2010 Architecture & the City Film Series | Main Library

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Celebrate the relationship between architecture and celluloid through these documentary films, which spotlight the built environment, the architectural profession and the ever-mythical architect’s ego. Every Wednesday in September at 6:00 pm at the Main Library; Free, registration required.

Infinite Space:
The Architecture of John Lautner
September 15, 6:00 pm
Free; Registration required.
San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco

Infinite Space traces the lifelong quest of visionary genius John Lautner to create “architecture that has no beginning and no end.” It is the story of brilliance and of a complicated life—and the most sensual architecture of the 20th century. As a young man, Lautner broke from his mentor, Frank Lloyd Wright, and went west to California to forge his own architecture. His life was marked by innovation and inspiration, endless battles with building codes, an accidental leap into the epicenter of pop culture, bitterness at lost opportunities, and finally, monumental achievement. Lautner was idolized by young modernists, criticized by academics, and beloved by the clients who worked side by side with him to build their houses. It was a life in pursuit of beauty.

Directed by Murray Grigor
Produced by Sara Sackner and Anna Thomas
Cinematography by Hamid Shams
Edited by Sara Sackner
Composed by Elliott Goldkind
Consultants: Frank Escher and Nicholas Olsberg

90 minutes/color/documentary

Upcoming Events

A Necessary Ruin and Other Architectural Shorts
September 22, 6:00 pm
Free; Registration required.
San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco

Upon its completion in October 1958, the Union Tank Car Dome, located north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the largest clear-span structure in the world. Based on the engineering principles of the visionary design scientist and philosopher Buckminster Fuller, this geodesic dome was, at 384 feet in diameter, the first large scale example of this building type. A Necessary Ruin relates the powerful, compelling narrative of the dome’s history via interviews with architects, engineers, preservationists, media, and artists; animated sequences demonstrating the operation of the facility; and hundreds of rare photographs and video segments taken during the dome’s construction, decline, and demolition. The evening also features The Image of the City and So What?, among other architectural shorts, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker.

Directed by Evan Mather

50 minutes/color/documentary

FLOW
September 30, 6:00 pm
Free; Registration required.
San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigates what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century—The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?” Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

Directed by Irena Salina
Produced by Steven Starr
Cinematography by Pablo de Selva and Ms. Salina
Edited by Caitlin Dixon, Madeleine Gavin and Andrew Mondshein

84 minutes/color/documentary

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.