Archinect - Features

Cutting Room: Joseph Kosinski talks to Archinect about his transition from architecture to Hollywood

2014-09-05T11:12:00-04:00

As we've seen throughout our Cutting Room series, there's a clear relationship between architecture and filmmaking. Architecture is inspired by film as often as film is inspired by architecture, so it's not uncommon for architects to experiment with film, or even transition into a film career. Joseph Kosinski is one such individual, but his path to filmmaking is a little different than normal. His full-length directorial debut was for 2010's TRON: Legacy, a blockbuster sequel to the early 80's classic. Three years later, he followed that with the visually stunning Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise.

Cutting Room: "Interiors" takes classic films back to the drawing board

2014-06-23T12:44:00-04:00

Filmmaking is a labor of love that shares architecture’s compulsion: to model a stratum of life down to the most precise detail, creating entire worlds that do not (yet) exist. It seems natural then that an architect and filmmaker would combine forces to create Interiors, a journal of reconstructed sections taken from famous scenes in classic films.

"This incredible, derogatory, racialized way people talk about the space": director Kelly Anderson's Cutting Room interview on gentrification and activism in her doc, "My Brooklyn"

2014-06-12T11:53:00-04:00

My Brooklyn takes a close look at the guiding forces behind Brooklyn’s gentrification, from the highly personal perspective of documentary filmmaker (and self-identifying gentrifier), Kelly Anderson. Pivoting around Anderson’s and producer Allison Lirish Dean’s investigation of redevelopment efforts for downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall, the documentary carefully considers both the personal and historical factors behind gentrification’s economic shifts, outlining (if not simplifying) the complexity of the gentrification debate.

Cutting Room: Talking architectural dissent and climate-proof buildings with Eugene Tssui, subject of Kyung Lee's "TELOS" documentary

2014-05-28T10:06:00-04:00

TELOS: The Fantastic World of Eugene Tssui is a slice of the architect's uphill battle against the built environment’s status quo, documenting his crusade for what he calls “Evolutionary Architecture”. Maligned for his off-beat sustainable design principles as a student and struggling to build as a professional, Tssui persists as a Renaissance Man -- an artist, athlete, teacher and designer, who just doesn’t seem made for these times.

Cutting Room: Listen to John Szot, creator of "Architecture and the Unspeakable", discuss cyber-architectural realities and speculative practice

2014-05-19T11:08:00-04:00

John Szot, architect and creator of the Architecture and the Unspeakable film series, is a pioneer in film's unique architectural exploration, working with digital animation to investigate parts of the built environment that remain hidden at the street level. In our interview for Cutting Room, an audio series at the intersection of architecture and film, Szot spoke with me about his architectural background and how he started making films.

Cutting Room: We talk with Patrick Creadon, director of "If You Build It", about the documentary and the power of design education in post-recession U.S.

2014-05-14T12:33:00-04:00

If You Build It documents a year in the classroom of Project H, an experimental design-build workshop for high school students in Windsor, North Carolina. Guided by designer Emily Pilloton and architect Matt Miller, the creators of Project H, ten high schoolers set out to design and build a farmers’ market hall for their town, in the hopes that it will help invigorate the local economy and inspire other community-minded projects.