Den architektury 2015 - Film and architecture

Friday, October 2 – Sunday, October 4, 2015
Světozor Cinema / Kino 35 / Prague Gallery

What is life like in the world's tallest squat? Can we take a positive view of the ant colony of slums? How does a cleaner perceive the famous building of a cult architect? How does shared community living work in Vienna? Come and find out at the Film and Architecture showcase!
In many European countries, film festivals focused exclusively on architecture have been successfully held for several years. Their mission is to present the most important themes of contemporary architecture, design, and urbanism to a wider audience through the medium of film. In Prague, several themed showcases have already taken place as part of previous years of Architecture Day. This year, the organizer of Architecture Day – the Kruh association – decided to continue this trend and will present over twenty films by both Czech and foreign authors at the Světozor cinema under the title Film and Architecture.
Among the biggest attractions will be the humorous Austrian film Copy of Happiness about the phenomenon of copying European cities by the Chinese, the Czech-French film Concrete Stories about the roots of panel housing estates that have become home to a third of the population of Eastern Europe, and the French film Koolhaas House Life, which entertainingly approaches the house in Bordeaux designed by Rem Koolhaas. The famous building is navigated in the film by a quirky housekeeper who views the unique architecture from a layman's perspective - the clash between pragmatic approach and top-notch design creates many comedic situations.
The films are organized into thematic blocks that allow for various perspectives. In the block Oversized, attention is given to housing in the most populous cities in the world. The viewer can discover what life is like in the world's tallest squat – a skyscraper in Caracas or why it is not good to force the residents of Mumbai's slums to move into more comfortable apartment buildings.
In the Experimental section, the Austrian film Tower House will be shown, which presents the famous family house of architect Takamitsu Azuma in Tokyo in a non-traditional way, as well as short films by Czech-Japanese director Haruna Hancoop from the developing cycle Relics of Socialist Architecture.
The block Together will focus on various forms of collective housing and neighborly relations. The creators of the Polish film Superjednotka produced by the famous Wajda Studio depict a giant panel house as a maze of corridors filled with bizarre characters. The film Glass Houses celebrates the interwar working-class estate in Warsaw, where living also meant sharing. The Austrian film Life in a Coffin Factory presents an inspiring residential project realized by a group of enthusiasts in a former coffin factory. The film will be personally introduced by one of the directors, Alexander Dworschak.
A purely Czech block of short films Heritage of the Past emphasizes the architecture of hotels built in the second half of the 20th century and their transformation in the era of private ownership. From Hotel Praha, which was leveled to the ground, we will move to the renovated Golf motel, the dilapidated Atol, or the mysterious recreational area at the Orlík dam, whose history is presented by director Martin Hrubý in the film Resort. The block will conclude with the film Temples of Money dedicated to the architecture of banks and savings banks that were built during the great boom at the beginning of the 1990s.
Feature films are complemented by short pre-films, music videos, and films from the competition project My Street Films, which invites film enthusiasts to shoot films about their street or favorite place. Besides a collection of films from My Street Films instructors – professional directors, viewers will see the most successful films from last year's edition and the winners of this year's edition.

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