We were recently intrigued at the sight of students following people around the school, filming their movements and patterns. Of course, we had to investigate to see what was going on, after seeing the students' obvious enjoyment of the project! Assistant Prof. Jasmine Benyamin readily shared what her students created in studio ARCH 615/815, Cinematic Architecture.  Here is a description of the project adapted from the project brief:

A recurring theme in the writings of Bernard Tschumi is the association of “spaces” with “events.” Tschumi consistently argues that space and event – while they may be mutually exclusive terms – are nevertheless interdependent. Spaces are always qualified by the events that occur in them, and events are always shaped by the spaces they occupy. 

Using the SARUP building as a central character, students were asked to undergo a process of de-familiarization and re-familiarization through shadowing typical users of the space and using video as their narrative and analytical tool. In so doing, they investigated the following questions: how can we understand SARUP through particular experiences or events that take place within its walls? How can the medium of video present SARUP as a building in time ?

In teams of two and utilizing Adobe Premiere, students developed a 5-minute video that captured the complex relationships of these users to their inhabited space/s. The videos were not intended to be interviews, nor did they adopt a straight documentary approach. Rather their intent was to re-present their perception of the building as a series of space/time interfaces.