Questioning “how rooted architecture practice is and how much the built and cultural environment feeds and shapes our imagination”, Beka & Lemoine’s latest film follows one of the most celebrated Japanese architects of our times, Ryue Nishizawa in his vintage Alfa Romeo (Giulia) as he wanders in the streets of Tokyo. After winning the prestigious DocAviv 2020, the black and white documentary Tokyo Ride will soon première in many major architecture film festivals both in Europe and in North America.
Stefano Boeri has released a short movie, directed by Stefano Santamato and produced by Paolo Soravia, highlighting the journey of 400 fir logs, from being downed by the storm Vaia to being part of the scenography of the Greek Theater in Syracuse. The film, dedicated to the second life of fir trees has won the Venice Architecture Short Film Festival 2020.
HOMO URBANUS Rabatius . Image Courtesy of Bêka & Lemoine
As the world is moving into a post-pandemic time, museums are finally resuming their work under strict social distancing and health measures. Arc en rêve d’Architecture in Bordeaux, France has reopened its main gallery with an exhibition by Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, entitled Homo Urbanus. Shown for the first time in its complete version, the exposition offers a vibrant tribute to public spaces.
Update: following the screening period The Infinite Happiness is no longer available to watch on ArchDaily. The full collection of Bêka and Lemoine's films can be viewed on demand, here.
For two days only—between Friday, December 2 and Sunday, December 4—you can watch The InfiniteHappiness, part of Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine'sLiving Architectures series, exclusively on ArchDaily. The film, shot entirely in Copenhagen's "8 House" designed by BIG, follows a group of residents (and passers-by) as they experience life in a contemporary housing block widely considered to embody new models of living.
https://www.archdaily.com/800425/watch-beka-and-lemoines-the-infinite-happiness-nil-a-documentary-film-on-bigs-8-houseAD Editorial Team
Marking the forthcoming release of two DVD box-sets of their entire œuvre (which was acquired by New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2016) Bêka and Lemoine have, over the course of the Living Architectures project, developed films about and in collaboration with the likes of the Barbican in London, the Fondazione Prada, La Biennale di Venezia, Frank Gehry, Bjarke Ingels, the City of Bordeaux, the Arc en Rêve centre d’architecture, and more. Their goal in this has always been to "democratize the highbrow language of architectural criticism. [...] Free speech on the topic of architecture," Bêka has said, "is not the exclusive property of experts." Their first film, Koolhaas Houselife(2008), has come to embody this unique approach.
Watch The Infinite Happiness on ArchDailyhere from December 2 1800GMT.
Selected as one of Metropolis Magazine's Game Changers for 2015, Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine are altering the face of architectural criticism thanks to one simple premise: you don't need to be an expert to have an opinion on the buildings you live with every day. In the following profile, originally published by Metropolis as "Game Changers 2015: Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine," Veronique Vienne uncovers what it takes to instil such a simple idea with both subtle poignancy and razor-sharp wit.
If walls could talk, what stories would they tell, not only about our intimate selves but also about our cultural assumptions, our social interactions, and the values we cherish most? Short of getting the inside story directly from walls, filmmakers Ila Bêka, 45, and Louise Lemoine, 33, strike up conversations with that other silent cast: the people who sweep the rooms, wash the windows, fix the leaks, and change the light bulbs.
“Our goal is to democratize the highbrow language of architectural criticism,” says Bêka, an architect and filmmaker trained in Italy and France. “Free speech on the topic of architecture is not the exclusive property of experts.”
In their fifth annual "Game Changers" survey, Metropolis Magazine sought to uncover the visionaries who have the potential to make waves in design and architecture. Profiling six of design's "foremost forward-looking talents," the list includes Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, the filmmaking duo whose "Living Architectures" series takes a sideways glance at some of the world's most celebrated buildings; Amy Mielke and Caitlin Gucker-Kanter Taylor, whose work as Water Pore Partnershiptopped BIG and The Living for Holcim's North America Award; and finally Aggregate, a collaborative of architecture historians who are rethinking the way we do architecture theory. For the full list and profiles of all those featured on it, head on over to Metropolis Magazine.
