Curated by Florence Sarano and Jean-Pierre Blanc, "2010 around the world: the diary of a year of architecture" is an overview of the world in fifty-two photographs. The show looks at architecture from two diametrically opposing points of view. On the one hand is the urban scale that Baan photographs at dawn flying over the city in a helicopter. From the air, barely noticeable ground-level elements become obvious, such as Zaha Hadid's MAXXI in Rome which aligns with the buildings of a nearby former army barracks, creating a sort of short circuit in the regularity of the blocks of the surrounding neighborhood. In the undifferentiated banality of downtown Los Angeles, Michael Maltzan has been able to carve out a kind of architectural oasis with Inner-City Arts, a white complex that contrasts the darker tones of the adjacent neighborhood.
Or the curious passers-by who oversee the progress of the construction work: minute figures that help us understand the building's dimensions but who also help us reflect upon architecture's true social and political role. In fact, Baan approaches architecture and the existence that surrounds it in a non-neutral way, with a reporter's attitude. But when you touch the lives of others, it can also be dangerous; in Medellín and Caracas, he had a gun pointed at his face.
Even when his photographed subjects are buildings, we still feel the presence of people in his photos. That means architecture exists for people. –Toyo Ito
Laura Bossi
the diary of a year of architecture
Until 27 March
Villa Noailles
Montée Noailles,
Hyères, France