Iwan Baan
  • Photography
  • Books
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial: anonymous histories 

2015

In Anonymous Histories, Iwan Baan explores Chicago as a living organism—its architecture, infrastructure, and urban condition captured through a contemporary photographic lens. Influenced by Alvin Boyarsky’s 1970s essay Chicago à la Carte: The City as an Energy System, Baan retraces Boyarsky’s vision of the city through its postcards—visual artifacts that reveal not just topography, but cultural values, tourism, and civic identity.

Boyarsky’s concept of the city as an interconnected organism, shaped by communication, industry, and technology, informs Baan’s own journey through Chicago’s layered history. Revisiting sites of industrial achievement—grain elevators, bridges, canals, airports—Baan captures a hidden narrative of change, ambition, and regional pride.

The work is a reflection on spectatorship, memory, and urban mythmaking—using imagery both past and present to reimagine the city’s evolving identity.

With special thanks to:

Sarah Herda, Irene Sunwoo, Matthew Messner, Jessica Collins

Additional research from Igor Marjanović’s Postcards and the Making of Architectural History

See the related exhibition

Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite

Tags:

  • Chicago,
  • Exhibition,
  • IL,
  • and USA

Other projects tagged with Chicago, Exhibition, IL and USA

Stanford – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Stanford – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Manetti Shrem Museum, UC Davis, CA – SO-IL

Manetti Shrem Museum, UC Davis, CA – SO-IL

Carver Apartments, Los Angeles – Michael Maltzan Architecture

Carver Apartments, Los Angeles – Michael Maltzan Architecture

Lincoln Center Public Spaces & Fountain, New York – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Lincoln Center Public Spaces & Fountain, New York – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The Highline, New York – Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Field Operations

The Highline, New York – Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Field Operations

Obscured Horizon, Joshua Tree – Arata Isozaki

Obscured Horizon, Joshua Tree – Arata Isozaki

Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Dallas – REX and OMA

Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Dallas – REX and OMA

Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Illinois Institute of Technology panorama, Chicago – OMA, Rem Koolhaas

Illinois Institute of Technology panorama, Chicago – OMA, Rem Koolhaas

Basel Messe – Herzog & de Meuron

Basel Messe – Herzog & de Meuron

New World Symphony, Miami Florida – Frank O. Gehry

New World Symphony, Miami Florida – Frank O. Gehry

Vessel – Thomas Heatherwick

Vessel – Thomas Heatherwick

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial: anonymous histories 

Iwan Baan Photography, Rozenstraat 145, 1016 NP Amsterdam, The Netherlands, e-mail: studio@iwan.com — all images © Iwan Baan 1996 - 2025