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Architecture and Cinematography

Skis101

I'm working on my Thesis and looking for some precedents. Does anyone know of any buildings which were designed using cinematography, film methods, or are based on a narrative? I'm also looking for books/articles which go in depth about the design processes of individual contemporary architects. Any help is appreciated!

 
Oct 9, 07 7:15 am
vado retro

make your murders look like love scenes and your love scenes look like murders.

Oct 9, 07 7:47 am  · 
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won and done williams

as i remember it tschumi's parc de la villette used cinematography while generating the sequences through the park. at least his renderings of the project had a cinematic quality to them, even though they look quite dated now.

Oct 9, 07 8:13 am  · 
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reaching way back in my memory banks, i think there were some pieces in the book 'architecture and body', published in the late 80s/early 90s that might be applicable. it's a beautiful book anyway.

Oct 9, 07 8:26 am  · 
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remember when we used to talk about 'memory banks'?

Oct 9, 07 8:26 am  · 
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won and done williams

another idea that might be played out already is using peter greenaway's "belly of an architect" as a jump point. i've known a few theses that have incorporated that movie in compelling ways.

personally i've always had a fascination with dario argento. his filmmaking is very spatial and sensual. if i had another thesis to do, i'd think about doing something with his work, but then again there are so many great spatial filmmakers.

Oct 9, 07 9:05 am  · 
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@ Skis101

Check out
Michiel van Raaij's blog Eikonographia....
He is written a number of posts about the iconography of film in Architecture....
Link to a search of his blog with those posts listed below

http://www.eikongraphia.com/?s=film

Oct 9, 07 9:38 am  · 
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Janosh

Robert Mallet-Stevens wrote a number of early (1920's) essays on set design, cinematography, and its relationship to architecture. He built some cool stuff and was considered Le Corbusier's equal for a period of time.

Oct 9, 07 10:41 am  · 
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Michiel van Raaij

Did I really write about that, Nama?

I think you have to make a distinction between interiors and exteriors and cities.

I have obviously written some stuff about film-objects; like filmstrips, but iconography and film are besides that pretty different subjects.

Geoff Menaugh of BLDGBLOG has written some pieces on architecture IN film, like the architecture of cities in Star Wars.

These posts however say nothing about using narrative, or anything, like here asked.

I can recommend a new book about the architecture of used in the films of Hitchcock:

http://www.010publishers.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=637

The reviews are mixed, so don't get your hopes up too much.

Good luck!

Oct 9, 07 11:06 am  · 
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Skis101

Thank you for all of the responses so far. I'm actually looking at cinematography + architecture as a design process and not architecture that is in film/cinematography. Of course I have to do a little of the latter in my analysis, but its not the focus. Just a little clarification.

Oct 9, 07 11:36 am  · 
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el jeffe

well it doesn't reference cinematography, but i recall that james stirling's neue staatsgallerie in stuttgart used a narrative structure. perhaps someone can add more to it - damn - i can't recall who made that analysis - maybe peter mccleary???

Oct 9, 07 11:50 am  · 
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vado retro

cinematography may or may not have anything to do with narrative. depends on what you would classify as being associated with a narrative. also, not all films are narrative and what is architectural about film has nothing to do with the buildings in the films.

Oct 9, 07 12:30 pm  · 
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silverlake

There's the similar logistics that both a director and an architect have to deal with that make the two arts stand out together in a way...

Permitting and city clearances, long time durations, coordinating many different people/trades, etc...

And in the end one guy gets the credit.

Oct 9, 07 12:37 pm  · 
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mdler


he treats objects like women...man

Oct 9, 07 12:47 pm  · 
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mdler

sometimes I watch porn when I draft

Oct 9, 07 12:47 pm  · 
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mdler

I have a few clients who are involved in the porn industry

Oct 9, 07 12:48 pm  · 
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treekiller

tschumi dropped a piece of film on the plan of la villette, traced it and called it macaroni, aka the 'cinematic promenade'. its not very cinematic. his school at la frenoy is more cinematic. manhattan transcripts is a series of storyboard vignettes/diagrams of fireworks, urban spaces, and movements.

Oct 9, 07 1:24 pm  · 
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won and done williams

it may not be "narrative" per se, but both the smithson's and eames's films could be another start point. there's a lot to mine there.

Oct 9, 07 1:40 pm  · 
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mdler

many people compare architecture and film from a business point of view. Many times (most times) you have the director/architect trying to realize their vision (film/building) while it is the producer/client calling the shots. Both are artists relying on someone else to see their vision manifested.

I find it funny here in LA that most of the highly skilled craftsmen (and women) build 'temporary' sets for film while the majority of the 'permanent' structures built are done so by unskilled labor. The film industry obviously pays better which is why this happens.

Los Angeles also has a great deal of small fabricators who work in both film and architecture. Our office, for example, uses a metal worker for decorative steel who build the steel structures for movie sets....The availability of highly skilled fabricators has led to the ability to build some pretty crazy stuff (Morphosis, Eric Owen Moss, Wes Jones, etc....)

Also, the whole digital thing was a spin off from the special FX industry. MAYA and all those programs are developed for the movie industry and have been co-opted by architects. Many architects use the Warner Bros. scene shop to vacume form their blobby stuff.

look at this magazine

http://www.cinefex.com/

Oct 9, 07 1:51 pm  · 
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mdler

treekiller

did you used to be in the film industry?

Oct 9, 07 1:54 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

maybe this too obvious but haven't diller and scofidio been renowned for their use narratives/film/cinematography as part of the design process? my memory is shaky (too much rum again) but i believe that the slow house, the brassiere and even boston's ica incorporate some of this work. maybe try that scanning book for starters.

Oct 9, 07 2:05 pm  · 
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mdler

dont forget the chapter entitled 'Brad Pitt, Architectural Intern'

Oct 9, 07 2:21 pm  · 
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jjh

look at Stalking Detroit by Gia Daskalaskis et. al. she did a competition that is in that book where the design was related to cinematograhy. also, one of my favorite quotes is "but what characterizes the montage and hence its role as a cell or movie frame? the collision-the conflict of two opposing pieces." by sergei eisenstein

Oct 9, 07 2:26 pm  · 
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bronson, architect/assassin

I picked up a book recently called Cinemetrics: Architectural Drawing Today. Its an interesting look at how drawing can get away from the orthogonal drawings we all know and love, and getting into a cinematic study of visibility and depths and representation methods. it seems this might be an intriguing read for you, Skis, because it might help develop ideas about designing in a cinematic method, with different constraints and results. That wasn't a great intro/review of the book, i've just started reading it myself...

Oct 9, 07 7:58 pm  · 
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mdler

I aint got no craft services at my work every morning

Oct 9, 07 8:18 pm  · 
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PsyArch

The exhibition at the moment, the last ever I believe at the Architecture Foundation's "Yard", is by Neutral they do the most amazing stuff:

There's three walls covered in screens so that makes very like a virtual reality as when standing in the right place your eyes are filled.

Also they explore, in film, the transition from drawing to rendering of Zaha's work, all Tron-like and visceral. And H&dM, Foster...

Basically they do the sales pitch, but it is (in some cases) a record of the design process. Particularly their expression of the development from Zaha's drawings to a rendering of the project.

Oct 9, 07 8:21 pm  · 
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dekrpto

hey I know this guy has a link, I really didn't know if will help you.

www.thearchitectpainter.com

Oct 9, 07 8:40 pm  · 
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dekrpto
www.thearchitectpainter.com/surface_7ARCHITECT/_7threshold.htm

this is better

Oct 9, 07 8:41 pm  · 
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