The architectural essay film

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope Haralambidou

Recent advancements in digital technology, have not only deeply transformed the production of film and architecture but brought the two disciplines closer than ever before. The digital has allowed ground-breaking, if not hasty, changes in the way that architecture is not only produced, but also designed and conceived. In contrast, however, to the extensive use of computational design to interrogate the formal, material and structural possibilities of architecture, this article explores how new time-based media and computer generated imagery in film can unlock the story-telling, political and philosophical potential of architecture. I will focus on three projects – Agit-Prop (2014) by Liam Davis, Wates House (2014) by Daniel Cotton and my project Déjà vu (2009) – which combine techniques and tropes from both cinema and design as a means for reflection and commentary in architecture.Originally coined by the German artist Hans Richter in the 1940s, the term ‘essay film’ describes an intimate, allusive and idiosyncratic genre at the margins between fiction and documentary. Richter poignantly suggests that the essay film makes the invisible world of thoughts and ideas visible on the screen; it produces complex thought-reflections that are not necessarily bound to reality, but can also be contradictory, irrational, and fantastical. Dealing with political and philosophical issues, the essay film is cinema at its most engaged and liberated.Examining the three projects in comparison to examples of essay films that reflect on architecture or the city, such as Dziga Vertov’s, Man with a Movie Camera (1929), Wim Wender’s, If Buildings Could Talk (2010), and Alain Resnais’s, Toute la mémoire du monde (1956), my aim is to propose a new hybrid genre lying at the boundaries between architectural design, theory and film, what I call: the ‘architectural essay film’.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy ◽  
Nguyen Dinh Thi

PurposeThe paper aims to research the applications of topological geometry to the architectural concept design process and their combination with the modern digital technology to find novel architectural spaces and forms which are dynamic, easily adaptable to the context and surroundings.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses the method of studying the existing literature on topological geometry and architectural design theory including design thinking, architectural design methods and architectural compositions to analyze and compare them with architectural practices and suggest new topological design tools and methods. Moreover, the paper tests the proposals with a number of preliminary design research experiments. In addition, graphic design software, parametric design, building information modeling (BIM) and digital development trends in architecture were explored and experienced to reveal the application potential of topological design thinking and methods in the trend of architectural digitization.FindingsThe paper has analyzed, synthesized and systematized the basic theories of topological geometry in order to clarify their applications in the architectural concept design process. On that basis, the paper proposes a novel topological design thinking and method for finding rich diversified architectural ideas and forms based on original invariant design constraints. Finally, the paper clarifies the combination as well as the mutual, motivating relationship between topological geometry and modern digital technologies when applied to architectural design.Originality/valueThe research contributes a novel design thinking and method based on topological geometry combined with modern digital technology to the architectural design theory. It will be a valuable tool capable of suggesting architects how to think and innovate in architecture in the era of industrial revolution 4.0.


2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bevolo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of some emerging trends in placemaking and digital destination management, while providing a conceptual background on shifts in architectural design. Design/methodology/approach The trend paper is based on a fundamental bibliographic view on evolutions in placemaking, from architectural design to spatial agency, integrated by and contextualized in tourism trends, however possibly anecdotal. Findings The trend paper identifies a fundamental shift from architectural processes to spatial agency as organizing principle for placemaking, discussing how digital tourism trends are formed or forming change in this. Originality/value The trend paper newly relates otherwise distant and unrelated fields, namely architectural design theory and tourism trends, by connecting at the level of IoT and IT digital technologies, exploring the impact and the mutual role played by its two constituencies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
Giorgos Dimitriadis

Reconstructing space with the use of computer generated imagery (CGI) is commonly used in moviemaking to enhance the depicted pro-filmic reality, creating virtual spaces in which layers of the narrative that are more difficult to represent via realistic mise-en-scene, such as emotional conditions, can become visually explicit. In the 2003 film Politiki Kouzina / A Touch of Spice / Baharatin Tadi, the Istanbul-born Greek filmmaker Tasos Boulmetis digitally combines heterogeneous elements to reconstruct a virtual experience of his own sense and memory of Istanbul: the urban landscape in the film is a hybrid of on-location scenes of the modern city, CGI and enhanced coloring, digitally fused into a mural of historical and personal memories. By deliberately conveying a strong emotional tone to the audience, the film equates the notion of place with the experience one has of it: as the memory of mid-Twentieth century Istanbul is digitally recomposed, the city dissolves under the pressure of its emotionally charged reflection, and the general concept of “location” is redefined through individual perception. Digital technology is used not simply to bring to life a past urban setting, but becomes a tool for affect, thus revealing invisible layers of the filmic narrative.


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
Sylviana Putri Sunario Soegondo

As an impact of prostitution site, criminality is basically triggered by a negative space; however, prostitution site in Japan is a part of the city. Susukino in Sapporo, for example, plays a role as a tourist attraction as well as a prostitution site. This research aims to figure out how the architectural design in Susukino influences criminality prevention as an effect of prostitution site.  Survey and interview were conducted to observe zonation in Susukino and to define a negative space as a problem of the district. Later, seven aspects: 1)Defensible space, 2)Territoriality, 3)Surveillance, 4)Lighting, 5)Landscaping, and 6)Physical security; based on CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environment Design) theory were applied as a basis to propose a safe ambiance in the negative space by increasing street connectivity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (21) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Serkan PALABIYIK ◽  
Derya DEMİRCAN

Aim: Evolution process in information and communication technologies, architectural design and therefore in the field of architecture; It goes from product representation and communication use, which can be modeled in the computer environment, to the processing of data, information and information, to support creativity and decision making, an activity specific to human mental processes. In this process, many computational design methods have been developed that play an important role in contemporary design practices and guide the change of design culture in recent years. The top aim in this study presented; It is the evaluation of the methods developed in the field of computational design through the life cycle model. Method: At the point of investigating the spread and usage of the design methods included in the study within the sample area, bibliometric analysis, and content analysis methods, which are used to evaluate scientific studies, was used to draw repeatable and valid results regarding the content of the examined text. Results: The study shows that the most published design methods in the computational design are simulation-based design, structure information modeling, shape grammars, and genetic algorithms, respectively. In addition, it is determined that the most preferred international congress in this field is eCAADe. According to the evaluation of the total number of publications in this field, the contribution of Turkish researchers to the field was found to be 3%. Conclusion: This study evaluated when the upper scale, which are related to computational design methods in Turkey, we can conclude that there is insufficient scientific studies. In order to be able to use the rapidly developing computational design tools more effectively, to improve the computational design ability and to reflect the education process in the design process, it is important to have a voice in the architecture of the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-311
Author(s):  
AbuRawi Mustafa ALMARKIYAH ◽  
Fouziya Alzarqani Ipraheem FADHLULLAH

Tripoli is a city of a Mediterranean Sea climate; this has contributed with some social and religious factors to affect the architectural and urban design, which all originally has come from the Islamic content. This study argues the climatic features of Tripoli in order to show the ways followed by the Libyan Muslim architect. In other words, these ways were used to adapt with the climate and create the demanding architectural treatments, which have served the building units. This is considered as a study case that can discuss the possibility of the climatic reflection on the walls. That is to say, the walls’ thickness, the type of the used substance in building, the substance’s properties, the type of roof used in covering the building units and the architectural design of the building as treatments achieved professionally by the architect in decreasing the heat in summer and increasing the heat in winter through the mass block. Additionally, the researchers have stated that Tripoli’s building design respected the privacy of the inhabitants and their isolation from the world outside their buildings. That is because they wanted to have their own cold spaces inside which were rich of light, air and shadow. As a result of the aforementioned considerations, the architectural buildings contained the uncovered space and the broken entrance to keep the privacy from the passengers and to protect the inhabitants from wind and sand. These were regarded as final solutions for the architectural and climatic problem. Further, this study illustrates the active role of using the planning including the architectural formations and the treatments of motion path. That is according to their width, their length, their form, their guidance and their direction change in order to make shadow and isolate the front of buildings. This also contributed to give the streets the northern wind which in turn helped to keep the air moving as long as possible to tone down the climatic influences. Moreover, the planning aimed to show its turn through analytical, architectural and documentary survey for realistic examples in the archeological registrar of the potential city treatments. These architectural elements were important in making the sustainable architecture in respect to the environment and human relaxation requirements. Finally, the researchers measured the following factors temperatures, wind, rain, and ratio humidity for variety of spaces in the city. That was followed by qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis supported by graphs


2018 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 04002
Author(s):  
Anh Viet Vu ◽  
Thi Ai Thuy Pham ◽  
Tu Pham

The pop-up architecture (or landscape architecture) becomes popular nowadays. Some highlights include annual architecture program such as the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion at Hyde Park, London; MPavilion in Melbourne; MoMA PS1 and Heart Sculpture in New York. Many of these pop-up architectural works have been designed by world renowned architects, such as Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Hezorg and de Meuron, Jean Nouvel, Toyo Ito, SANAA, Shigeru Ban, BIG, etc. And many of these designs reflect innovative thinking that changes the professional world of architectural design. But above all, these pop-up architectures were created in responsive manner to the urban community and the community controversially has good response to this type of architecture. In the other words, pop-up architecture is the way the architects touch the heartbeat of the cities, make them livable for all. Ho Chi Minh City has its own types of pop-up landscape architecture, whereas this paper intends to explore in two case studies: Nguyen Hue Floral Boulevard and Nguyen Van Binh Book Street. Nguyen Hue Floral Street is celebrating now its twelfth birthday in the city. Nguyen Van Binh Book Street has just passed its first anniversary in 2017. Both cases live its own story behind the scene about how livable a city could be through place-making by architecture and landscape design. Throughout these cases, we would like to find out how this type of pop-up landscape architecture being realized and become popular in Ho Chi Minh City, and how it is devoted to a livable city for all.


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