Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine's film-based exhibition, Living Architectures, originally curated by The Architecture Foundation and Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, is now showing at the Architecture Centre, Bristol. The exhibition will run from 18 August - 3 October 2010.
Living Architectures is a revealing examination of iconic architecture through the eyes of those who use the buildings - from line-dancing grape-pickers to abseiling window-cleaners - exploring architecture as an experience, rather than an image.
Filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine create intimate portraits of iconic contemporary buildings, giving backstage access to their inner lives and hidden workings. The films depict the human occupations of Richard Meier's church in Rome; Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao; Herzog and de Meuron's Pomerol winery and Koolhaas's Maison à Bordeaux.
The buildings they have chosen are of architectural renown, and designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects. Unlike most films about architecture, these films focus less on explaining the building, its structure and its technical details than on letting the viewer enter into the post-occupation daily life of icons of contemporary architecture.
The Architecture Centre, Bristol and The Architecture Foundation are both founding members of the Architecture Centre Network.
Image: Pomerol Herzog & de Meuron © Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine