Momentum of Light explores the interplay between natural sunlight, vernacular architecture and everyday life in the West African nation of Burkina Faso. The exhibition presents a series of images captured by Dutch photographer Iwan Baan during his travels with Burkinabè architect Francis Kéré through Burkina Faso in March 2020, during which they visited communal compounds in Gando and Pouni, the main mosque in Bobo-Dioulasso and the decorated houses of Tiébélé. Baan’s photographs capture the stark qualities of light in sub-Saharan Africa and how it passes through traditional Burkinabe building typologies, shaping daily routines and ways of life. The images collectively articulate a sensitive study of light, space, place and use whilst emphasising the complex and reciprocal relationships between people, architecture and environmental conditions.
Iwan Baan (b 1975, Alkmaar, Netherlands) grew up near Amsterdam and studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. His architectural and documentary photographs are regularly published in magazines and newspapers including Domus, a+u, New York magazine and the New York Times. He has worked for renowned architecture firms such as SANAA, Rem Koolhaas/OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, Toyo Ito, Steven Holl and Zaha Hadid. By representing people in architecture and always showing the surroundings of the buildings he portrays, Baan questions the traditional representation of buildings as isolated and static structures; instead of isolating the built structure, he embeds it in history and context.
Francis Kéré (b 1965, Gando, Burkina Faso) is an internationally-renowned Burkinabè architect, recognised for his pioneering approach to design and sustainable modes of construction. His vocation to become an architect comes from a personal commitment to serve the community he grew up in, and a belief in the transformative potential of beauty. In 2004, his very first building was awarded the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture, garnering him critical acclaim from the outset of his career. In 2005 he founded his architectural practice, Kéré Architecture GmbH, as well as the Kéré Foundation eV, a non-profit organisation that pursues projects in Gando.
Saturday 12 March 2022 to Saturday 11 June 2022
Time:10:00 – 19:00
Location:Heal’s Building, 196 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7LQ
Source: AA School of Architecture