‘It is not the person ignorant of writing, but the one ignorant of photography, who will be the illiterate of the future,’ states modernist polymath László Moholy-Nagy – as performed by Hans-Ulrich Obrist – in the documentary film The New Bauhaus, directed by Alysa Nahmias. The film, which honours the movement’s centenary with a close look at the seminal legacy and practice of the Bauhaus master, premiered globally at the Architecture & Design Film Festival on Wednesday night.
The New Bauhaus follows the journey of Moholy-Nagy, who founded the New Bauhaus school in Chicago in 1937, and theorised about a camera’s possibilities, terming his view of making art ‘Neues Sehen’ (New Vision). It was this vision that played an influential role in America’s embrace of modern design, and is still relevant today – ringing true in his prophetic statement above.
Still from The New Bauhaus, directed by Alysa Nahmias, which premiered at ADFF 2019
Fast forward to 2009, when Kyle Bergman founded the Architecture & Design Film Festival. The 21st century has seen an inseparable bond forming between architecture and the lens – sealed firmer still through popular culture (and social media) thanks to the discipline’s often imposing visual impact. To Bergman, the big screen seemed the most fitting medium to transfer this multitude of messages to a multitude of architecture enthusiasts. Now in its 11th season, festivalgoers of ADFF New York have a packed programme to look forward to.
Focusing on individual architects’ lives as well as wider political and socio-economic issues, ADFF touches upon a sizeable range of subjects in the following days. Some are related to architecture’s role in tackling housing injustice (PUSH, by Fredrik Gertten), while some trace the immigration story of lauded and fledgling architecture professionals: the Swiss structural engineer Othmar H. Ammann in Gateways to New York by Martin Witz, and A Poetics of Living by Caroline Alder and co-directed with Damien Faure, respectively.
Still from Gateways to New York featuring engineer Othmar H. Ammann, who emigrated to New York in 1904
In Mario Botta: The Space Beyond, director Loretta Dalpozzo and Michèle Volontè travel along with the energetic Swiss architect as he continues to work on various projects at the age of 76. City Dreamers by Joseph Hillel, premiering on ADFF’s closing night, sheds light on the careers and impact of four trailblazing architects – Phyllis Lambert, Blanch Lemco van Ginkel, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Denise Scott Brown – who all too often found themselves to be the only women in the room.
As well as films, expect i
ntimate post-film discussions with the films’ subjects, directors and architects who inspired them. Beyond the movie screen you’ll also find tours and walks across New York City on the festival’s programme, offering a uniquely cinematic insight into architecture and design. Take your camera along too – you better follow Moholy-Nagy’s advice.
A taster of The New Bauhaus – featuring quotes by László Moholy-Nagy set to atmospheric music and cinematic shots
On set with directors Loretta Dalpozzo and Michèle Volontè for the filming of Mario Botta: The Space Beyond, on view at ADFF NYC 2019
INFORMATION
ADFF runs from 16 –20 October, at Cinépolis Chelsea
-
In the frame: Layer is a new high-tech platform for displaying unique pieces of generative artA museum-grade canvas renders digital art with spectacular precision, cutting-edge tech and exacting industrial design
-
Chrome tableware to make your dining setup shineOnce a hallmark of industrial and midcentury design, chrome is shining once again. The latest expression? Metallic dinner-, drink- and serveware that embody sophistication
-
Serenity radiates through this Mexican home, set between two ravinesOn the cusp of a lakeside town, Mexican home Casa el Espino is a single-storey residence by Soler Orozco Arquitectos (SOA)
-
This refined Manhattan prewar strikes the perfect balance of classic and contemporaryFor her most recent project, New York architect Victoria Blau took on the ultimate client: her family
-
Inside a Malibu beach house with true star qualityBond movies and Brazilian modernism are the spur behind this Malibu beach house, infused by Studio Shamshiri with a laid-back glamour
-
An Arizona home allows multigenerational living with this unexpected materialIn a new Arizona home, architect Benjamin Hall exposes the inner beauty of the humble concrete block while taking advantage of changed zoning regulations to create a fit-for-purpose family dwelling
-
Michael Graves’ house in Princeton is the postmodernist gem you didn’t know you could visitThe Michael Graves house – the American postmodernist architect’s own New Jersey home – is possible to visit, but little known; we take a tour and explore its legacy
-
‘It’s really the workplace of the future’: inside JPMorganChase’s new Foster + Partners-designed HQThe bronze-clad skyscraper at 270 Park Avenue is filled with imaginative engineering and amenities alike. Here’s a look inside
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
