A cinematic homage to Peter Rice, one of the most distinguished engineers of the late 20th century. Tracing Rice’s extraordinary life and career, from his Dundalk childhood to his work on the Sydney Opera House,The Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd’s Building, to his untimely death in 1992, Marcus Robinson uses stunning time-lapse photography and revealing interviews to tell the story of a genius who stood in the shadow of architectural icons. Until now.Read More »
Architecture
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Marcus Robinson – An Engineer Imagines (2019)
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Peter Cohen – Undergångens arkitektur AKA The Architecture of Doom (1989)
Synopsis from IMDb: An absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: Hitler’s epiphany while viewing Wagner’s opera ‘Rienzi’, the rise of the homo-erotic Grecian/Nordic ideal, the parallels drawn between the ‘degenerate’ art of the cubists and dadaists and the mentally ill/physically deformed, the Nazi obsession with purity and cleanliness, and, finally, the descent of the Jewish people to the level of a virus/vermin.
(by IMDb)Read More » -
Julien Duvivier – Le mystère de la tour Eiffel (1928)
One of two circus twins is cheated of an inheritance by his double, who sets himself up in a chateau.Only to be threatened by a sinister black hooded sect. Rollicking adventures follow, culminating with a big chase on the Eiffel Tower.Read More »
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Michael Blackwood – Stirling: Three Museums [Omnibus] (1986)
James Stirling takes us from Germany, to London, to Boston, guiding us through three of his widely famed museums. Though the buildings designed and created by the established architect contain some of the world’s most notable works of art, Stirling reminds us that architecture serves as its very own long standing piece.Read More »
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Ferdinand Khittl – Eine Stadt feiert Geburtstag AKA A City’s Birthday Celebrations (1959)
A documentary short film by Ferdinand Khittl on Munich’s 800th anniversary.
Ferdinand Khittl was born on the 20th of January, 1924, in Frantikovy Lázně, Czechoslovakia. As a ship’s boy he signed on for a training vessel and for six years until 1945 he was a sailor with the merchant marine. After his release from two years as a POW in Italy he tried his hand at various professions (labourer, bricklayer, poultry-breeder, barman and baker) and first came in contact with the film business in 1951, when a friendship with a cinema owner led to a job as the representative of a film rental agency. Between 1952 and 1955 he worked as a trainee in Robert Sandner’s Olympia-Film company and became a cutter for Luis Trenker.Read More »
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Timothy Sakamoto – Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West (2007)
Take a journey through legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West — an architectural masterpiece housing his home, his studio and a school of architecture in the Arizona desert — with this documentary and interactive tour. The longtime director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, discusses Wright’s life and career, exploring the ways in which Taliesin West reflects his values of organic architecture.Read More »
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Carlos Saura – Renzo Piano: An Architect for Santander (2018)
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The architect, a contemporary master, Renzo Piano. The filmmaker, another contemporary master, Carlos Saura.Read More » -
Dieter Reifarth – Haus Tugendhat (2013)
Reifarth relates the history of the Tugendhat House and family from the perspectives of the Tugendhat children. The Tugendhat House is also presented in the social, political and cultural context of the modern Republic of Czechoslovakia formed after World War I; the German occupation; the communist regime; and the Czech Republic, whose formation was made public in a broadcast from the Tugendhat House. The descendants of Fritz and Grete never repossessed the house but always fought to have it restored and open to the public. In 2001 the Tugendhat House was designated a UNESCO World Heritage. From 2010 until the opening in 2012 a laborious technical and aesthetic restoration was realized.Read More »
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Agnès Varda – Salut les cubains (1963)
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1963’s Salut les cubains is a collaboration with Yves Montand that compiles Varda’s photojournalism from Cuba, ten years after the revolution, into a celebratory ode to the island, its people and culture, and the still-very-young socialist state. The images are striking from a historical standpoint, although they don’t hint quite yet at the more poetic direction toward which Varda’s work will evolve. Her photo-montage style recalls both Soviet revolutionary film and the Cuban documentaries of Santiago Álvarez, whose career was just beginning at this time. Moments are poignant, such as seeing Cuban director Sara Gomez cutting up around the ICAIC studios shortly before her death. But Salut les cubains’ dominant impression is one of boundless energy and the nation’s great hope in trying to forge a new way of life.Read More »