From Las Vegas to Rome: the photographs of Iwan Baan
When Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown publish Learn from Las Vegas in 1972, they shook the world of architecture by claiming that the lessons American desert town had to offer were equal to those of Romealso known as the Eternal City. “Las Vegas is to the Strip what Rome is to the Piazza”, the two demanding architects declared. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of this groundbreaking publication, the exposure From Vegas to Rome explores the dialogue between the two cities through pictures by renowned photographer Ivan Baan. Organized by Lindsay Harris, the show will be presented at the American Academy in Rome until November 27, 2022.
image © Iwan Baan, from his show “From Las Vegas to Rome”, presented at the American Academy in Rome
look at both commonalities and glaring differences
With From Las Vegas to Rome, the American Academy in Rome seeks to reinterpret the famous publication, this time focusing on Las Vegas and its extraordinary buildings and infrastructure in order to reimagine Rome, a city shaped by power and money for centuries. To this end, the Academy presents the iconic photography of Iwan Baan marked by his characteristic style.
By showing both bird’s-eye panoramic shots and detailed close-up shots, the dutch photographer highlights the similarities between the two cities. ‘You see a lot of commonalities in these places (…) Rome, where nothing has fundamentally changed in the last centuries and Las Vegas, (…) a place that changes in the blink of an eye. Iwan Baan shares. “What you see here in this show, we’re trying to create that kind of density from the big aerial views where you can zoom in on every detail to really personal moments where you’re almost in front of people, tourists enjoying the location. So it’s kind of a zoom in and out, which we tried to recreate.
Baan’s views of Las Vegas and Rome, taken specifically for the occasion, force us to ask ourselves whether we can see architecture without moral judgment, a perspective promoted by Venturi for Las Vegas, in the environmental and social contexts of the 21st century. century. “The whole show sees all the commonalities between the two cities and, of course, the stark differences, but in the end, also how in these two worlds we’re all here together.” explains the photographer.
image © Iwan Baan, from his show “From Las Vegas to Rome”, presented at the American Academy in Rome
image © Iwan Baan, from his show “From Las Vegas to Rome”, presented at the American Academy in Rome
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