I once heard something from a residential architect that many marriages end while couples are designing their home...and that often the architect becomes the marriage counselor. I recently did a landscape project where the couple argued about every single design decision. The husband was very stubborn. They fought in front of me during almost every meeting. It was very uncomfortable.
This is what residential architects and building/residential designers deals with quite often. That's far more true than any of us would like.
I finally got around to watching this trailer. I know people who are like that architect - they're usually tenured (or tenure-track) profs at elite arch programs who only take on projects if they can be used in their monograph. This seems a lot closer to reality (of a certain segment of our profession) than how architects are typically portrayed in movies.
That caricature is much more common on school faculties than working offices. Several times during final reviews I've fantasized about just punching the face of one of those pompous twits, as he pumps up his own ego at the expense of the student's.
Perfect. I can't wait to see this movie. From the Fountain Head to this movie. Seems like the genius architect is finally getting his due. True that this attitude is fostered I architecture school, but think of all the disappointment and bitterness we could pass on if we actually taught architecture as a craft rather than a philosophy. Now to translate it into actual reform...
Richard Belzer would also bring that little bit of self-hatred that I think is necessary to really nail the stereotypical architect. As Maria Semple described it, a little "ugliness of character".
Not really sure why the op is calling this "another architect movie" - every 3rd leading man in every movie is an architect by trade, but they never go into any depth into what that entails. This movie looks hilarious and damaging to an already failing profession by exposing the rampant ninnydom that architects perpetuate, architectural masturbation.
When the profession's self-appointed "leadership" (AIA, media) does everything to elitize and insulate the profession from the public, the viewpoint becomes warped. Then idiotic movies and blogs come in to fill the gap with played out stereotypes.
this one seems like The Money Pit except via clown designer
lampooning the worst in us is liberating -- i say just own it
a movie that actually depicts the things we feel betrayed about would be boring as hell
as i tell the GC's i work with in the preconstruction meeting, architecture is rarely an emergency -- so write it down in an email or rfi so we can deal with it before it happens
The urgency that is often embedded in dramatic movies or procedurals is just not present in architecture, and part of practice is to prevent those things from happening. The process itself is preventative, typically taking months to design and permit and even longer to build. This makes it hard to frame architecture as a "crime of passion," (passionate practice? yes).
And urgency differs from crisis in architecture, which is an evolving sometime self loathing process of reflection. But watching a moody teen can be only so interesting for only so long. Imagine if the drama of the twilight series (point of disclosure, never watched it) had been folded into an architecture story. Wait- thats studio...
The Belly of an Architect, I think, marries well architectural crises/dramas and personal urgencies. And the same goes to Peter Greenaway's other movie, The Draughtman's Contract wrt to representation (of architecture and landscape) and its characters.
In his movies, one wonders whether it is the objective dramas of art as a medium happening against the backdrop of the subjective dramas of its characters or the reverse.
I would watch this movie it seems funny, interesting, and the architect seems a little out of it(going so cray cray over qualitative requirements there are like 4 other things to deal with in the programming phase not to mention the other pre-design categories.) but all and all an ok movie to watch if you like architecture.
Love it that the egomaniacal architect is going to design a house on the coast but bringing in a landscape architect as part of the plan isn't even on his pea brain.
Luckily this movie looks terrible so nobody will see it. Like the idea of a "Not another architect movie" movie that lampoons all of the architect in movie cliches--Sleepless in Seattle, where the guy never seems to be working. Or Indecent Proposal where the guy prostitutes his wife to fund dream house. So much material
We should probably distinguish between movies in which architectural work is a main story component versus those that have an architect character, but are otherwise unconcerned with architecture.
IDK the movies directly about architecture/architects seem mostly negative... Like another The Architect movie here. Too inside baseball, bombed http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0466665/
As opposed to architect characters that are mostly positive. Probably depends more on having a good director.
Think it was supposed to be a Pruitt-Igoe like project. Though that kind of reading of blaming the architect is a misreading of all the factors at play--government, transportation, race, and architecture which all comes together. But that's another story... But similar to all of these movies
I'm thinking we need to schedule a time for everyone on Archinect to watch this simultaneously then post our reactions to this thread in real time. But do theaters get mad when people do that? We're not supposed to use our phones in the theater, right? Hm.
Two public radio reporters who are friends were tweeting about the latest Captain America at the same time- then realized they were in the same theatre. So yeah, it's doable.
Donna, do you ever come to chi for events? for example, neocon? I just got a flask specifically for it. Wouldn't mind using it for this purpose as well.
have you all seen or heard of the earlier film by this studio "Untitled" It totally lampoons the art world and jabs at highbrow contemporary art theory and the people who subscribe to it. They seem to have a theme of exposing the ridiculous echo chamber some creative professionals live in and conflict and dram ensues as the bubble is burst.
this movie "The Architect" also jabs at intellectual elitism and exposed new villains (comedic villains in the vein of Dr. Evil) in the form of aloof architects operating in a pretentious bubble who impose their vision for the rest of us commoners disregarding the client's reasonable request and endangering a relationship in all in the quest to accomplish some puritanical design concept.
as for plot premise a house is incredibly high stakes project for the owners and the clash of egos is bound to be dramatic and vein and this can be funny to an outsider looking in.
I see this having a lot of appeal unless you are of course acting out in your every day life the way this new villain architect character is behaving, destroyer of relationships culturally rich morally bankrupt snob. Don't be that snob.
"this movie "The Architect" also jabs at intellectual elitism"
for a change, it would be good if jabs were made at pretentious plebian elitism, which is the case here.
i agree, using your phone in a movie hall is selfish and inconsiderate, even if what you're watching is a pig revelling in its own shit while you waste good money on it.
then watch it from your home and titilate yourself and the other archinectors on board with its inanity (to be fair, I don't know who would be more inane, them - the movie makers who are profiting considerably- or you - thinking that those cheap jabs were worth your hard earned money). Essentially, why encroach on the right of other people who want to enjoy (I don't know how, but it is their right anyway) to watch this (shit) movie in a cinema stall. I can sell you more guilt trips, if you're so into wasting your money, btw.
I think your guilt trip is wasted on me. I don't go to theaters much (three times in the past 8 years) because I find the sensory experience uncomfortable.
The benefit of the netflix option is that the money is already wasted as a subscription that is still cheaper than the price of the movie ticket.
OK, I watched the trailer again and I'm coming around. It actually does look pretty funny and tongue in cheek. And my recollection of Untitled is that it was sometimes hard to tell if the movie was being serious or not, so I think now that I was just being, you know, slow on the uptake. This could be hilarious.
Yes Donna, potentially hilarious, but if you have a thin skin about your career and the immense importance and seriousness to society the role of an architect plays, you may not like this movie. Judging by your contributions to the podcast (which are always entertaining) I think you will be OK just have the Bourbon close at hand.
If you can't take a joke at your expense you might be taking yourself and life in general too seriously.
To Donna's and Peter's point: yes! It helps to have a sense of humor in this life, and in this profession. Not having one makes for a long, miserable existence.
Not laying out a cent to see this movie, but thanks to trailers and television, I don't have to.
not another architect movie
jla-x, film noir does that
jla-x,
I once heard something from a residential architect that many marriages end while couples are designing their home...and that often the architect becomes the marriage counselor. I recently did a landscape project where the couple argued about every single design decision. The husband was very stubborn. They fought in front of me during almost every meeting. It was very uncomfortable.
This is what residential architects and building/residential designers deals with quite often. That's far more true than any of us would like.
sorry i meant to link here. a lot more of the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-8y0ZHxaxE
I finally got around to watching this trailer. I know people who are like that architect - they're usually tenured (or tenure-track) profs at elite arch programs who only take on projects if they can be used in their monograph. This seems a lot closer to reality (of a certain segment of our profession) than how architects are typically portrayed in movies.
^ Yes.
That caricature is much more common on school faculties than working offices. Several times during final reviews I've fantasized about just punching the face of one of those pompous twits, as he pumps up his own ego at the expense of the student's.
Bill Murray would've been good. Also: Richard Belzer. I always thought that he just looks like an architect without even having to say anything.
Perfect. I can't wait to see this movie. From the Fountain Head to this movie. Seems like the genius architect is finally getting his due. True that this attitude is fostered I architecture school, but think of all the disappointment and bitterness we could pass on if we actually taught architecture as a craft rather than a philosophy. Now to translate it into actual reform...
Richard Belzer would also bring that little bit of self-hatred that I think is necessary to really nail the stereotypical architect. As Maria Semple described it, a little "ugliness of character".
I will go see an architect movie when Aaron Sorkin writes the script, until then I rather let the trivial stereotypes rest....
that shit looks hilarious - AIA damage control commence.
Not really sure why the op is calling this "another architect movie" - every 3rd leading man in every movie is an architect by trade, but they never go into any depth into what that entails. This movie looks hilarious and damaging to an already failing profession by exposing the rampant ninnydom that architects perpetuate, architectural masturbation.
When the profession's self-appointed "leadership" (AIA, media) does everything to elitize and insulate the profession from the public, the viewpoint becomes warped. Then idiotic movies and blogs come in to fill the gap with played out stereotypes.
Richard Balkins can be played by Steve Buscemi.
at least the stereotyping gives us a good sense of entitlement. we exude elitism but can't even qualify for a good loan haha
Ironically, if we got off this stupid perch that Kant put us on, we'd actually have a better reputation and probably make more money.
this one seems like The Money Pit except via clown designer
lampooning the worst in us is liberating -- i say just own it
a movie that actually depicts the things we feel betrayed about would be boring as hell
as i tell the GC's i work with in the preconstruction meeting, architecture is rarely an emergency -- so write it down in an email or rfi so we can deal with it before it happens
Forensic architects in a NCIS episode seems reasonable.
++ proto
Proto brings up a good point.
The urgency that is often embedded in dramatic movies or procedurals is just not present in architecture, and part of practice is to prevent those things from happening. The process itself is preventative, typically taking months to design and permit and even longer to build. This makes it hard to frame architecture as a "crime of passion," (passionate practice? yes).
And urgency differs from crisis in architecture, which is an evolving sometime self loathing process of reflection. But watching a moody teen can be only so interesting for only so long. Imagine if the drama of the twilight series (point of disclosure, never watched it) had been folded into an architecture story. Wait- thats studio...
The Belly of an Architect, I think, marries well architectural crises/dramas and personal urgencies. And the same goes to Peter Greenaway's other movie, The Draughtman's Contract wrt to representation (of architecture and landscape) and its characters.
In his movies, one wonders whether it is the objective dramas of art as a medium happening against the backdrop of the subjective dramas of its characters or the reverse.
I would watch this movie it seems funny, interesting, and the architect seems a little out of it(going so cray cray over qualitative requirements there are like 4 other things to deal with in the programming phase not to mention the other pre-design categories.) but all and all an ok movie to watch if you like architecture.
What is cray cray? Crayfish?
LOL.....cray cray is a term that my friends and I...or used to be friends, called someone who we thought was crazy.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cray%20cray
Love it that the egomaniacal architect is going to design a house on the coast but bringing in a landscape architect as part of the plan isn't even on his pea brain.
Whether it gets bad reviews or not I will have to see this movie.
So far my favorite fictional movie with an architect has been Something About Mary and River Wild.
Luckily this movie looks terrible so nobody will see it. Like the idea of a "Not another architect movie" movie that lampoons all of the architect in movie cliches--Sleepless in Seattle, where the guy never seems to be working. Or Indecent Proposal where the guy prostitutes his wife to fund dream house. So much material
They should have invited Woody to give this talk at the convention:
https://youtu.be/13g9tr4JBEs
We should probably distinguish between movies in which architectural work is a main story component versus those that have an architect character, but are otherwise unconcerned with architecture.
IDK the movies directly about architecture/architects seem mostly negative... Like another The Architect movie here. Too inside baseball, bombed
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0466665/
As opposed to architect characters that are mostly positive. Probably depends more on having a good director.
Click with Adam Sandler was a pretty good architect movie. Not realistic of the profession at all but still entertaining.
Has anyone seen Highrise? It came and went from my small town so quickly I never got a chance to. :-(
Nate, is that about Pruitt-Igoe directly? Or just very similar?
The one I've been wanting to see for a while is this, but I still haven't been able to find it anywhere online:
https://vimeo.com/thecompetitionmovie
Think it was supposed to be a Pruitt-Igoe like project. Though that kind of reading of blaming the architect is a misreading of all the factors at play--government, transportation, race, and architecture which all comes together. But that's another story... But similar to all of these movies
I'm thinking we need to schedule a time for everyone on Archinect to watch this simultaneously then post our reactions to this thread in real time. But do theaters get mad when people do that? We're not supposed to use our phones in the theater, right? Hm.
Two public radio reporters who are friends were tweeting about the latest Captain America at the same time- then realized they were in the same theatre. So yeah, it's doable.
Here's the plan:
1. iPhone
2. flask
3. coordinate schedules
4. hilarity.
why is the flask second?
The only explanation is that there is already a double(minimum) poured.
i'm in.
Donna, do you ever come to chi for events? for example, neocon? I just got a flask specifically for it. Wouldn't mind using it for this purpose as well.
1- Why a flask.
2- twitter chat #archinectmovienight would be faster, no? (no need to hit the refresh button repeatedly),
have you all seen or heard of the earlier film by this studio "Untitled" It totally lampoons the art world and jabs at highbrow contemporary art theory and the people who subscribe to it. They seem to have a theme of exposing the ridiculous echo chamber some creative professionals live in and conflict and dram ensues as the bubble is burst.
https://vimeo.com/160939430
this movie "The Architect" also jabs at intellectual elitism and exposed new villains (comedic villains in the vein of Dr. Evil) in the form of aloof architects operating in a pretentious bubble who impose their vision for the rest of us commoners disregarding the client's reasonable request and endangering a relationship in all in the quest to accomplish some puritanical design concept.
as for plot premise a house is incredibly high stakes project for the owners and the clash of egos is bound to be dramatic and vein and this can be funny to an outsider looking in.
I see this having a lot of appeal unless you are of course acting out in your every day life the way this new villain architect character is behaving, destroyer of relationships culturally rich morally bankrupt snob. Don't be that snob.
Over and OUT
Peter N
"this movie "The Architect" also jabs at intellectual elitism"
for a change, it would be good if jabs were made at pretentious plebian elitism, which is the case here.
i agree, using your phone in a movie hall is selfish and inconsiderate, even if what you're watching is a pig revelling in its own shit while you waste good money on it.
But if it goes straight to netflix as has been suggested by others...
then watch it from your home and titilate yourself and the other archinectors on board with its inanity (to be fair, I don't know who would be more inane, them - the movie makers who are profiting considerably- or you - thinking that those cheap jabs were worth your hard earned money). Essentially, why encroach on the right of other people who want to enjoy (I don't know how, but it is their right anyway) to watch this (shit) movie in a cinema stall. I can sell you more guilt trips, if you're so into wasting your money, btw.
Oh lordy. Doing research for the pdocast I found that there are already not one but TWO movies titled "The Architect" and they ALL look terrible!
This The Architect involves a collapsed building, a mysterious beauty, and the Russian mob?
While this The Architect involves public housing, failed social interactions, and a 15 year old's budding sexuality. Hmmm.
They both seem to share lots of angst and broody soundtracks. At least this new The Architect looks funny?
I think your guilt trip is wasted on me. I don't go to theaters much (three times in the past 8 years) because I find the sensory experience uncomfortable.
The benefit of the netflix option is that the money is already wasted as a subscription that is still cheaper than the price of the movie ticket.
#archinectmovienight is a great idea, Marc!
OK, I watched the trailer again and I'm coming around. It actually does look pretty funny and tongue in cheek. And my recollection of Untitled is that it was sometimes hard to tell if the movie was being serious or not, so I think now that I was just being, you know, slow on the uptake. This could be hilarious.
Yes Donna, potentially hilarious, but if you have a thin skin about your career and the immense importance and seriousness to society the role of an architect plays, you may not like this movie. Judging by your contributions to the podcast (which are always entertaining) I think you will be OK just have the Bourbon close at hand.
If you can't take a joke at your expense you might be taking yourself and life in general too seriously.
Over and OUT
Peter N
Thanks, Peter! I mention this very thread in the podcast this week, in fact I endorse it! The podcast goes live later today...
To Donna's and Peter's point: yes! It helps to have a sense of humor in this life, and in this profession. Not having one makes for a long, miserable existence.
Not laying out a cent to see this movie, but thanks to trailers and television, I don't have to.
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