The life and death of socialist architectural monsters. An epic fairy-tale in five chapters.
Related Movies
Years of Construction (2019)
Demolition of the old and building of the new Kunsthalle in Mannheim in the years 2013 to 2018.
Jean Nouvel: Guthrie Theater (2008)
French architect Jean Nouvel has long been known in Europe for his bold, shimmering glass museums, concert halls, and high-rise towers. Now the much-acclaimed new Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which opened in 2006, is displaying Nouvel's remarkable talents to an American public. With a cantilevered lobby that extends 175 feet over the Mississippi River, the dark midnight-blue, aluminum-paneled structure has captivated the culturally conscious city and helped spur the rejuvenation of a once-industrial waterfront. In the tour, Nouvel takes us through three distinctive theaters he designed for the Guthrie, and out onto the cantilevered deck to view the legendary river that inspired the boldly elevated design.
Ascension (2009)
Definitively proving that all the "B" Science Fiction of the 1950s and 1960s do not hold a candle to the 'real thing,' Pavel Medvedev's surreal 45 minute documentary Ascension is certainly one to look for. Composed entirely out of archival footage, much of it from the Soviet science and space archives, delicately scored and building to an undeniable mood of surreal (perhaps even ominous) energy, it charts (and re-purposed) the progress of man into to the unknown area of space exploration with a flair for creating art out film that was shot by scientists and engineers as a mundane record.
John Hejduk: Builder of Worlds (1992)
A poet among architects and an innovator among educators, John Hejduk converses with poet David Shapiro at The Cooper Union about the mystery and spirit of architecture. His own sketches and structures are shown
Twilight City (1989)
A fictional letter from a daughter, Olivia, to her mother in Dominica is the narrative thread connecting interviews from (predominantly) black and Asian cultural critics, historians and journalists. The choice of occupation for the daughter, a researcher, perhaps strains the narrative conceit too far. Nevertheless, for an avowedly political documentary the result is absorbing.
The Cars We Drove into Capitalism (2021)
A cinematic, character-driven insight to what it meant to produce and to own a car in communist times: the Socialist propaganda dreams and the hard reality of living that dream. The freedom that these slow and clumsy vehicles were giving to their owners; the cars as an instrument in the Cold War battle; legends and homemade tune-ups as an attempt to stand at least a little bit off the crowd.
Chambord: The Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery (2018)
A building lost in the midst of a 5 000 hectare park, that's the equivalent of the surface of Paris, Chambord is the castle of all superlatives. Having required nearly 220,000 tonnes of stone to build, the Chateau de Chambord, in the Loir-et-Cher department, is an architectural gem. 156 metres of facade, it has more than 70 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms. The castle commissioned by Francis 1st in the 16th century is also the most mysterious. The majestic monument has its share of mysteries: identity of its architect, influence of the Florentine painter Leonardo da Vinci in its design, location in the middle of marshes in the heart of the forest and even longevity because it has survived through time without being damaged since the beginning of its construction in September 1519.
Concrete Forms of Resistance (2020)
Filmed in Tripoli, Lebanon, Concrete Forms of Resistance is a documentary centred upon the city’s abandoned ‘Permanent International Fair’, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the mid-1960s. Progress and crisis, labour and capital, material and memory, are reflected through a very intelligent rhyme between image and sound. The touching voice and words of Niemeyer as a call for life, and the beautiful camerawork as a weaving of ghosts in the present landscapes.
The Importance of Being an Architect (2022)
A documentary film conceived as a virtual dialogue and musical journey in four acts, which investigates the responsibility of architects in building the society of tomorrow.
Bauta (2018)
Bauta is a short documentary that explores public, monumental buildings in Norway - stone and concrete buildings. By the public they have the desire to be torn down, or are not given particular aesthetic value. But what about when people are out of the buildings and they get to stand for themselves? Bauta provides a new experience of space and architecture.
Ad Astra (2015)
A visual journey through Norwegian modernist church architecture. A short documentary film that pays tribute to the Norwegian church and post-war postmodernist architects for its daring reform of the 50-70's innovative church building. Raw concrete and cold clean lines in a functionalist style were in line with society's development, but in stark contrast to what the church had previously represented. The film portrays 25 of these churches from all over the country
Mid-Century Moderns: The Homes That Define Palm Springs (2013)
This documentary film goes beyond the walls and hedges of Mid-Century homes that were built in neighborhoods like Twin Palms, Vista Las Palmas and Racquet Club Estates. The film features interviews with noted architects James Harlan, author of The Alexanders. Watch as home owners in various Palm Springs neighborhoods speak directly to the pride that goes beyond home ownership as they tour us through their homes. They gladly accept that they are the stewards of these mid-Century monuments that they live with everyday.
Restoring a Masterpiece: The Renovation of Eastman Theatre (2010)
Take a look behind the curtain to see the vast history and recent renovation of one of Rochester, New York's most famous landmarks. Architects, theater personnel, historians, community leaders, and citizens provide in depth insight from start to finish in one of the most extensive renovations the city has ever seen.
Rome's Invisible City (2015)
With the help of a team of experts and the latest in 3-D scanning technology, Alexander Armstrong, along with Dr Michael Scott, explores the hidden underground treasures that made Rome the powerhouse of the ancient world.
Skyscraper (1959)
Nominated for an Academy Award, this live-action short film playfully chronicles the construction of the Tishman Building at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
If You Build It (2013)
A year in the life of one of America's most innovative classrooms where students design & build to transform their hometown community. The film follows Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller as they teach the fundamentals of design, architecture and construction to a class of high school juniors in rural North Carolina.