The Fenix Museum of Migration by MAD has now been open in Rotterdam for several months, establishing itself as an iconic civic landmark along the city’s industrial waterfront. Rising above the historic port district, the museum occupies a restored warehouse once tied to the flow of migrants who departed from Rotterdam for destinations across the world. Now, with newly captured images months after its opening in May 2025, the project can be understood as not just a renovation, but as an active and lived-in landmark shaped by visitors’ reflections and spiraling movement.

‘Everything is in motion — people, time, light, the sea,’ says Ma Yansong. ‘This building invites us to rethink moments of arrival and departure, and to reflect on the reasons we set out in the first place.’ That sense of continuity between past and present is what connects the sculptural building to its cultural and urban context. Before the museum opened to the public, the architects documented their design process through a film titled ‘Ma Yansong: Journey to Design the Fenix Tornado’ — watch it here!

the Fenix Museum of Migration is sited in Rotterdam’s historic port district | image © Hufton + Crow

a spiraling monument for convergence in rotterdam

At the heart of the Fenix Museum of Migration in Rotterdam, MAD’s tornado-shaped staircase has emerged as the defining element. Two spirals rise independently, crossing and separating before joining at platforms that overlook the coastal Dutch city.

MAD’s Ma Yansong describes the Fenix Museum’s configuration as ‘random yet precise,’ a system designed for fluid movement that creates chance encounters. The result lends a choreography of visitors’ movements, as the layout organizes spontaneous interactions and encourages both individual reflection and collective experience as visitors ascend the spiraling structure.

a ‘tornado’ staircase forms the centerpiece of the museum | image © Iwan Baan

mad’s Tornado Staircase as Civic Space

MAD’s adaptive reuse of the museum’s warehouse preserves the industrial shell, a memory of the surrounding neighborhood. This warehouse had been restored by Bureau Polderman, while MAD introduced interventions to alter its historic atmosphere. The opening of the central roof floods the interior with daylight to animate both the preserved concrete structure and the new stainless-steel spiral.

‘The shaping and shifting of global politics, geography, culture, and art are largely rooted in these migrations,’ Ma explains. ‘We hope this museum not only commemorates the past or tells stories of hardship, but more importantly, reveals hope and courage — offering inspiration for people today and in the future to look ahead.’

the spirals rise independently before meeting at shared platforms | image © Arch-Exist

Structurally, the spiraling staircase demonstrates a high level of engineering innovation. Measuring 550 meters in length and rising thirty meters high, it cantilevers outward up to seventeen meters at certain points, achieved through a spatial truss system developed with roller coaster specialists. Its reflective cladding, shaped with CNC technology, captures shifting skies, waterfront activity, and the movement of passersby.

The experience of climbing the stairs is never fixed. Perspectives shift with each step, encounters take place at the landings, and the view culminates in the rooftop platform where the city and river unfold as a broad horizon. The architects describe it as both a journey and a gathering place, where movement is transformed into architecture.

Inside, the collection includes historical artifacts and contemporary commissions, presented in an open plan that encourages visitors to move fluidly between past and present. Wim Pijbes, President of the Droom en Daad Foundation, emphasizes this universality: ‘At some point in life, people make the decision — whether due to war, poverty, faith, or other reasons — to pack everything they own into one or two suitcases and start over on the other side of the world. What we must do is understand those emotions and give them form.’

the reflective stainless steel surface mirrors light and movement | image © Arch-Exist

the restored warehouse structure contrasts with the new intervention | image © Hufton + Crow

the museum presents global migration stories through art and history | image © Arch-Exist

visitors ascend thirty meters to a rooftop platform overlooking Rotterdam | image © Hufton + Crow

6,750 square meters of green roof enhance insulation and water retention | image © Arch-Exist

project info:

name: Fenix Museum of Migration | @Fenix

architect: MAD | @madarchitects

location: Rotterdam, Netherlands


previous coverage: November 2018, November 2020, January 2025, May 2025

photography: © Arch-Exist, © Hufton + Crow, © Iwan Baan

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Peter Zumthor’s long-awaited redesign of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art takes a step forward as LACMA reveals the David Geffen Galleries, its new architectural centerpiece, before art installation begins ahead of the grand public opening in April 2026 (find designboom’s previous coverage here). Capturing the horizontal, elevated structure in glass and concrete, images by Iwan Baan offer the first interior look at the museum’s 10,220-square-meter exhibition level. LACMA is now preparing to welcome the public to select areas of the new building starting summer 2025, signaling a gradual activation of the most ambitious architectural transformation in its history. Later that year, the museum will also unveil Jeff Koons’s Split-Rocker, a towering 37-foot-tall sculpture covered in over 50,000 living plants, which will become a permanent outdoor landmark adjacent to the new David Geffen Galleries.

Before the galleries are filled with thousands of artworks from LACMA’s encyclopedic collection, the museum offers a series of ‘sonic previews’ to animate the raw architecture. Acclaimed saxophonist and composer Kamasi Washington led a more than 100-person ensemble in a performance of his work Harmony of Difference, spread across the full breadth of the empty exhibition spaces.

all images by Iwan Baan

iwan baan PHOTOGRAPHS the museum’s new era

Floating over Wilshire Boulevard like a contemporary bridge, Zumthor’s building replaces four aging museum structures with a single, unified gallery space. In newly released photographs by Dutch photographer Iwan Baan, the architecture’s flowing form is captured in its raw state, offering a first glimpse into the expansive, unoccupied interiors before art installation begins. The David Geffen Galleries are named after the media magnate whose contribution marked the campaign’s largest gift, while the north wing honors LACMA trustee and board co-chair Elaine Wynn, whose pledge helped launch the building initiative. A new state-of-the-art performance space, the Steve Tisch Theater, anchors the southern plaza level. 

Major construction of the Zumthor-designed structure was completed in late 2024, allowing key operational functions to move in. In summer 2025, the public will begin to access parts of the plaza level, including new dining and retail spaces. Ray’s and Stark Bar will reopen in a redesigned location, while a new LACMA Store, funded by trustee Kelvin Davis and his wife, Hana, will also debut. Across the boulevard, a second restaurant and a café will open in 2026, their spaces shaped by campaign gifts from Ann Colgin and Joe Wender, Ryan Seacrest, Ashley Merrill, and Marc Merrill.

a first look at the museum’s 10,220-square-meter exhibition level

outdoor sculptures to be installed in the following months

Below the gallery floor, shaded public spaces on both sides of Wilshire Boulevard are designed for outdoor dining, programming, and art. A highlight is the East West Bank Commons, an outdoor plaza with capacity for 500-person events. The W.M. Keck Plaza will also become home to a new education center and a full-scale commissioned artwork by Mariana Castillo Deball titled Feathered Changes, which spans the north and south sides of the building.

The new structure reconnects LACMA with the city through architecture and landscape to offer over 14,160 square meters of accessible public space. Outdoor sculptures by artists including Liz Glynn, Thomas Houseago, Shio Kusaka, Pedro Reyes, and Diana Thater will be installed in the coming months. Longtime favorites will also return, including Tony Smith’s Smoke (1967), Alexander Calder’s Three Quintains (Hello Girls) (1964), and a newly designed 743-square-meter Rodin garden, funded by the Cantor Foundation, showcasing some of the artist’s most iconic bronze works.

As the museum ramps up toward its 2026 opening, more previews will be announced, and the installation of LACMA’s permanent collection will begin later this year.

capturing the horizontal, elevated structure in glass and concrete

LACMA is now preparing to welcome the public to select areas of the new building

Zumthor’s building replaces four aging museum structures with a single, unified gallery space

the architecture’s flowing form is captured in its raw state

major construction of the Zumthor-designed structure was completed in late 2024

the installation of LACMA’s permanent collection will begin later this year

as the museum ramps up toward its 2026 opening, more previews will be announced

Peter Zumthor’s long-awaited redesign of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

the new structure reconnects LACMA with the city through architecture and landscape

project info:

name: LACMA | @lacma

architect: Peter Zumthor

location: Los Angeles, California, US

photographer: Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

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SO – IL, Mariana Popescu, and TheGreenEyl unveil an installation of 3D knitted natural fibers that spans between the columns of the Arsenale Corderie for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. The web of 3D knitted natural fibers, captured by Iwan Baan, is on view in Room 3 of the Natural Intelligence section of the international exhibition. The installation named Necto remains on site between May 10th and November 23rd, 2025. Formed using a tension-based system, the structure comes through using computational design processes.

The structure consists of a knitted surface made from natural fibers, produced in strips and optimized with computational modeling. SO – IL, Mariana Popescu, and TheGreenEyl design the installative 3D knitted natural fibers to be portable. Before it arrived at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, the web was divided into parts and packed in compact containers for transport. The design team assembled it on site without any use of heavy equipment. After the exhibition, they will dismantle and repack Necto again for future use, leaving no materials and imprints behind. Necto is a study of form-finding using textile, flexible enough to change shape depending on the space and the curators’ needs.

all images courtesy of SO – IL | image © Iwan Baan, @iwanbaan

Suspended installation for venice architecture biennale 2025

SO – IL, Mariana Popescu, and TheGreenEyl hang Necto from ceiling trusses and brace it against the columns of the Arsenale Corderie. The 3D knitted natural fibers hover midair, anchored to the ground. There are structural rings around the installation, shaping the surface and stabilizing the set. The architectural design firm, computational designer, and research practice say that three spatial features mark the installation of 3D knitted natural fibers: a cone-shaped volume, a column-like element, and a suspended mass. There’s a translucent bio-based coating added to Necto. This makes specific areas of the web rigid, while the rest are flexible.

It is this selective stiffening that brings the transition between tension, fluidity, and solidness around the 3D knitted natural fibers. The design teams even embed luminous threads around the installation, giving it a glimmer once the light shines on it. They also include a DNA-encoded coating. It embeds data related to material composition and structural behavior directly into the fibers, possibly allowing for traceability and analysis. SO – IL has collaborated with the computational architect and structural designer Dr. Mariana Popescu as well as the design and research practice TheGreenEyl for Necto.

SO – IL unveils Necto at the Arsenale Corderie | image © Iwan Baan

the web of 3D knitted natural fibers is on view in Room 3 of the Natural Intelligence section | image © Iwan Baan

the installation named Necto remains on site between May 10th and November 23rd, 2025 | image © Iwan Baan

formed using a tension-based system, the structure comes through using computational design | image © Iwan Baan

the structure consists of a knitted surface made from natural fibers | image © Iwan Baan

Necto is a study of form-finding using textile | image © Iwan Baan

the structure hovers midair, anchored to the ground | image © Iwan Baan

there’s a translucent bio-based coating added to Necto | image © Iwan Baan

the coating makes specific areas of the web rigid, while the rest are flexible | image © Iwan Baan

project info:

name: Necto

architecture firm: SO – IL | @solidobjectives

structural designer: Dr. Mariana Popescu | @maadpope

experience design: TheGreenEyl | @thegreeneyl

photography: Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

team members: SO – IL: Florian Idenburg, Jing Liu, Marlena Fauer, Demetri Lampris (Design); Tailored Materiality Research, TU Delft/MIT: Mariana Popescu, Niclas Brandt, Valentin Lorenzen da Silva, Nikoletta Christidi (Design, Membrane Design and Engineering, Membrane Fabrication and Construction); TheGreenEyl: Richard The (Design), Noah Feehan, Ben Bojko, Saralee Sittigaroon, and Arden Schager (Experience design); Professorship of Structural Design, Technical University of Munich: Pierluigi D’Acunto, Anass Kariouh (Structural Engineering); Steiger Participation: Jean-Luc Lepieszko, Jean-Francois Cochez (Membrane fabrication and construction); Shaping Matter Lab, TU Delft: Kunal Masania, Jasper Groen (Bio-coating and DNA data embedding and error correction); Functional Materials Laboratory, ETH: Robert Grass, Francesca Granito (Bio-coating and DNA data embedding and error correction); Professorship of Machine Learning, Technical University of Munich: Reinhard Heckel, Maria Abu Sini (Bio-coating and DNA data embedding and error correction); Marian Mentrup (Sound design); Tim Teven Studio (Furniture)

The post SO – IL, mariana popescu & thegreeneyl suspend 3D knitted natural fibers in venice biennale appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

During the Venice Biennale Architecture 2025, Diller Scofidio + Renfro serves coffee made from the city’s canals. Every cup is served at the Canal Café, the brainchild of the design studio that won the Golden Lion for the best participation in the 19th international architecture exhibition. Here, visitors take a shot of Venice’s canals right into their palate. They can find it at the back of the Arsenale, the place the studio can directly draw the canal water from. It sounds unsavory, but it still has the strong kick of Italian coffee and is very safe to drink. It’s because the design studio uses a water purification system designed to treat canal water and render it potable. The hybrid eco-machine filters the sludge from the canals and removes toxins from the water before using it to make espressos.

After the filtration process, the machine divides the water into two separate but connected streams. In the first path, the water goes through an artificial wetland with salt-tolerant plants and good bacteria. These work their science to clean the water naturally, all the while keeping the minerals in them. As for the second path, it’s where reverse osmosis and UV light treatment take place. The former filters the canal water to remove salt and tiny particles from it. The latter uses UV rays to kill germs in the water. Once the process is over, the water is purified. It is ready then to be turned into coffee made from the city’s canals, served only at the Venice Biennale Architecture 2025.

Canal Café view | image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro; photo © Iwan Baan, unless stated otherwise

Monitoring system to ensure that the water is potable

There’s a monitoring system that tracks the purification process at the Canal Café. In this way, the coffee made from the city’s canals and served at the Venice Biennale Architecture 2025 is potable at all times. Diller Scofidio + Renfro draws from the city’s Arsenale Lagoon, and quite literally, for the project. Aside from spotlighting the city’s flooding concerns and climate change, the design studio makes use of its café as a working example of how ‘brackish’ water can still be treated and reused.

For the visitors to the Venice Biennale Architecture 2025 and the city who have always wondered what the canal tastes like, there are now cups of coffee served for them to taste it, even though it’s no longer in its original state. Diller Scofidio + Renfro has collaborated with the US-based water systems engineers Natural Systems Utilities for the Canal Café. The studio has also worked with the Italian-based environmental engineering and water engineering company Sodai, as well as Michelin-star Italian chef Davide Oldani and structural engineers Knippers Helbig.

there’s a monitoring system that tracks the purification process | photo © Iwan Baan

Diller Scofidio + Renfro serves coffee made from the Venice canals | image © designboom

the design studio uses a water purification system to make the canal water potable | image © designboom

there are UV rays at the last filtration process to kill germs in the canal water | image © designboom

view of the Canal Café at the back of the Arsenale | image © designboom

the filtration system draws water straight from the canal | image © designboom

project info:

name: Canal Café

studio: Diller Scofidio + Renfro | @diller_scofidio_renfro

collaboration: Natural Systems Utilities, Sodai, Knippers Helbig, Davide Oldani | @sodai_circularinnovation, @knippershelbig, @davideoldani

photography: Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

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As Expo 2025 Osaka unfolds under the theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives,’ the Qatar Pavilion by Kengo Kuma & Associates introduces an architectural meditation on dualities: land and sea, tradition and innovation, Qatar and Japan. Located on the waterfront site of Yumeshima Island, the pavilion brings together the fluidity of fabric, the solidity of timber, and the stories etched into coastlines, both real and remembered. Inside, an exhibition has been curated and designed by OMA / AMO, led by Samir Bantal. See designboom’s previous coverage here!

The pavilion, photographed by Iwan Baan, comes together in the form of a sweeping architectural gesture shaped like a dhow, the traditional sailing vessel once vital to trade and pearling in the Arabian Gulf. Its curving white canopy, suspended from a finely joined timber frame, evokes both a sail catching the breeze and the tensile calm of Japanese and Qatari wood craftsmanship. The architects note that the dhow is more than symbolic. It is a shared vernacular that represents human-scale exchange across water.

The Qatar Pavilion evokes a traditional dhow sailing vessel | image © Iwan Baan

Kengo Kuma Blends Heritage Through Craft

Kengo Kuma & Associates’ Qatar Pavilion is a celebration of construction methods as much as form at Expo 2025 Osaka. The pavilion incorporates timber joinery techniques drawn from both Qatari and Japanese traditions, creating a structure that appears both ancient and futuristic. According to the design team, this synthesis of techniques reflects a respect for cultural continuity and a shared sensibility rooted in the sea. The architects set the tone with an entry framed by poetic verse. Outside the pavilion, vitrines display poems by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani and Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Muhannadi, printed against coastal imagery. The visuals replicate the gradient of the Gulf’s waters — deep indigo fading to aquamarine — as seen by sailors returning to shore.

A sequence of transitions define the experience, as the interior leads visitors from the maritime realm into the arid terrain of inland Qatar. A series of sand samples, each distinct in tone and texture, conjure the deserts that lie beyond the coast. Wall graphics reference the petroglyphs of Al Jassasiya, carved into stone by generations of inhabitants. The Pavilion was commissioned by Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry with creative and content direction led by the Qatar Blueprint, a think tank within Chairperson’s Office of Qatar Museums.

the lightweight structure uses Qatari and Japanese joinery techniques | image © Iwan Baan

the exhibition by OMA / AMO

Titled From the Coastline, We Progress, the OMA / AMO-curated exhibition deepens the narrative established by Kengo Kuma & Associates’ architecture, bringing an immersive journey into the nation’s past, present, and future as seen through its relationship with the sea. Developed under the direction of Samir Bantal, the exhibition transforms Qatar’s 563-kilometer coastline into a story of environmental adaptation, cultural resilience, and strategic transformation.

Visitors are first guided by a visual gradient that transitions from oceanic blues to desert tones, leading them toward the entrance. Aerial photographs of Qatar’s coastline — particularly the protected area of Al Zubarah — are displayed alongside poetry by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani and Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Muhannadi, reinforcing the country’s poetic and ecological heritage. Inside, tubes of sand sourced from different desert zones act as tactile markers, both material and metaphorical, guiding the flow of movement through the space.

white flowing fabric captures both breeze and heritage | image © Iwan Baan

A deep blue curtain, created with Inside Outside, wraps the main exhibition hall, evoking the stratified densities of the sea. Within, a wedge-shaped aluminum structure houses twelve niches, each dedicated to a specific coastal site such as Khor Al-Udaid, Al Wakrah, Old Doha Port, or Ras Laffan. These vignettes combine panoramic imagery, tactile maps, and colored beads that signal each site’s role in Qatari life — whether industrial, ecological, cultural, or diplomatic.

At the heart of the experience is a cinematic installation modeled after a traditional Qatari winter majlis. The three-channel film, directed by AMO and Samir Bantal, interlaces archival material with new footage — British Petroleum reels from the 1950s and panoramic shots by filmmaker Ron Fricke — to explore Qatar’s complex modern identity through its land, sea, and people.

Before exiting, visitors encounter a compact display of traditional objects on loan from the National Museum of Qatar — relics from pearl diving and domestic life that serve as reminders of the material culture that once sustained the nation’s shoreline communities. This exhibition continues AMO’s long-standing engagement in the Gulf, complementing previous work on the Qatar National Library, the Qatar Foundation headquarters, and the landmark Making Doha exhibition in 2019.

poems by Qatar’s founding figures greet visitors at the entrance | image © Iwan Baan

Sou Fujimoto’s Grand Ring is framed by tensile openings in the fabric structure | image © Iwan Baan

interior exhibits trace Qatar’s transformation from sea to land | image © Iwan Baan

a three-screen film and sea curtain immerse guests in coastal stories | image © Iwan Baan

image © Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA / AMO

pearl divers, merchants, and women’s roles are spotlighted in the narrative | image © Iwan Baan

project info:

name: Qatar Pavilion

architecture: Kengo Kuma & Associates | @kkaa_official

location: Expo 2025 Osaka | @expo2025japan

curator: OMA / AMO | @oma.eu

creative & content direction: Qatar Blueprint

commissioner: Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry

photography: © Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

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The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) has recently completed the second phase of its groundbreaking 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus, a 100 square meter building prototype constructed entirely from locally sourced soil and natural materials. Documented by photographer Iwan Baan and located within the Collserola Natural Park near Barcelona, the project represents a significant milestone in developing sustainable, affordable housing solutions. See designboom’s coverage of the project’s first phase here!

Initially conceived as a prototype for an upcoming project in Tanzania, the campus evolved from a single earth-printed wall into a full-scale pavilion. This expansion was made possible through a collaboration with global architecture firm Hassell. The project directly addresses two pressing global challenges — the construction industry’s substantial carbon footprint, accounting for 39% of global CO2 emissions, and the worldwide housing shortage.

IAAC expands its 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus with a 100 square meter prototype | image © Iwan Baan

IAAC’s living Laboratory of 3D printed earth

The 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus serves as a dynamic platform for experimentation and research by the team at IAAC. The building’s fragmented layout showcases the flexibility afforded by 3D printing technology, allowing for adaptable spaces that can be easily modified to suit changing needs. The campus is designed to create a diverse range of environments, from enclosed spaces to open-air areas, demonstrating the potential for personalized and adaptable architecture.

To minimize environmental impact, the campus is constructed primarily from natural materials. The foundation is made of natural stone, while the lower portion of the walls consists of a solid, stabilized earth base for protection against water damage. The main walls are 3D printed using earth excavated from the site, mixed with organic fibers and natural enzymes. This process is both efficient and sustainable, with walls reaching a height of 2.5 meters in approximately ten days.

the campus in Catalonia is a living laboratory for sustainable construction techniques | image © Iwan Baan

Optimized Wall Design for Performance and Efficiency

The 3D printing technique enables precise control over wall design, allowing for customization based on specific requirements. Walls can be configured to serve various functions, including structural support, thermal insulation, and natural ventilation. By incorporating hollow cavities within the walls, the project reduces material consumption while providing space for insulation and building services. The final wall thickness varies depending on load-bearing requirements and solar exposure. Through the 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus, the design and research team at IAAC has demonstrated the potential of earth-based construction to create sustainable, affordable, and adaptable housing solutions. As research and technology continue to advance, this project offers valuable insights into the future of architecture and construction.

the building is constructed from locally sourced soil and natural materials | image © Iwan Baan

IAAC worked with Hassell to develop the project, which began as a prototype for a housing project in Tanzania

the campus showcases the potential of 3D printing technology to create adaptable architecture

with earth-based construction, the project offers a solution to the global housing shortage and climate crisis

below the ground, 50 cm of natural stone foundation guarantees stability and drainage

the first 30cm of the wall consist of a solid 40-70 cm-thick stabilized earth base, to protect from floods

project info:

project title: 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus

architecture: Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) | @iaacbcn

collaborator: Hassell | @hassell_studio

location: Collserola Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain

3D printer: World’s Advanced Saving Project (WASP) | @3dwasp

photography: © Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

The post IAAC expands experimental campus in catalonia with 3D printed earth appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Spanish architecture studio Selgascano takes to the hills of northeast Los Angeles to complete a vibrant residence titled La Canaria. The team, together with LA- and Madrid-based architect Diego Cano, perches the home along a steep hillside in the residential neighborhood of Mount Washington, fronting it with a playful facade in warm, colorful hues. La Canaria offers a distant, panoramic view that stretches across the Elysian Valley toward California landmarks including downtown LA, the Echo Park hills, Silver Lake, and Hollywood.

images © Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

la canaria: a house flooded with california sunlight

Facing southwest, Selgascano’s La Canaria is flooded with warm Californian sunlight. The architects respond to harsh sunlight by balancing unobstructed views with effective shading. Thus, the design approach centered on two fundamental objectives — preserving the sweeping California views while mitigating the harsh light. The resulting structure both mirrors the horizon and celebrates the golden hues of the LA sunset with its facade of shading screens. Recognizing the significance of outdoor living in a climate as temperate as Los Angeles, the architects at Selgascano curated a fluid transition between interior and exterior spaces. A spacious outdoor terrace, equivalent in size to the interior, serves as a natural extension of the living quarters. Moreover, an innovative outdoor envelopment envelops both indoor and outdoor areas, providing shelter from the sun while framing the panoramic views.

La Canaria offers distant views encompassing downtown LA, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and beyond

the vibrant aluminum facade

La Canaria is recognized at once by its facade, which Selgascano crafts from recycled aluminum tubes. Painted in vibrant hues reminiscent of the LA sunset, this ‘wrapper’ serves as a protective canopy for the residence. Over time, the architects envision nature reclaiming this structure, as creeping vines, lush foliage, and ten carefully selected palm trees integrate with the Canary-yellow shading device, blurring the lines between architecture and environment. Despite its bespoke design and craftsmanship, La Canaria remains an ode to affordability. Recognizing the exorbitant construction costs in Los Angeles, the architects planned every detail, from dimensions to materials, to ensure cost-effectiveness. Prefabrication of components outside Los Angeles and their subsequent installation in a rapid timeframe exemplify the studio’s commitment to delivering exceptional quality within budget constraints.

the home’s interiors open onto an expansive outdoor terrace
the screen of recycled aluminum tubes is painted in warm, vibrant hues

La Canaria blends with its surroundings, embodying the essence of LA’s architectural heritage

project info:

project title: La Canaria

architecture: Selgascano + Diego Cano

location: Los Angeles, California

completion: 2023

photography: © Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

Selgascano architects: José Selgas, Lucía Cano

collaborators: Paolo Tringali
builder: Juan Santiago
woodwork: Laimar
joinery: Talleres Cejuela

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From October 21, 2023 to March 3, 2024, the VITRA Design Museum in Germany is launching the first major retrospective of Iwan Baan’s globally renowned oeuvre. The exhibition titled ‘Iwan Baan: Moments in Architecture’ reflects the photographer’s broad scope by drawing up a panorama of global architecture in the early twenty-first century, tracing its urban and social contexts and the people who use it. A leading figure of architectural photography today, Baan’s images document the growth of global megacities, explore traditional and informal housing structures, and portray buildings by prominent contemporary architects, including Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, Kazuyo Sejima, and Tatiana Bilbao.

Baku, Azerbaijan (2011) | image © Iwan Baan

how architecture comes alive through iwan baan’s lens 

‘Moments in Architecture’ at VITRA Design Museum responds to the rise of digital media over the past thirty years, which has fundamentally changed the world of photography and architecture. Images of new buildings become available in real-time, promoting the rise of architects, influencing design processes, and making architecture a visual commodity. No other photographer has shaped these developments as emphatically as Iwan Baan (see more here), taking quick, precise, and crisp photographs that can be profoundly human and poetic. ‘He knows how to make a building look great, but he also captures the moments when architecture comes alive, when plans are made, when workers rest, when people move in or out. Many iconic images of the past two decades were shot by Baan, from the ‘official’ portraits of architectural landmarks to photos of Manhattan in the dark after Hurricane Sandy in 2012,’ writes the museum. 

National Taichung Theatre, Taiwan, by Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects (2016) | image © Iwan Baan

moments in architecture explores the early 2000s onward

The exhibition at VITRA features examples from all areas of Iwan Baan’s work since the early 2000s. It includes film footage and rarely published photographs of traditional and informal architecture worldwide – from the round Yaodong villages of China to the rock-hewn churches of Ethiopia, from self-built multi-story dwellings in Cairo to the Torre David in Caracas. ‘What’s important is the story, which is very intuitive and fluid. I am not so interested in the timeless architectural image as much as the specific moment in time, the place, and the people there – all the unexpected, unplanned moments in and around the space, how people interact with that space, and the stories that are unfolding there,’ shares Iwan Baan. 

Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany, by Herzog & de Meuron (2017) | image © Iwan Baan

spotlighting the chinese urbanscape 

Baan’s focus on architecture emerged after he crossed paths with Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas in 2004. The first section of the retrospective presents a series of images documenting the construction of the CCTV Headquarters by Koolhaas’s architectural firm OMA (2002–2012) and the Olympic Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron (2003–2008), both in Beijing. Baan’s pictures show both the glossy facades and the workers who raise the buildings from the ground up, documenting their work and daily lives, often under challenging conditions. Including many unpublished works, this section reveals the beginnings of the photographer’s fascination with architecture as a process and as a social force – and as a manifestation of China’s rise to a global superpower. This is also illustrated by other photo series in this section, which document the country’s real-estate boom in the early 2000s as well as more traditional Chinese buildings.

National Museum of Qatar, Doha by Ateliers Jean Nouvel (2019) | image © Iwan Baan / VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2023

capturing architectural icons across the globe 

The second section of the exhibition gives an overview of this body of work, ranging from Zaha Hadid‘s MAXXI Museum in Rome to SANAA‘s Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, from Toyo Ito’s National Taichung Theatre in Taiwan to Balkrishna Doshi’s Ahmedabad projects. Baan has developed a constantly growing network since his first collaboration with Rem Koolhaas, including many of today’s foremost architects. For Herzog & de Meuron, Francis Kéré, Sou Fujimoto, Tatiana Bilbao, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SANAA, Toyo Ito, and many others, he is the photographer of choice when it comes to documenting their projects.

To capture the character and the context of a building, he combines aerial views taken by helicopter with a series of different perspectives ranging from panorama shots to detailed close-ups. ‘His working relationship with the architects is such that they often let him rely on his intuition to choose the right motifs and angles for the perfect shot. He embraces the moment, not waiting for supposedly ideal weather or light, welcomes reality’s incursions, and almost incidentally creates shots that have the visual power to shape a building’s public image,’ continues the museum. 

Beinecke Library New Haven, USA, by SOM (2017) | image © Iwan Baan

from urban growth to modernist heritage & local communities 

The exhibition equally spotlights Baan as a global nomad who spends much of his working life traveling the world. He explores booming megacities on all continents and documents real-estate booms or crashes, increasing density, urban evolution, and individual life stories. Be it in Tokyo, Lagos, São Paulo, or Hongkong, he chronicles the urban landscape, looking at idiosyncrasies as well as recurring themes that range from urban growth to the modernist heritage, from globalization to local communities, approaching iconic modernist cities like Brasília or Chandigarh with the same love for detail as the International Fair of Dakar designed in 1975 by Jean-François Lamoureux and Jean-Louis Marin or the urban sprawl of Los Angeles.

International Fair of Dakar, Senegal, by Jean-Francois Lamoureux, Jean-Louis Marin, Fernand Bonamy (2013)  image © Iwan Baan

On many of his commissioned travels around the globe, Iwan Baan also takes photographs of informal or traditional buildings. Whether in Japan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, or India, he looks at housing practices that have existed for centuries, that adapt to local conditions, and that often show similarities across cultures and continents. In one of the resulting projects, the photographer documents what is presumably the world’s largest temporary city: a camp of tents set up for the duration of the Kumbh Mela festival, which is held every twelve years in Prayagraj, India, and attracts an estimated fifty to eighty million pilgrims.

A project in Caracas, Venezuela, is dedicated to an unfinished financial center called the Torre David that squatters have converted into an informal housing complex. Baan’s photo series, which earned him the Golden Lion of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012 with Urban Think Tank (Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner) and Justin McGuirk, is a touching social study that shows how the raw concrete structure is appropriated by its inhabitants with homes, shops, and community spaces.

Tiébélé, Burkina Faso (2021) | image © Iwan Baan

After its presentation at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, ‘Iwan Baan: Moments in Architecture’ will travel to more international venues. The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive catalog with approximately 600 photographs covering two decades of Iwan Baan’s work. Illustrations and texts are by Beatrice Galilee, Marvin Heiferman, Hans Ibelings, Mea Hoffmann, and Iwan Baan; designed by Haller Brun.

Biete Ghiorgis, Rock-Hewn church, Lalibela, Ethiopia (2012) | image © Iwan Baan

Mikimoto Ginza 2, Tokyo, Japan, by Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects (2006) | image © Iwan Baan

Teshima Art Museum, Tonosho, Japan, by Ryue Nishizawa (2010) | image © Iwan Baan

House H, Tokyo, Japan, by Sou Fujimoto Architects (2009) | image © Iwan Baan

CCTV Headquarters Beijing, China, by OMA (2011) | image © Iwan Baan

exhibition info:

name: Iwan Baan: Moments in Architecture 

location: VITRA Campus, Weil am Rhein, Germany 

concept: Mea Hoffmann, Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

exhibition design: Vitra Design Museum | @vitradesignmuseum

running date: October, 21, 2023 – March, 3, 2024 

The post moments in architecture: iwan baan’s first major retrospective launching at VITRA appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Lebanese-born architect Lina Ghotmeh has been selected to design the 22nd Serpentine Pavilion, currently being constructed in Kensington Gardens. Named ‘À table,’ the Serpentine Pavilion 2023 by Lina Ghotmeh, invites visitors to gather and sit down together, engage in dialogue and share a meal. The project draws inspiration from Ghotmeh’s Mediterranean heritage and the meaningful conversations that take place around a table, embodying the desire to establish a sustainable connection with the land through food and our innate bond with the Earth.

At the heart of the pavilion lies a circular table, encouraging us to gather, reflect, exchange thoughts, and forge new relationships. Recognizing food as a form of care, the design of the pavilion serves as a space for contemplation and introspection, prompting us to reconsider our relationship with the environment and nature. By creating a convivial setting around the table, the architect invites us to share our ideas, concerns, joys, responsibilities, traditions, cultural memories, and histories, fostering a sense of unity and connection. ”À table’ represents the return to something very rudimentary and primitive: the act of bringing everyone around the same table, the table where we eat, where we share.’ mentions Ghotmeh. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the design, inspiration, and symbolism behind this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, designboom spoke with the Paris-based architect. Read the interview in full below. 

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy: Serpentine.

interview with Lina Ghotmeh

designboom (DB): Can you briefly introduce ‘À table’ to us? What was the inspiration behind the design for this year’s Serpentine Pavilion?

Lina Ghotmeh (LG): I named the Pavilion ‘À table’, which is this call to get together around the same table. It represents going back to the source, to something very rudimentary and primitive: bringing everyone around the same table, the table where we eat, where we share. It’s where sometimes we decide on important matters, related to our society. It’s also about the moment of how we actually eat. Because, if we change the way we eat, we change our relationship to Earth as well. So, I wanted to start with this thought.

DB: How does your ‘Archaeology of the Future’ concept come into play in this particular design? How does the Pavilion incorporate historical influences into its essence?

LG: Part of the design process that I lead in my atelier is about researching and trying to build a memory for a project that doesn’t just emerge as an alien to its site, but tries to incorporate notions of history, of society, of our evolution. So, we started looking at what a pavilion is, what a folly in a park is, and how these follies have evolved as these kinds of open structures with colonnades. We also looked at moments of assembly in different cultures, for example, the notion of the symposium, where Greek people used to sit at tables, eat, and decide at the same time, around a feast. We looked at the structures of the Dogon people, where the elderly of the villages used to all meet under this roof, stay seated, and embark on a decision. I think that this approach, the ‘Archaeology of the Future,’  brings one to think about a history of references that sometimes are distant.

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy: Serpentine.

DB: Can you walk us through the spatial experience of the Pavilion? 

Another thought that shapes the design of the Pavilion is understanding of the environment in which I am intervening, allowing it to emerge organically from its surroundings. It is not some object that is positioned there, but it emerges from the resources of the place.

The first thing that one can think about is the material itself. It’s constructed in wood, it echoes the tree trunks, and it’s a natural bio-sourced material. The Pavilion deploys itself as a series of tree trunks that invite one to enter into the heart of what could be a forest, maybe. As you walk around in the concave form of this Pavilion, you start to be aware of the canopies of the trees that envelop and surround the Pavilion. The design incorporates a gradation of experiences, creating a porous transition from the outside to the inside. The outer gallery space is more open, it’s a walkway where kids could run — a space with an almost kaleidoscopic feel to it. So, as you would walk around, you first experience the outside, rather than the interiority. 

The tree trunks shield you from the rain of London, and then from there, you can enter into the more inner heart of the Pavilion, which offers an intimate interior experience. Within the interior, one discovers a split structure that echoes natural forms like the structures of leaves. The repetition of beams, and the secondary elements that brace them, makes you almost feel like you are under a large leaf or a mushroom. You are invited to contemplate, walk around, sit around the table, meet your neighbors, discuss with friends, and have a café. You are invited to really use the space and not simply just look at it. So, the design provides a progression of experiences, from contemplation to functional use, aiming to create a warm and inviting atmosphere within the park’s context.

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy: Serpentine.

DB: You mentioned the roof of the Pavilion, which draws inspiration from a leaf, and is a quite distinctive element in the design. Can you elaborate on this pleated roof and its significance? 

LG: The pavilion has this horizontality that looks like a landscape. It is not an object that sits there and tries to dominate the site. It really merges with the site, still allowing the gallery space of the Serpentine to be hovering around. The roof is what gathers us, inviting us to come together: you are shielded, and you are connected to your surroundings.

The idea was to create this pleated structure as if you took a piece of paper and you just unfolded it. The design generates that very feeling of horizontality, but it also gives it a certain specificity and a relationship to light. Unlike a flat surface, the pleats allow light to enter and interact with the Pavilion in a unique manner. As I mentioned earlier, the shape draws from the leaf of a tree. When you look at a leaf, there’s this arrangement of structures —main and secondary— that hold this magical quality. Learning from this and trying to reapply it into the architecture, I aimed to advocate for simplicity and emotion, a design that does not have to talk too much, really. It is present in its own way. 

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy: Serpentine

DB: Why is it essential for the Pavilion to be in harmony with its natural surroundings?

LG: I think it’s a must. It’s not even a design approach or a concept; it’s a responsibility we have to the earth and to humanity. We need to be as conscious as possible about the environment and the current problems of climate change. If architecture is to be meaningful, it must have as little impact on the environment as possible.

Building with wood means building lightweight structures that are easier to assemble and reduce the carbon footprint associated with construction. By using this method, we draw attention to the importance of nature and acknowledge that we are an integral part of it. Nature is not separate from humans, we are part of nature, and we are almost all microbes. So the world can not be human-centric, we need to live more in harmony with the environment if we really want to live better too. We need nature to survive. Nature will always survive with its earthly wonders, but we need to stay close to nature to survive, learn from it, and understand ourselves. Of course, architecture cannot have the response to all that, but it can contribute and raise awareness, and create a dialogue.

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy: Serpentine.

DB: ‘Considering food as an expression of care, the Pavilion’s design is a space for grounding and reflection on our relationship to land, nature, and environment.’ How is this idea translated into the design?

LG: Having grown up in Lebanon and now living in France, many people ask me, ‘Where do you feel most at home, as you move, live, and work in different places?’ I always thought that food is the place where I feel home. I think food is what draws our relation to our roots, in a way. Suddenly, you are eating and you remember your relationship to Earth, to what it provided, to your geography. We are rooted beings, in a way, and we’re very much linked to what geography is able to bring as food. But that makes us think of ourselves as climate beings. When we move, we start to learn more and diversify and gain complexity in our personalities. Food makes us think of ourselves as beings defined not only by our nationality but also by the climates in which we have been nurtured. This link to food is important for me because it is before architecture even, it’s about us, as humans, and how we are related to Earth, and how architecture can serve as a medium to make one more aware of that. 

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy: Serpentine.

DB: Can tell us a bit about the two exclusively designed furniture pieces for the Conran shop that will be displayed at the Pavilion?

LG: The concept for this pavilion started with the idea of a table idea as a place of commonality. The design focused on creating a modular structure composed of nine segments, each consisting of three tables. Then, there are the stools. I was so lucky that Conrad accepted to produce these, resulting in a flexible seating arrangement that can be arranged concentrically or in different configurations to accommodate various programs and activities. They’re crafted in wood, all in reddish colors. The flooring and tables are of a dark Bordeaux red color, creating a sense of richness, while the remaining elements retain their natural wood hues, adding a touch of lightness to the roof and columns.

Stool and table for Serpentine Pavilion 2023 © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Stool and table for Serpentine Pavilion 2023 © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture Built with Nature Ink, Pencil & Watercolor Sketch by © Lina Ghotmeh, Courtesy: Serpentine

The post interview with lina ghotmeh on the design of the 2023 serpentine pavilion appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Last summer, renowned architecture photographer Iwan Baan was commissioned by the Prague Institute of Planning and Development to visit and capture the Czechian city for the first time in his life. For seven days, with a camera in hand – on foot, on a bike, and from a helicopter — he explored the center, the periphery, and the landscape along the Vltava River, documenting Prague’s everyday, raw character — miles away from the glossy pictures in tourist guides. These photographs are now showcased in a unique exhibition entitled ‘Iwan Baan: Prague Diary’, running until August 20, 2023, at CAMP — a multimedia gallery and urban planning hub. 

image © Iwan Baan

spotlighting the city’s raw character 

Conceived as an imaginary urban pilgrimage, ‘Iwan Bann: Prague Diary’ at CAMP unfolds into four thematic levels – starting with the city before moving on to the center, the periphery, and finally, the natural scenery. The visitor can wander through them and get lost in their various nooks. A large-format projection of the exhibition hall is dedicated to Baan’s aerial photographs – offering the unique opportunity to see Prague from unusual angles and unsuspected contexts. On the opposite wall of the hall, the exposition reveals almost all the photographs he took in Prague; raw, unedited, and random. Accompanied by an audio commentary by Iwan Baan, the visitor can thus get a glimpse into the ‘behind the scenes’ of the photographer’s creative method. 

image © Iwan Baan

‘I always try to get to know each new city in a very intuitive way. I try to let go of different expectations and draw inspiration directly from the place itself and the encounters that happen here. It’s good to visit landmarks and think about why that particular place is important to people, but at the same time you also need to turn your gaze in the other direction and observe what’s happening where people actually live. I would say that this kind of interaction is perhaps even more important in capturing the story of the city’, says Baan.



image © Iwan Baan

Elaborating on the content of the photographs, Ondřej Boháč, Director of the Prague Institute of Planning and Development
, writes: ‘Iwan Baan does not limit his photographs of Prague merely to notorious and sought-after locations but focuses also on the neglected ones. He also maps important brownfields such as the Žižkov Freight Station or the Vltavská metro area and captures them in their raw state. Baan focuses on buildings near the river, industrial buildings, transport infrastructure, islands, the landscape, and the busy and quiet life around it. From the contradictions he creates a mosaic which he has used to put together an urban portrait that visitors can see at the exhibition in CAMP.‘

image © Iwan Baan

‘Prague is of course significantly defined by its landscape – especially by the shape of the flowing river on whose banks the city was gradually built. It is interesting that even though you cannot see the river from many places, you constantly feel its presence in the city. It is in aerial photographs that this interrelationship between the city and the river comes out very well. For me as a photographer, these moments are very valuable because they give me what I am looking for – the connection of details to the whole‘, continues Baan.



image © Vojtěch Veškrna

As for the inspiration behind the exhibition title, Iwan Baan revisited one of the captions on his Instagram account — ‘A diary of travels with the iPhone’. This idea of endless wanderings through the city from one end to the other, recorded in the form of a pictorial diary, has been part of the Prague exhibition concept since the initial idea of a joint project.
 ‘The historical architecture of Prague reminds me a lot of big metropolises like London or Paris. But what’s different here is a certain contrast between that grandiose urbanism with its grandiose architecture and the sort of very pleasant relaxedness of the rest of the city‘, concludes the photographer. 

image © Iwan Baan

image © Iwan Baan

image © Vojtěch Veškrna

image © Iwan Baan

exhibition info:

name: Prague Diary 

exhibition location: CAMP Praha | @camppraha, Vyšehradská, Prague, Czech Republic

client: The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague)

photography: Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan 

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