Review: Architecture and Design Film Festival

Translating architecture and design to the silver screen is a counterintuitive process. Three dimensions become two, sound is added to inherently silent media and a narrative is rarely implicit.

Fortunately, enough filmmakers have overcome these barriers that over time an extensive catalog of design-related films has emerged. Many of these films are rarely, if ever, screened for a general audience. This is where the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF) comes into the picture.

The first domestic film festival celebrating the creative spirit of architecture and design, the ADFF was held in Waitsfield, Vermont on September 24-27. A well-programmed mix of feature length films, documentaries and shorts – 32 in all – played on two screens to intimate audiences at the Big Picture Theater and Café.

Multiple shorts came from über-designers Charles and Ray Eames. The husband and wife design duo made more than 100 films in their career, many in conjunction with computer giant IBM. Their foremost production, Powers of Ten (1968), provided a thought-provoking lesson in relative size as it zoomed from an idyllic picnic scene out to the infinity of space and in to the human cell.

Another Eames contribution, Fiberglass Chair (1970), was just plain fun. Viewers were treated to an iconic, candy-colored shell chair being shaped from raw materials into a finished product, all in just seven minutes, accompanied by a jazzy score.

Many of the documentary films were longer than shorts, but not quite feature length. Chavez Ravine (2004) revisited the controversial 1950 destruction of a Mexican-American Los Angeles neighborhood on land that would eventually become Dodger Stadium.

The complex tale involving government conspiracy and racial insensitivity unfolded in just 24 minutes through heartfelt interviews and photographs by Don Normark. Normark’s photos would be unremarkable except that they are among the only records of the razed community. Most residents were far too poor to own cameras of their own.

Angle of Inspiration (2005) chronicled the design and construction of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge in Redding, California. An unlikely locale for an expensive, contemporary piece of architecture, the city of Redding faced many setbacks from angry residents and constant cost inflation.

The disconnect between silky commentary by Calatrava and coarse, ranting locals was uncomfortable to watch, yet honest – a good reminder of design’s power to incite reaction. Once the ribbon was finally cut on the $23 million project, even the naysayers acknowledged that they would begrudgingly use the bridge.

Filling out the lineup were bigger budget, feature length films including director Gary Hustwit’s Objectified (2009). The film posits that every object has a story if you know how to read it. To prove this point Hustwit interviewed various industrial design luminaries eliciting anecdotes about particular products and behind-the-scenes glimpses of how new designs go from concept to store shelves.

The most famous items featured in Objectified come from Jonathan Ive. The name might not ring a bell but his creations will. Ive is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple and is largely responsible for the look of landmark gadgets like the iPod.

The film was fun to watch with engaging visuals and a bouncy soundtrack from various contemporary composers. Each designer brought his or her own personality and quirks to the screen. The aw-shucks charm of the French Bourellec brothers was countered by over-the-top American Karim Rashid, who looked like one of his own offbeat creations in a white suit and bright pink glasses.

The festival, organized as a fundraiser for the Yestermorrow Design/Build School just outside of Waitsfield, has ambitious plans to move to New York City next year to attract a larger audience.

Regardless of locale, the ADFF deserves high marks for the depth and breadth of their program. Architect biopics, lessons in history and gee-whiz shorts all found their way to the screen, offering a rare glimpse behind the designs and people who shape the world around us.