Iwan Baan photographs the world's buildings as they are made, used and abused by people—an approach that's made him the architecture world's most sought-after lensman

Iwan Baan Delfino Sisto Legnani

IT'S EASY TO SEE WHY Iwan Baan is called the Indiana Jones of architecture photography. One morning in January, at a small airport west of Mexico City, the 39-year-old Dutchman listens patiently as a helicopter pilot explains why he won't be allowed to open the chopper's door after liftoff. But if he can't open the door, Baan explains, there's no point to the flight, during which he plans to shoot the city's new David Chipperfield –designed Museo Jumex the same way he has shot dozens of other buildings—en plein air, from 2,000 feet up.

Baan and the pilot reach a compromise: An extra crew member will come aboard to open and close the helicopter's door at Baan's behest. Soon, the craft is circling over the months-old museum, with Baan directing complex flight patterns meant to give him just the right view of the sawtooth-roofed, travertine-clad structure. Fruit-drink magnate Eugenio López, the founder of the museum—one of Latin America's largest for contemporary art—and director Patrick Charpenel Corvera hired him for the job. Yet even after 90 minutes, Baan isn't satisfied. The building is set among skyscrapers, making it particularly tricky to shoot from above, and the shots aren't coming out right. Back on the ground, he makes plans to charter a more maneuverable helicopter the next morning.

Baan, who began shooting buildings in earnest less than a decade ago, balances politeness with relentlessness—qualities that help explain his rapid rise in the architecture world. So compelling is his work, which depicts the world's buildings being used, misused or even abused, that top-tier architects like Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid dispatch him to photograph all of their new projects, requiring him to fly hundreds of thousands of miles a year. Baan also finds time to document buildings by younger, less established architects, including Tatiana Bilbao of Mexico; Mass Design Group, a Boston-based firm that does pro bono work mainly in Africa; Kunlé Adeyemi, a Nigerian architect based in Amsterdam; and Tokyo's Junya Ishigami.

By photographing buildings that might otherwise escape attention, then bringing them to the attention of editors, curators and award committees, Baan has made unknown architects stars and known architects superstars. Firms pay Baan to document their projects, and then release his photos to magazines and newspapers, which gobble up the content—while completing the circle by burnishing the architects' reputations. It's interesting to note that Baan photographed buildings by Toyo Ito of Japan and Wang Shu of China years before each of them won the Pritzker Prize, in 2013 and 2012, respectively. And that he repeatedly traveled to Japan to photograph the work of 42-year-old Sou Fujimoto before he was asked to design the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013 in London—an honor previously reserved for decades-older figures like Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel and Hadid....Continue Reading

> via WSJ