Archinect - News

Movie Review - 'Herman's House' - Trapped In Solitary, A Prisoner Specs Out A Dream House

2013-04-24T15:19:00-04:00

The off-screen protagonist of Herman's House, Herman Wallace, already has a dwelling for his body: a 6-foot-by-8-foot cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, aka Angola. But the documentary's on-screen protagonist, Jackie Sumell, wants him also to have a place for his soul: a dream house for a man who desperately needs dreams.

"The Competition" is a film following 5 celebrity architects competing for the same project

2013-04-24T14:29:00-04:00

An almost uncomfortable but intensely fascinating account of how some of the best architects in the world, design giants like Jean Nouvel or Frank Gehry, toil, struggle and strategize to beat the competition.

The film is scheduled for release in late 2013.

Motion Picture Academy unveils Renzo Piano's design for LA film museum

2013-04-16T15:25:00-04:00

Italian architect Renzo Piano, Los Angeles architect Zoltan Pali and officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled preliminary designs Thursday for a $300-million film museum at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The architectural centerpiece of the 290,000-square-foot complex, just west of the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, would be a giant glass-enclosed dome, which Piano refers to as the "sphere" and the "soap bubble."

Archiculture, a documentary film following architecture students, to premiere later this month

2013-04-11T19:42:00-04:00

Archiculture takes a thoughtful, yet critical look at the architectural studio. The film offers a unique glimpse into the world of studio-based, design education through the eyes of a group of students finishing their final design projects. Interviews with leading professionals, historians and educators help create crucial dialog around the key issues faced by this unique teaching methodology.

As some of you might recall, we interviewed the filmmakers back in 2008 (5 years ago!) here on Archinect. Well, it seems that the world will finally see what they've been working on, starting with the world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 29th.

Only 4 more days to enter the LA Film Festival Design Competition! And we've got a new celebrity judge!

2013-04-09T17:06:00-04:00

As we previously announced, we've partnered up with the LA Film Festival and Designer Pages to host a competition to design the interiors and layout of this year's VIP Director's Lounge at the LA Film Festival. There are only a few days left until the deadline, but don't fret, you can still submit a winning entry!

We're looking for creative solutions to the design problem described in the brief. The winner will be selected both on his/her proposal, AND also his/her experience and previous work as displayed on his/her Archinect profile. If you have a killer portfolio, and some good ideas, we encourage you to submit! The winner will be prominently displayed among a very prestigious group of wealthy and creative people in the entertainment industry, which is a pretty sweet place to market your design skills.

More information can be found on the competition website: competition.lafilmfest.com

Questions? Send to lafilm@designerpages.com

Oh, one more thing, we've just added a ne...

Announcing the 2013 LA Film Festival Director's Lounge Design Competition, co-hosted by Archinect

2013-03-27T14:56:00-04:00

We're excited to announce a competition we're co-hosting with Designer Pages and the LA Film Festival. This competition seeks proposals for the interior design/layout of the VIP Director's Lounge for this year's LA Film Festival.

The winner will have their design executed, with a cash prize and an "Industry Badge" pass to the LA Film Festival in June. The winner's designs will also be on display in the director's lounge throughout the festival, which will be seen by many of the entertainment industry's most influential and respected members (hint: pretty amazing source for new clients).

Take a look at the website for the full details - competition.lafilmfest.com

"Beyond Entropy Angola" Documentary

2013-02-27T18:40:00-05:00

Documentary of the making of the first Angolan National Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. Shot over the Summer of 2012, it goes to show how one simple (and brilliant) idea may very well change the future sustainability of developing countries. And maybe the rest of the world as well.

Steven Holl Architects presents two short films on the Sliced Porosity Block

2013-02-20T17:51:00-05:00

Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Spirit of Space has created two short films on the Sliced Porosity Block - CapitaLand Raffles City, completed in November 2012 in Chengdu, China.

Filmed in November 2012, A Conversation with Steven Holl presents Steven Holl on site as he explains the design concept. The film Sliced Porosity Block explores the project in its urban context and as a public space in the city of Chengdu.

Still from "Sliced Porosity Block"

In the center of Chengdu, at the intersection of the first Ring Road and Ren Ming Nam Road, the Sliced Porosity Block forms large public plazas with a hybrid of different functions. Creating a metropolitan public space instead of object-icon skyscrapers, this three million sq ft. project takes its shape from the distribution of natural light. The required minimum sunlight exposures to the surrounding urban fabric prescribe geometric angles that slice the exoskeletal concrete frame of the structure. The building str...

PLURALITY, some sci-fi viewing for the weekend

2012-10-12T19:07:00-04:00

In the year 2023, the Bentham Grid goes online... After the state of New York gives the police access to "The Grid," a new technology that allows people to purchase anything with a quick scan of their fingerprint, crime drops almost instantly. However, they also discover that certain people are popping up in two places at once.

Unfinished Spaces premieres tomorrow night on PBS; Archinect talks to the filmmaker

2012-10-11T17:54:00-04:00

Unfinished Spaces, a film that we've previously covered here on Archinect, is a documentary about the ambitious Cuban National Art School project, conceived, and ultimately killed, by the revolutionary communist Cuban regime.

In addition to an exhaustive schedule of screenings, it will be televised, for the first time, tomorrow night on PBS (10pm).

In 1961, three young, visionary architects were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to create Cuba's National Art Schools on the grounds of a former golf course in Havana, Cuba. Construction of their radical designs began immediately and the school's first classes soon followed. Dancers, musicians and artists from all over the country reveled in the beauty of the schools, but as the dream of the Revolution quickly became a reality, construction was abruptly halted and the architects and their designs were deemed irrelevant in the prevailing political climate. Forty years later the schools are in use, but remain unfinished...

Herman's House

2012-10-05T12:59:00-04:00

In 1972, Herman was serving a 25-year sentence for bank robbery when he was accused of murdering an Angola Prison guard and immediately thrown into solitary. Many believed he was wrongfully convicted. Then in 2001 he received a letter from art student Jackie Sumnell, who posed the provocative question: "What kind of house does a man who has lived in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over 30 years dream of?"

ALL HALE, a film set against the backdrop of the Rural Studio in Hale County Alabama

2012-08-21T20:13:00-04:00

Everyone, rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul. - Samuel Mockbee Tensions run high when a young female architect moves to a small but uniquely-built rural town and unwittingly falls in love with the son of the man responsible for the town’s misfortune.

Wim Wenders responds to rumors about Zumthor feature film

2012-07-11T14:08:00-04:00

Wim Wender's studio has informed us that the information relayed the other day, was not entirely accurate, due to misinformation in Suedostschweiz, the source article as cited in our recent news post.

It is correct that Mr Wenders is currently working on an artistic interview film with Peter Zumthor for the upcoming Biennale. This short film, however, will be a unique contribution to this year's Biennale only and has nothing to do whatsoever with Mr Wenders' intention to do a feature documentary on Mr Zumthor at a later point of time. It is certainly not a trailer for the feature documentary. These are two completely different projects with the Biennale short film being singularly exhibited at the Biennale and with no connection to a possible feature documentary.

Seattle Library: Homeless Man Interview Clips

2012-07-02T13:24:00-04:00

CLIPS OF SEATTLE LIBRARY: INTERVIEW WITH HOMELESS MAN AND SHOTS OF STRUCTURE. This footage is part of a feature length Documentary film that I am making about my father Rem Koolhaas.

OMA Designs a Pyramid for Kanye West

2012-05-28T20:03:00-04:00

An OMA-designed temporary pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival was inaugurated today with a screening of Kanye West's debut short film Cruel Summer. The pavilion, with a design led by Shohei Shigematsu, is a raised pyramid containing a seven-screen cinema invented by West's creative team, Donda.

Architectural videography from Japan

2012-04-17T20:22:00-04:00

Michael Kim, from Tramnesia, has shared with us a couple new films he's recently completed, as part of a larger documentary about life in Kanazawa, Japan. The first one below is about SANAA's 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, and the following one is about a new public library by a smaller Tokyo-based firm called Coelacanth.

Results of the 2011 SMIBE Short Film Competition “Building Revolution”

2012-04-06T17:58:00-04:00

Two top entries have been announced in the 2011 edition of the annual short film competition hosted by SMIBE, The Society for Moving Images about the Built Environment. Under the theme "Building Revolution," the contest had invited moving image stories that investigate, explore, and entertain our communities about social, environmental, political, technological, and economic issues that designers of the built world should be discussing.

RUIN

2012-03-22T18:22:00-04:00

An animated short set in a post-apocalyptic universe.

Kickstart: 9 Chains (Buckminster Fuller in Philadelphia)

2012-03-21T20:41:00-04:00

Buckminster Fuller was an inventor, architect and "futurist" who made a very large impact on American culture and technology in the 20th century. “9 Chains” explores his presence in the city of Philadelphia between 1973-1980. Moving between documentary style presentation of the facts and pure abstraction, this work focuses on two projects Fuller worked on while in Philadelphia: the lecture series "Everything I Know" and the development of the World Game Institute.

Check out Archinect's latest curatorial pick at Kickstarter. To view all of our selections visit Kickstarter.com/Archinect.

Wim Wenders Turns His Hand To Architecture

2012-02-27T19:30:00-05:00

Wenders revealed his ambition to make a 3-D documentary about architecture. "I have actually already started a long-term project in 3D. It will take several years to do a film about architecture, and I have a lot of architect friends. I realised through Pina that architecture is something that could have a real affinity to film."

Oliver Twist's Workhouse Discovered

2012-02-06T17:19:00-05:00

It sparked a thousand childhood nightmares – now the original workhouse from Oliver Twist has been discovered. But a row has erupted over what to do with the building.

Breaking Out and Breaking In

2012-01-25T15:09:00-05:00

Breaking Out and Breaking In is an exploration of the use and misuse of space in escapes and heists, where architecture is the obstacle between you and what you're looking for.

Bruce Beresford to Direct Frank Lloyd Wright Biopic 'Taliesin'

2011-12-06T12:34:14-05:00

Veteran filmmaker Bruce Beresford has signed on to develop and direct Taliesin, a film about fabled American architect Frank Lloyd Wright from writer Nicholas Meyer.

Finally! I've been wondering for years why a movie about FLW hasn't yet been developed.

An actor hasn't been named yet. Who is your vote?

‘Eames - The Architect and the Painter’ - Review

2011-11-18T00:29:17-05:00

...the most gratifying thing about “Eames” is that it shows, in marvelous detail, how their work was an extension of themselves and how their distinct personalities melded into a unique and protean force. The film is also appropriately busy and abundant: full of objects, information, stories and people, organized with hectic elegance.

Architecture on Film: Rem Koolhaas and Shumon Basar in conversation

2011-11-12T18:27:59-05:00

Architecture on Film: Rem Koolhaas and Shumon Basar in conversation before the UK premiere of "1,2,3 Rhapsody" and "The White Slave" 10th October 2011, Cinema 1, Barbican Centre, London

Tell Me a Story, 'Urbanized'

2011-11-07T18:59:37-05:00

As he has moved through the design professions, Hustwit has scaled up from a single typeface (Helvetica) through industrial design (Objectified) and now to cities. Each one has followed essentially the same structure, talking heads interspersed with images, one person and one idea leading to the next. No voiceover. No narrative. No critique. And not a lot of style. As Hustwit told Adam Harrison Levy, that’s the way he wants it.

John Portman, Symphonic Architect

2011-10-20T01:41:57-04:00

Now 86 and still running his Atlanta-based firm, John Portman & Associates, the architect is the focus of a new documentary, “John Portman: A Life of Building,” which premieres tomorrow at the Architecture & Design Film Festival in Manhattan. Mr. Portman recently spoke with a reporter about his career.

And for more information about the film go to www.johnportmanfilm.com

Announced! 2011 SMIBE Short Film Competition: "Building Revolution."

2011-10-10T20:46:31-04:00

We're excited to be the media sponsor again this year for the super-awesome SMIBE short film competition.

Films should be 3 minutes max in length and and can be produced in any motion image medium.

Entry is free.
Deadline is December 31, 2011.

Ten finalists will be selected to be featured on SMIBE.org and at a film screening in Los Angeles, Chicago and at the Image Festival in Florence, Italy. Of these ten, a grand prize winner will be awarded $500 and a unique SMIBE trophy.

Competition is sponsored by The Graham Foundation, Archinect, and Image

With its third annual competition, SMIBE continues to bring together a growing body of moving image stories about the built environment. We hope the competition will become a forum for the exchange and discussion of persuasive issues about the built world. For this competition, SMIBE welcomes moving image stories that investigate, explore, and entertain our communities about social, environmental, political, technological, and ...

Is Nostalgia Dead? Retro-Futurism, Architecture & Film

2011-07-28T19:18:01-04:00

There is a certain quality about the 60s dream of the future that strikes a chord in everyone's heart. The melancholy and beauty of these dreamlike creations have survived not only in architecture, but also in fashion, product design and - most vividly so - in cinema. It is through cinema that the unique feel of this nostalgic breed of buildings could be experienced with the most powerful effect.

Tom Mallory, of our good friends over at OpenBuildings.com, refuses in an article on Huffpost to say 'goodbye' to retro-futurism and explains why it makes us feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

Genre de Vie - a documentary about the social effect of the bicycle revival

2011-07-25T20:33:07-04:00

In short we will research the relationship between man and their living environment, the city, with the bicycle as the discovering function. This will partially be done by interviews with architects, city planners and people in control at the local government while on the other hand the people who create the urban bike culture; the cyclist in these cities.