Iwan Baan

Brasilia – Chandigarh

Living with Modernity

In 1960, Brasília was celebrated as the realization of an urban planning vision based on designs by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. At the same time, the sectoral city of Chandigarh was materializing according to plans by Le Corbusier. The “test tube city” emerged out of modern Western planning euphoria, marked by utopian ambition, and was exported across the globe. In both cities, foreign architecture comingled with indigenous culture, forming new and independent identities.

This publication explores how modernism has been appropriated in both cities, and how their inhabitants deal with its legacy in their everyday lives. Commonalities and differences are identified through images by the photographer Iwan Baan, taking stock of contemporary life in both cities.

Now available in a new compact format due to the continuing interest in this book more than ten years after its initial release.

In 1960, Brasília was celebrated as the realization of an urban planning vision based on designs by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. At the same time, the sectoral city of Chandigarh was materializing according to plans by Le Corbusier. The “test tube city” emerged out of modern Western planning euphoria, marked by utopian ambition, and was exported across the globe. In both cities, foreign architecture comingled with indigenous culture, forming new and independent identities.

This publication explores how modernism has been appropriated in both cities, and how their inhabitants deal with its legacy in their everyday lives. Commonalities and differences are identified through images by the photographer Iwan Baan, taking stock of contemporary life in both cities.

Now available in a new compact format due to the continuing interest in this book more than ten years after its initial release.

Author(s): Iwan Baan

Edited by Lars Müller

With contributions by Cees Nooteboom and Martino Stierli

Design: Integral Lars Müller

17 × 22,7 cm, 7 × 9 in

240 pages, 124 illustrations

paperback

2023, 978-3-03778-750-2, English
CHF 38.00
New

Iwan Baan

Photo Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan (*1975) is a Dutch photographer based between Amsterdam and the U.S. He is known primarily for images that narrate the life and daily interactions that occur within architecture. Baan has worked with major architectural studios like SANAA, Rem Koolhaas/OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, Toyo Ito, and architects like Steven Holl and Zaha Hadid. With no formal training in architecture, his photographs reflect the questions and perspectives of the everyday individuals who give meaning and context to the architecture and spaces that surround us. For his work on the Torre David in Caracas, Venezuela, Baan received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale 2012.