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| Oct 16, 2013 |
Architecture & Design Film Festival focuses on urbanism
Boh staff
By Staff

During New York City’s most important month for architecture and design, Archtober, Tribeca’s fifth-annual Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF) October 16 – 20, will screen 25 feature-length and short films from all over the world exploring various themes of art, architecture, design and urban planning.

“Every year, we find that a theme naturally emerges from the film submissions, and this year’s focus is prominently on urbanism,” said festival founder and director Kyle Bergman. “In fact, our opening night film is about Jan Gehl’s decades-long study of how humans interact within the urban landscape; another film, My Brooklyn, explores the pros and cons of gentrification; and a new film on Paolo Soleri covers many of his urban ideas on density and the environment.”

The films offer intimate looks into the work of urban designers like Gehl and William Whyte, visionary architects including Antoni Gaudí, Richard Neutra, Tadao Ando and Paolo Soleri, and creative icons such as fashion designer Paul Smith and environmental artist Patrick Dougherty. Many will be shown for the first time and include one world, eight U.S. and six New York premieres in addition to two “sneak previews.”

Film highlights include:

The U.S. premier of Tadao Ando—From Emptiness to Infinity, directed by Mathias Frick. The film looks into the design process of world-renowned architect and master of minimalism, Tadao Ando, whose award-winning architecture creates a spectacular connection between Japanese tradition and contemporary modernism.

The New York premiere of The Vision of Paolo Soleri: Prophet in the Desert. While uncovering Soleri’s legacy as an architect, environmentalist and philosopher, filmmaker Lisa Scafuro poses critical questions about mankind’s future and architecture in a world facing environmental, social and economic crises.

The Swiss film, Sagrada—The Mystery of Creation, will also make its U.S. debut. Director Stefan Haupt uses Gaudí’s famous cathedral as the backdrop for a film about the process of creation.

The New York premiere of The Oyler House: Richard Neutra's Desert Retreat, directed by Mike Dorsey. The film tells the story behind the house and the unlikely pairing of a working-class government employee and world-famous architect through interviews with Richard Oyler, actress Kelly Lynch (who currently owns the house), Neutra’s two sons and well-known LA real estate agent Crosby Doe.

In addition to the curated selection of films, ADFF will also present a series of intimate discussions with architects, designers, industry leaders and filmmakers as well as three panel discussions. On Saturday afternoon, Wanted Design will curate a panel on gentrification in Brooklyn, while the two Sunday panels focus on historic preservation and Russian modernism.

Giving the audience a chance to connect with the personalities behind the films, more than 10 directors will be available for Q&As including: Andreas Dalsgaard (The Human Scale), Lisa Scafuro (The Vision of Paolo Soleri), Ian Harris (Archiculture), Kelly Anderson (My Brooklyn), Malachi Connolly (Built on Narrow Land), Stephen Haupt (Sagrada), Sebastian Schindel (The Latin Skyscraper), Isabella Willinger (Away From All Suns!), Dorsey (The Oyler House) and Tufic Makhlouf (The Barragán House).

The Architecture & Design Film Festival has also organized three lively panel discussions on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20 related to the films My Brooklyn, The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat and Away From All Suns!

The schedule of panel discussions is as follows:

Saturday, October 19, 3:30–4:30 p.m. Brooklyn Renaissance for All?

Mirroring the festival’s theme of urbanism, the NYC-based curators at Wanted Design will present an honest conversation about gentrification and urban community development currently happening in Brooklyn. AIGA/NY Design/Relief Program Director Laetitia Wolff will moderate a discussion with Brooklyn residents Kelly Anderson, filmmaker and director of My Brooklyn, Jan Vingerhoets, CEO of the world-renowned lighting company FLOS USA, and Ilana Judah, Director of Sustainability at FXFOWLE Architects.

Sunday, October 20, 3:30–4:30 p.m. Preserving the Modern

Architecture critic, author, curator and filmmaker Alastair Gordon will moderate a discussion on preservation with actress and preservationist Kelly Lynch, who has owned and restored mid-century architectural gems like Richard Neutra’s Oyler House and John Lautner’s Harvey House, and Michael Adlerstein, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Capital Master Plan who has a long, storied resume of important preservation projects including Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Gettysburg and Jamestown.

5:30–6:30 p.m. Midnight and Modernism in Moscow

Rick Bell, Executive Director of AIA New York and the Center for Architecture, will lead a panel discussion on Russian modernism and the spirit of Russian constructivist architecture with filmmaker and director of Away From All Suns! Isabella Willinger, architect Dr. Regina Khidekel, Yale PhD student Anya Bokov, and founder of the Intercontinental Curatorial Project, Vladimir Belogolovsky.

Tickets for the 2013 Architecture & Design Film Festival can be purchased at the Tribeca Cinemas Box Office (54 Varick Street, NYC) and online. Pricing is $14 for General Admission, $11 for AIA members and $8 for students with valid ID.

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