Iwan Baan photography exhibition on Las Vegas and Rome to open at Princeton

The Princeton University School of Architecture is set to host the U.S. debut of From Las Vegas to Rome, a traveling exhibition featuring photography by Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan. The show will run from August 6th through September 10th, 2025.

Originally conceived during Baan’s residency at the American Academy in Rome, the exhibition draws inspiration from the 1972 architectural manifesto Learning from Las Vegas by Denise Scott Brown, Robert Venturi, and Steven Izenour. In a reversal of the book’s thesis, which famously likened the Las Vegas Strip to Rome’s Piazza, the exhibition uses imagery of Las Vegas to reexamine the architectural and urban fabric of Rome.

Baan’s photographs explore thematic parallels between the two cities, both viewed as sites of spectacle at the intersection of power and play. His work ranges from sweeping aerial views highlighting urban density to intimate street-level portraits of everyday life, often capturing tourists in candid moments.

From Las Vegas to Rome has previously been shown at the American Academy in Rome, the Architectural Association in London, the 2024 Timișoara Architecture Biennial in Romania, and the Architekturgalerie München in Germany. The exhibition also coincides with the release of Rome – Las Vegas: Bread and Circuses, a new publication from Lars Müller Publishers featuring Baan’s photography.

“The show involves seeing the commonalities between these two cities—between the ancient and the new—and, of course, the stark differences,” Baan said about the exhibition. “But in the end, despite the perceived polarities, we’re all there together in these dual worlds.”

The exhibition—made possible by the Princeton School of Architecture staff, notably Dean Mónica Ponce de León—includes contributions from exhibition coordinator Suzanne Tóth-Pál, graphic designer Noah Beckwith, exhibition manager Kira McDonald, and a fabrication team led by Marie Baretsky, John Hunter, Sean Rucewicz, and Bill Tansley.