CityReads | 12 Documentaries on City, Architecture and Design

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12 Documentaries on City, Architecture and Design

City, architecture and design documentaries to binge while in self-isolation.

Sebastian Jordahn, Architecture and design documentaries to binge while in self-isolation 23 March 2020

Sources: 

https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/23/architecture-design-documentaries-round-up-self-isolation/

https://www.fastcompany.com/3041441/22-movies-every-designer-should-watch-on-netflix

1. Elevation – how drones will change cities, 2018

Dezeen's first documentary Elevation explores how drone technology will change the way people travel, how goods are delivered and the look and construction of buildings.

Featuring interviews with Norman Foster, Liam Young, Anab Jain and Paul Priestman, the film sets out a vision for what future cities might look like as drone technology becomes more ubiquitous.

Drones will "change the way we relate to each other".  

Aerial highways will relieve pressure on roads as deliveries and human transportation take to the skies in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Architecture will change dramatically as the ground floor entrance is replaced by rooftop landing, parking and recharging zones and deliveries arrive via specially constructed portals on the sides of buildings, or rooftop platforms, built to accommodate drones.

Infrastructure becomes nomadic. As urban transportation moves from the ground into the air, the entire way cities expand could be overturned.

Flying machines will construct buildings. Elevation also discusses the impact of drones on the construction industry, presenting recent experiments where drones are used to lay bricks to create structures or weave cables to manufacture a bridge.

2. Rams, 2018

Directed by Gary Hustwit, Rams gives a rare and intimate look into the life and career of iconic designer Dieter Rams, who spent more than three decades as chief designer of German electronics company Braun. In the film Rams expresses his regret with his involvement in fueling a culture of overconsumption.

The film can be streamed on Hustwit's website, along with many of the directors other films such as Urbanized, Objectified and Helvetica（https://www.hustwit.com/）.

3. Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, 2017

Arguably no one did more to shape understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Here, she fights against the ruthless redevelopment projects of urban planner Robert Moses.

4. Eames: The Architect & The Painter, 2011

Charles and Ray Eames, who are most known for their signature moulded plywood furniture, are widely accepted as some of America's most important designers. The film gives an in-depth look at the design duo's impact on post-war American culture and reveals details of their tumultuous marriage.

5. Barbicania, 2014

Barbicania captures a month-long immersion in the life of the Barbican Centre and Estate in London, one of the most representative achievements of brutalist architecture. The film, built as a personal diary, recounts on a daily basis all what the directors duo have discovered during their urban trip from the top floors of the towers to the underground levels of the art center.

6. City Dreamers, 2019

City Dreamers follows the careers of four inspiring women in the field of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture. Phyllis Lambert, Denise Scott Brown, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Blanche Lemco van Ginkel are inspiring trailblazers with over 60 years of experience each, who are working, observing and thinking about the transformations that are shaping the city of today and tomorrow.

7. Yves Saint Laurent: The Last Collections, 2018

Olivier Meyrou's film gives a revealing look at legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, as he produces his final collections in the late 1990s. Meyrou followed Saint Laurent and his business, and personal, partner Pierre Bergé over the course of three years, capturing both the psychological and physical struggles of the French designer.

8. Architecture of Infinity, 2018

The film follows the "spiritual life" in architecture and fine arts, but also in nature, and literally lifts it over and above the limits of thinking. A floating camera immerses the audience in somnambulistic imagery and takes us on a sensual journey from the infinity of the starry sky to the depths of the ocean. Through interviews with Peter Zumthor, Álvaro Siza, James Turrell and Cristina Iglesias, the film explores the spaces designed for transcendental experiences.

9. Unfinished Spaces, 2011

Cuba's ambitious National Art Schools project, designed by three young artists in the wake of Castro's Revolution, is neglected, nearly forgotten, then ultimately rediscovered as a visionary architectural masterpiece. Unfinished Spaces features interviews with the architects behind the design of Cuba's National Art Schools. The film explores the school's conception in the background of Cuba's revolutionary atmosphere, why it was deserted and the later attempts to reconstruct it.

10. Abstract: The Art of Design, season two, 2019

Step inside the minds of the most innovative designers in a variety of disciplines featuring creatives such as Olafur Eliasson, Neri Oxman and Cas Holman, and learn how design impacts every aspect of life.

11. Moriyama-San, 2017

Directed by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine,  Moriyama-San is an hour-long documentary about Yasuo Moriyama, the "urban hermit" who lives inside a house built by Ryue Nishizawa.

The documentary follows the life of Mr. Moriyama, the owner, and occupant of Moriyama House. Situated in Tokyo, Japan, the house is one of the most influential in Japanese contemporary architecture. Minimal white volumes - each differing in size - create a complex streetscape between the varying functions of the house, while the multiple entrances are unified by the unique spaces in-between.

12. The City Dark, 2011

Is there a side effect to urbanism beyond crime or air quality? What if the shining lights of our cities–so-called "light pollution"–were true danger unto itself? The City Dark argues that it is, and that civilization, alongside most terrestrial life on our planet, has relied on the night sky full of stars for billions of years–a night sky that we have since washed out in manmade light.

THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about the loss of night. It unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights - including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.

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