ARCHITECTURE ENCORES!
Architecture with a Twist
THE SOCIALIST, THE ARCHITECT, AND THE TWISTED TOWER
(SOSSEN, ARKITEKTEN OCH DET SKRUVARDE HUSET)
2005, Fredrik Gertten, Sweden, 59 min.
BUILDING THE GHERKIN
2005, Mirjam von Arx, Netherlands, 52 min.
In THE SOCIALIST, THE ARCHITECT, AND THE TWISTED TOWER, a saga that spirals to the edge of disaster, the head of a Swedish housing cooperative attempts to bestow a monumental sculpture on his not entirely eager members by hiring acclaimed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava to construct the unique “Turning Torso” as a residential highrise. In Swedish and English with English subtitles.
In BUILDING THE GHERKIN, the tense race to complete London’s controversial Norman Foster-designed office tower on the site of an IRA bombing runs parallel to public debate over whether the building is a visionary addition to the skyline or whether the city has gotten itself into a pickle. Both in Beta SP video. (BS)
Monday, May 21, 8:00 pm
Wednesday, May 23, 6:00 pm
TALL: THE AMERICAN SKYSCRAPER AND LOUIS SULLIVAN
2004, Manfred Kirchheimer, USA, 82 min.
A remarkably poetic history of the American skyscraper, TALL is rich in sumptuous images of the work of the great Louis Sullivan and that of his contemporaries. Making evocative use of period postcards, engravings, and architectural drawings, director Kirchheimer constructs an entertaining history of “the pursuit of vertical dreams” that had late-19th-century architects vying to build castles in the air. The film centers around the conflict between the opposing philosophies of Daniel Burnham and his arch-rival Sullivan, which came to a head in the planning of the 1893 World’s Fair and played out in American architecture over the next century. A must-see for any devotee of Chicago architecture! DigiBeta video. (BS)