An initiative of the
Bas Princen, Zlín 2009, Photographs
The historical black-and-white photographs, taken at regular intervals after the completion of various stages of construction, shaped the image of Zlín for some time. Many of them taken from an aerial perspective, the photographs captured the vibrant public life of the population: the shots show how, during their summer lunch breaks, workers poured out into the streets and squares on their way to sporting events and rallies. The Dutch photographer Bas Princen takes these photos as the starting material for a new photographic rendering of the city’s early iconography: he portrays Zlín from an angle that captures the aura of the architectures while managing to also record the traces of their use. His photographs thus represent, side by side, the varied past, present, and resonances of the not-too-distant future. It is in this field of tension that contemporary thinking and debate on Zlín is to have its place. Princen’s photographic snapshots in time may therefore be taken as a framework for the discourses collected under the title ‘A Utopia of Modernity: Zlín’.
Department Store
Factory Complex
Factory Complex
Factory Complex
Building No 21
Residential area
Residential area
House of Arts
House of Arts
House of Arts
Indoor go-cart track
Central Footwear Warehouse
Grand Cinema
Silo
Bas Princen
Born in 1975 in the Netherlands, Bas Princen lives and works in Rotterdam as an independent photographer. Focusing on the transformation of urban landscape, he uses photography as a means to explore possible future scenarios and outcomes. His most recent exhibitions include Invisible Frontier (2008) in Innsbruck, Nature as Artifice (2008) in Otterloo, the Nai’s show Spectacular City (2006), Talking Cities (2006) in Essen, and the Venice Architecture Biennale of 2004 and 2006, as well as the solo shows Utopian Debris (2006) in Toronto, Shrinking Cities (2005) in Berlin, and Achilab (2004) in Orleans. His publications include Artificial Arcadia (2004, contributors: Bart Lootsma, Wim Cuyvers, Lars Lerup, Dirk Symons, Jeff Dersen), Rotterdam (2007), Galleria Naturale (2008), and Five Cities Portfolio (2009). He spent 2005 in Los Angeles as the architect-in-residence at the MAK-Schindler Program. In 2004, he was awarded the Charlotte Kohler Prize for promising young artists and architects in the Netherlands.
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