I know that some of you are interested in Architecture, well, Shift uses Brutalist buildings on the cover of Bulk and Tatlin have use quit a lot since the Eighties so I thought you might be interested in two documentaries I've been involved with. Great Expectations and Kochuu. Both have been released on DVD in the UK recently and will be released in the US this spring. The Japanese and Taiwanese DVDs have been out for a while. BJ Nilsen composed a great soundtrack for Kochuu and Silverbullit did the same for Great Expectations.
(http://icarusfilms.com/new2007/gifs/gre2.jpg)
Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1qvQ3k8X0
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1qvQ3k8X0)
Great Expectations: A Journey Through the History of Visionary Architecture
The new film from the director of KOCHUU, this is an astonishing journey through the history of innovative, futuristic, utopian and sometimes bizarre architecture projects—from the beginning of the 20th century to today.
Since the end of the 19th century, due to industrialization and rapid technological
progress, mankind has been confronted with new problems and possibilities. Visionary
architects and artists, motivated by contemporary problems, including housing short-
ages, urban decay and pollution, set about to create changes in our ways of living that challenged conventional concepts of the good, the true and the beautiful.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS introduces us to the most significant visionary architectural movements and personalities of the 20th century, including:
Rudolf Steiner – The Austrian philosopher and educator who designed the mammoth concrete structure of the Goetheanum auditorium and other buildings for the anthroposophy colony in the Swiss countryside.
Le Corbusier – The Unité d'Habitation apartment building in France, responding to the
postwar housing shortage, was designed as a self-contained environment, a building you would never have to leave.
Levitt and Sons – Responding to the need for affordable housing for returning WWII veterans, the Levitts' designs for inexpensive and rapidly constructed tract homes in
Long Island, New York gave birth to the American suburban dream.
Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer – Their sleek but functionalist architecture and innovative urban plan for Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, built in only four years in the late '50s, remains one of the most modern cities in the world.
Buckminster Fuller – Aiming to create conditions for a sustainable life on earth by using fewer resources, Fuller designed the lightweight Geodesic Dome, of which today more than 300,000 have been built worldwide.
Moshe Safdie – Safdie's reinvention of the apartment building, introduced at Montreal's
Habitat '67 Expo, features a prefab, modular design for middle-class urban housing, where every apartment has a garden.
Antti Lovag– This French architect's concept of "Habitology," designing architecture for human needs, abandon corners for natural curves and spheres, as seen in his Maisons Bulle and Yellow Round Houses.
Paolo Soleri – Soleri's concept of "arcology," seen in the ongoing Arcosanti project in Arizona, fuses architecture with ecology in crystal-like, hyperdense desert cities designed for pedestrians.
Jacque Fresco and Roxanne Meadows – Their Venus Project in Florida, blending functionalism, ecology and science-fiction, aims to create a utopian vision of urban planning for a new society.
With archival and contemporary footage, animation and interviews, GREAT EXPECTA-
TIONS traces the story of these grand architectural visions, both realized and unrealized, by great thinkers with revolutionary, if not always successful, ideas.
"Exciting... these architects seldom get the chance to speak freely in this way.
This gives the content weight and lends plausibility to their visions... GREAT
EXPECTATIONS gives one an appetite for visionary architecture."
— RUM ( Swedish architecture and design magazine )
"Astounding images of more or less bizarre projects are intertwined with fantastic inter-
view material... a documentary that treats the viewer seriously." — Svenska Dagbladet
52 minutes | color | DVD
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expectations-Journey-through-Visionary-Architecture/dp/B002WOYRPQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1268049917&sr=8-2
(http://icarusfilms.com/new2006/gifs/koch.jpg)
Kochuu: Japanese Architecture / Influence & Origin
KOCHUU is a visually stunning film about modern Japanese architecture, its roots in the Japanese tradition, and its impact on the Nordic building tradition. Winding its way through visions of the future and traditional concepts, nature and concrete, gardens and high-tech spaces, the film explains how contemporary Japanese architects strive to unite the ways of modern man with the old philosophies in astounding constructions.
KOCHUU, which translates as "in the jar," refers to the Japanese tradition of constructing small, enclosed physical spaces, which create the impression of a separate universe. The film illustrates key components of traditional Japanese architecture, such as reducing the distinction between outdoors and indoors, disrupting the symmetrical, building with wooden posts and beams rather than with walls, modular construction techniques, and its symbiotic relationship with water, light and nature.
The film illustrates these concepts through remarkable views of the Imperial Katsura Palace, the Todai-Ji Temple, the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum, the Sony Tower, numerous teahouses and gardens (see link below for complete list), as well as examples of the cross-fertilization evidenced in buildings throughout Scandinavia, and shows how 'invisible' Japanese traditions are evident even in modern, high-tech buildings.
KOCHUU also features interviews with some of Japan's leading architects as well as Scandinavian contemporaries including Pritzker Prize winners Tadao Ando and Sverre Fehn, Toyo Ito, Kazuo Shinohara, Kristian Gullichsen and Juhani Pallasmaa.
KOCHUU is a compelling illustration of how the aesthetics of Japanese architecture and design are expressed through simple means, and also shows that the best Japanese architecture, wherever it appears, expresses spiritual qualities that enrich human life.
"A film about architecture could leave a forebrain stifled. That KOCHUU does nothing of the kind speaks to the iridescence of its light, shapes and colors, as well as its profusion and juxtaposition of ideas."—Northwest Asian Weekly
"A gentle, beautiful film that lingers over images of gardens and details of buildings."—The Age
"Unhurried and often beautiful...draws the watcher in. Mesmerising!"—The Australian
"A small film with big thoughts...a dynamic dialogue in design spanning the past, present, and future...Wachtmeister's film footage of architects describing their design ideas within their realized buildings is a veritable historical document."—Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kochuu-Japanese-Architecture-Tadao-Ando/dp/B002WOYRQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1268051244&sr=1-1
I used to have a bit confusing attitude towards documentaries. If it was something that could be shown on TV, I almost immediately rated it of "not of my interest". That meaning it could interest me to watch and enjoy, but not go to theater or buy or even rent vhs/dvd. Only quite recently I actually have started to buy some documentaries. And probably should keep my eye more on what exactly comes from TV channels other than movies.
I'm pretty sure this would/could be shown on YLE sometime in future. If it hasn't already. And I'm pretty sure I'd like to see it. But also can almost guarantee I will never check out the TV program schedules to be prepared. Last week watched document of the architecture and most of all the technical side of Taiwanese skyscraper what was for a while tallest building in world.
Yle fst have shown both.
You are not alone in your feelings towards watching documentaries on Cinema/DVD Mikko. Films that maybe sold a 1000 tickets at the Swedish box office got 300-400 thousand viewers when broadcasted. That said I think there is a DVD market for films like these. I bought the Futuro doc/book package from Finland which was one of the best dvd/book package I have ever seen. For those who don't know the Futuro was a house built out of plastic that looked like a flying sourcer. We found one in Florida that is used today as a strip joint.
(http://davidszondy.com/future/Living/futuro04.jpg)
I think there are couple almost similar, plastic houses here? One with round windows, strange white plastic, when you drive route 6 from Lahti to eastern finland, you'll find one. It's very strange place, with similar kind of view to the lake. Last few times I passed by, it has seemed like it has couple trailer houses on the yard and only all kinds of crap inside. Not anyone actually living there.
Yeah, the Futuro was actually produced by a Finnish company called Polykem. The first one that was ever produced (the one on the picture) stands in Hirvensalmi. At least it was placed there in 1968.
There is also a photostory in an early issue of Private that take place in a Futuro.
Guess it's just about on topic, I watched the other day Manufactured Landscapes, documentary about photographer Edward Burtynsky. Some really amazing images and interesting/depressing/awe-inspiring stuff. World's biggest ever dam being built in China, oil tanker graveyards, etc.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0832903/
Hoping to find Kochu and Great Expectations on netflix but no such luck. Kochuu looks really good, so I'll probably just buy it.
Both Great Expectations and Kochuu haven't been released on DVD in US yet. Icarus films are planning for a late spring release which I hope will happen. The above releases are Region 2 PAL DVD and sold by British Amazon.
I can still play them on my computer though so not a big issue, but I guess I might wait.
Not a documentary but an exhibition
"Abandoned Fascism", regarding left overs of the experimental years of the "ventennio".
I live in a house of that time and it is peculiar indeed. Small flat but with plenty of arches, high/wide cielings and columns.
http://www.civicworks.net/wastelands/fascismo-abbandonato/
Quote from: ConcreteMascara on March 17, 2010, 12:10:50 AM
Hoping to find Kochu and Great Expectations on netflix but no such luck. Kochuu looks really good, so I'll probably just buy it.
They are released in the US now though Icarus. I'm not sure if they are on Netflix but I guess everything is.
Quote from: tiny_tove on November 17, 2010, 12:19:17 PM
Not a documentary but an exhibition
"Abandoned Fascism", regarding left overs of the experimental years of the "ventennio".
I live in a house of that time and it is peculiar indeed. Small flat but with plenty of arches, high/wide cielings and columns.
http://www.civicworks.net/wastelands/fascismo-abbandonato/
Just started to work on a follow up on Great Expectations. To bad we have decided to only include buildings/ideas from 2000 and forward because this looks really cool.
Quote from: Strömkarlen on March 08, 2010, 02:31:47 PM
I know that some of you are interested in Architecture, well, Shift uses Brutalist buildings on the cover of Bulk and Tatlin have use quit a lot since the Eighties so I thought you might be interested in two documentaries I've been involved with. Great Expectations and Kochuu. Both have been released on DVD in the UK recently and will be released in the US this spring. The Japanese and Taiwanese DVDs have been out for a while. BJ Nilsen composed a great soundtrack for Kochuu and Silverbullit did the same for Great Expectations.
(http://icarusfilms.com/new2007/gifs/gre2.jpg)
Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1qvQ3k8X0
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1qvQ3k8X0)
Great Expectations: A Journey Through the History of Visionary Architecture
I need to get this. Looks really great!
Not a documentary, but... This one looks amazing, and like most Taschen books it won't hurt your wallet that much.
http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05744/facts.frederic_chaubin_cosmic_communist_constructions_photographed.htm?utm_source=tas&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=2011_01_I
Frédéric Chaubin, Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed
(http://www.taschen.com/media/images/480/page_fo_chaubin_communist_constructions_06_1012131653_id_402322.jpg)
(http://www.taschen.com/media/images/480/page_fo_chaubin_communist_constructions_07_1012131654_id_402335.jpg)
Does anyone here know of anywhere I can find some decent "walk through" videos online?
Quote from: Strömkarlen on March 13, 2010, 12:28:05 PM
I bought the Futuro doc/book package from Finland which was one of the best dvd/book package I have ever seen. For those who don't know the Futuro was a house built out of plastic that looked like a flying sourcer. We found one in Florida that is used today as a strip joint.
Normally I avoid giving out too much information before publication, but now got to say I got interview with maker of the document / co-author of book for SI... He has made many things related to experimental music & film.
In finland, if you drive route 6 to east, you always notice Venturo house on side of road. Not as distinctively odd as Futuro, but same architect, also plastic house.
Quote from: Strömkarlen on March 13, 2010, 12:28:05 PM
I bought the Futuro doc/book package from Finland which was one of the best dvd/book package I have ever seen. For those who don't know the Futuro was a house built out of plastic that looked like a flying sourcer. We found one in Florida that is used today as a strip joint.
I finally got to read this. Document dvd is the same as in Taanila's documentary collection dvd. But this with additional footage as bonus. Book is great. I had to borrow it from library, since haven't been able to find place to buy it. Every bookstore I have visited have said it's sold out. Great book, where everything is in finnish and english.
Music of that Futuro document dvd was made by Ektroverde.
Really looking forward to for the interview. I always assumed that there was a Säkhö connection somewhere but I don't know why really. The extra material on the book/dvd set is a treasure.
Shameless plug 1. There is an article about the Futuro by yours truly in the upcoming "greatest hit" book from the people how brought you NUDE magazine (UK based).
Shameless plug 2. We put our latest film TEST SITE up for on-line rental. Soundtrack by BJ Nilsen. http://www.testsitemovie.filmbinder.com .
(http://www.testsitemovie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Test_Site_poster.jpg)
TEST SITE looks interesting. But how do I watch it online? I don't see a "RENT NOW" button, like on some of the other movie pages I checked on that website. Is the renting limited to certain regions only (I'm in Finland)? Ah, now I see it's partly funded by YLE and has actually been shown on Finnish TV... hopefully they will re-run it at some point.
That is strange. We didn't geoblock and I get a rent now button just under the poster. I have to check that when at the office next time.
YLE fst have shown Test Site (and our other films) but I don't remember how many runs they have.
ITAKESKUS : Public baths and swimming pool complex
Helsinki Finland
Seen a few pictures of this amazing place and wanted to know if any here had visited?
Keep in mind I've only seen a few pictures of its interior; I've no idea of its patrons or whether
or not this may be an exclusive ( in a negative sense) place.
That swimming hall is quite infamous of it's customers.
Lots of baddly behaving bums, gypsies, somalians, white trash etc.
I have been there once, few years ago. It looked liked the interior was straight from DDR, which is a positive thing!
Quote from: NIKOZ on April 23, 2011, 12:58:21 PM
That swimming hall is quite infamous of it's customers.
Lots of baddly behaving bums, gypsies, somalians, white trash etc.
I have been there once, few years ago. It looked liked the interior was straight from DDR, which is a positive thing!
hmm. Thanks for the heads up. I'll avoid; too bad the place looks great.
What is DDR?
Quote from: Strömkarlen on April 23, 2011, 12:06:56 PM
That is strange. We didn't geoblock and I get a rent now button just under the poster. I have to check that when at the office next time.
Hmm... I'm now at work and here I do have the rent now button accessible, which was not the case at home. Maybe it's some stupid setting of the browser, or something, I will try again later.
Quote from: Mr.Payne on April 23, 2011, 01:55:52 PMWhat is DDR?
Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Or GDR if you like.
Quite interesting constructions - "25 Abandoned Soviet Monuments that look like they're from the Future" (http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/04/25-abandoned-soviet-monuments-that-look.html)
The word amazing gets bandied about far too freely but I can't think of a better one to describe those monuments. Every one of them look totally amazing!
Damn -- amazing is exactly the right adjective. Much of it strikes me as alien architecture of inhuman scale, and unknown purpose (beyond just artistic memorial).
Brings to mind this random, usually interesting, and occasionally banal website I happened upon a couple of years ago:
http://www.englishrussia.com/
I see "English Russia" has been mentioned here in the past.
Quote from: Litharge on April 29, 2011, 09:57:16 AM
Brings to mind this random, usually interesting, and occasionally banal website I happened upon a couple of years ago:
http://www.englishrussia.com/
Wow, some lovely photos of abandoned factories & buildings there!
Some of the more tasty entries, for those who haven't seen:
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2011/04/26/graffiti-in-the-dead-town/2/
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2010/11/23/ramble-over-a-deserted-factory/#more-26391
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2011/03/05/whats-inside-an-air-defence-bunker/#more-38951
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2008/09/21/an-abandoned-coastline-defense-canon-battery/#more-2056
not a documentary, but this (defunct) blog has an incredible collection of 20th century architectural drawings and documents- most of them scanned at high res from rare books. like these collages here, but you can sort by other categories too:
http://rndrd.com/filter/collage (http://rndrd.com/filter/collage)
another blog (in spanish) of 60s & 70s futuristic designs:
http://arqueologiadelfuturo.blogspot.com/ (http://arqueologiadelfuturo.blogspot.com/)
A while back I discovered this website:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/
I haven't had the change to look thru the site in depth yet, but in recent years I've developed a deeper curiosity about, and appreciation for architecture, and so this website seems like a useful primer on the basic styles/schools, and specific examples of structures representing each style.
Jonathan Meades' programmes are pretty interesting/funny/sarcastic.
Guess some of you guys might like his one about Nazi architecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jagoBzZT1q8
http://www.focus.de/reisen/reisefuehrer/deutschland/ruegen-jugendherberge-eroeffnet-im-ns-baukoloss-prora_aid_642790.html
Thom Andersen's
Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
(http://beta.flavorpill.com/media/BAhbB1sHOgZmSSJFMjAxMy8wMy8yMC8wNS80Mi8wMS82MTkvTG9zX0FuZ2VsZXNfUGxheXNfSXRzZWxmNTA5MF8wX2xhcmdlLmpwZwY6BkVUWwg6BnA6CnRodW1iSSINNDAweDQwMCMGOwZU/Los_Angeles_Plays_Itself5090-0_large.jpg)
Los Angeles, myth, architecture and cinema.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATvOyAdrDB0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATvOyAdrDB0)
currently in my hometown:
http://www.lacittanuova.it/eng/default.asp
Impressive.
Quote from: Cementimental on May 06, 2011, 09:06:09 PM
Jonathan Meades' programmes are pretty interesting/funny/sarcastic.
Guess some of you guys might like his one about Nazi architecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jagoBzZT1q8
Best doc on Nazi architecture in my book is Architecture of Doom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttq7w-nS2g4&list=PL04464C944DCBB7E1
Doing the finishing touches on a follow up to Great Expectations called Microtopia but more on that later.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/jul/24/ruined-utopia-greeces-graveyard-town-in-pictures
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/14/curious-allure-brutalist-architecture-in-pictures
This may appeal to some: not strictly a documentary about San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge itself or its' architects - but more concerned w/ those that take their own lives and the often deadly slow run-up to the ultimate act itself. Greatly moving.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Thebridge-poster.jpg)
WIKI (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(2006_documentary_film))
Looks very interesting. Although it didn't go down well in some quarters -
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/feb/16/documentary (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/feb/16/documentary)
http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14369&reviewer=392 (http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14369&reviewer=392)
The Bridge is a good documentaries about suicide on the golden gate that last guy ...
Quote from: Andrew McIntosh on August 23, 2015, 11:24:31 AM
Looks very interesting. Although it didn't go down well in some quarters -
Unlike the jumpers; who took the full distance ...
"This could be the most morally loathsome film ever made. Director Eric Steel set up camera teams on both sides of the Golden Gate straits, and spent months waiting to film people committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge. Footage of several such desperate acts is included here, along with interviews with friends and family of the unfortunates involved.
Steel has said he tried to alert authorities whenever unusual behaviour became apparent, but at least one of the jumpers is filmed walking backwards and forwards for a considerable time; and the fact that he failed to be honest with either the bridge authorities or - more crucially - the families he interviews, tells its own story. The film was apparently inspired by an article in the New Yorker magazine, and there's an undeniable power in the accretion of detail and insight into what motivates suicides in the western world. Steel's methods are, however, thoroughly despicable."
Yep, that's the Guardian for you ...