan has increasingly focused on the social and human stories behind architecture. His experiences with Koolhaas on the CCTV project underscored this approach, as he documented the lives of thousands of migrant workers who helped create this monumental building, showing architecture as a collaborative social endeavor.
Baan’s other projects, such as his work in Brasília and Chandigarh, further demonstrate his philosophy. These cities, shaped by architects Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, and Le Corbusier, represent mid-20th-century modernist ideals. In Brasília-Chandigarh: Living with Modernity, Baan captures how everyday life has transformed these once utopian spaces, documenting unplanned neighborhood growth and scenes of daily interaction that breathe life into the structured cityscapes. His work reflects Le Corbusier’s idea of “organic transformation,” showing architecture’s evolution as it adapts to human needs over time.
Brasília, Brazil
Chandigarh, India
In Rome-Las Vegas: Bread and Circuses, Baan explores two cities driven by power and spectacle. Rome, the “Eternal City” with its historical gravitas, and Las Vegas, with its commercial exuberance, reveal a complex relationship between authenticity and artificiality. Through this comparison, Baan captures how both cities share intense visual identities and intertwine past and present in their architectural forms.
left: a restaurant with a ‘fake’ backdrop of Roman ruins / Right: a Renaissance masterpiece ceiling at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas
In the Q&A following the lecture, Iwan Baan fielded questions about the relationship between documentary and architectural photography, discussing how subjectivity plays a role in capturing architecture. “Photography that documents places and people hasn’t changed much over time,” he noted. “What’s changed is that I now have a subject to apply my approach to: architecture.” Baan emphasized that architectural photography is inherently subjective. “My positioning and framing reflect my personal interpretation of the space,” he explained, adding that it’s crucial for him to offer viewers a fresh perspective on each location.
He also spoke about his intuitive approach to capturing spaces. “First impressions are essential,” he said, preferring to experience sites without extensive pre-planning, which allows him to capture the genuine essence of a place. Reflecting on projects like Beijing’s CCTV Tower and Chandigarh, Baan shared how he often opts for an improvisational approach, documenting people’s relationships with their surroundings in real time.
When asked about the impact of smartphone photography on architectural visuals, Baan noted, “Smartphones have expanded architectural photography’s reach through platforms like Instagram, allowing more people to instantly capture and share moments.” He believes this shift broadens the audience, enabling anyone to experience and interact with architecture.
Architecture finds its true meaning when it is deepened by the traces of human interaction and the passage of time. Iwan Baan’s photographs capture these moments of connection between people and space, bringing architecture to life. His work continues to tell the evolving stories of buildings and the lives they touch, capturing the essence of places as they blend history, culture, and humanity. Text by YuMi Hyun, C3 Managing Editor / Photography courtesy of ©Iwan Baan, ©Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Center, ©C3
