Swann (Wim) photograph collection, 1951-1995

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Summary

Title:
Wim Swaan photograph collection
Dates:
1951-1995
Creators:
Swaan, Wim
Abstract:
A comprehensive collection of approximately 48,000 photographic prints, transparencies, slides and negatives in black-and-white and color by a self-taught photographer and practicing architect who traveled widely, documenting the art, architecture, and landscape of the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Western United States. Also included are a small quantity of correspondence with publishers, agents, colleagues and friends, sales accounts, a manuscript, research notes, and a copy of his master's thesis.
Extent:
60 Linear Feet 150 boxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Wim Swaan photograph collection, 1951-1995, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 96.P.21

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa96p21

Background

Scope and content:

A comprehensive collection of photographs, approximately 34,450 black-and-white negatives, contact prints and enlargements and approximately 13,450 color transparencies, slides and prints by a self-taught photographer and practicing architect who traveled widely and published many large-format books devoted to the art and architecture of various cultures. Included are a small quantity of correspondence with publishers, agents, colleagues and friends, sales statements, research notes, a manuscript, and a copy of his master's thesis.

Most images, taken in situ between 1951-1995, reflect Swaan's interest in facades, architectural details and decoration. Main concentrations include Gothic, Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance Europe, Islamic Spain and Morocco, Turkey, Egypt and Iran, Ancient Egypt and Greece, Asia, including India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin America, and the landscape of the American West.

Biographical / historical:

1927: Born Willem Albertus Swaan September 6 in Kokstad, South Africa.

1950: Bachelor of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

1950-1951: Travelled in Europe and Egypt. Worked for Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew in London on the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

1952-1960: Returned to South Africa. Worked for Andrews and Niegeman in Cape Town. Moved to H. H. Le Roith and Partners, Johannesburg, first as an employee, later as partner in charge of design. Projects: apartment buildings, schools, industrial and commercial buildings.

1958: Master of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Thesis: "Low-cost housing: a survey of economic and sub-economic housing for the lower-income groups with special reference to housing European families with children in South Africa," written while Swaan worked as a full-time architect for Le Roith and Partners. Later attended the Yale School of Organization and Management and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

1959-1960: Studied Zen Buddhism and researched Japanese architecture and landscape design at Chotokuin Zen Temple, Kyoto.

1960: Emigrated to London.

1961: Traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, Iran and the Middle East.

1963: Moved to the United States.

1963-1966: Joined Perkins and Will Architects, New York.

1966: Became a United States citizen.

1966-1968: Sabbatical in Europe.

1971-1972: Eighteen-month tour of Europe.

1972-1981: Partner at Perkins and Will.

1975-1981: Vice President at Perkins and Will.

1979: Elek Books Ltd. sold to Granada Publishing. Published only one other book after this point.

1981: Director of Health Facilities Planning in Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum's New York office. Oversaw the new Veterans Administration Hospital, Manhattan, addition, and other large health facilities located throughout the United States.

1990: Received a special citation from the American Institute of Architects for distinguished achievement as a historian and photographer of the art and architecture created by diverse cultures throughout the world.

1994: Retired as Director of Design at Architecture for Health, Science and Commerce, Tarrytown, NY.

1995: Died October 1 of pulmonary fibrosis.

Acquisition information:
Gift of the Willem A. Swaan Estate, received 1996. One binder of images of Latin American sites received in 1999. One box of images of Latin American sites received in 2000.
Processing information:

Lynda Bunting processed the collection and created the finding aid in 1998. Alina Sinetos reprocessed portions of the collection and revised the finding aid in 2015.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. Book projects, 1963-1995; Series II. Other photographs, 1951-1995; Series III. Papers, 1958-1995.

Physical location:
Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Rules or conventions:
archives, personal papers, and manuscripts

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Lynda Bunting and Alina Sinetos.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-06-26 10:14:20 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.

Preferred citation:

Wim Swaan photograph collection, 1951-1995, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 96.P.21

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa96p21

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
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