DOKU.ARTS
Zeughauskino Berlin
09.09.–27.09.2015
The collective and the architect – building processes in film
Like cinema, architecture, too, is a collective project involving architects, but also clients, financiers, planners, builders, users, and residents. Today, however, the prevailing ideology of “star architects” often tries to obscure this obvious fact. Among the star architects invited by the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) to participate in the competition for its new “Learning Center”, SANAA emerged as the winner. For three years, we followed the construction of their “interior landscape” with its undulating shapes step by step, observing and letting all those speak who were tasked with implementing this challenging project. The architects’ rare visits resemble solitary walks in the interior of a dream under construction. And their concerns sparked off by tiny details seem out of sync with the building site’s collective turmoil.
Pierre Maillard
Born in 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, Maillard received a Bachelor’s degree in literature before finishing a training in graphics and the performing arts in Geneva and London. From 1972 to 1978 he worked as an actor and a director in different “off” groups in Geneva and London. In 1983, Maillard founded Zoo Films. Since 1984 he has produced mostly feature-length films. Between 1987 and 1992 he directed numerous documentaries for RTS (French Swiss Broadcasting Service).