LIVING ARCHITE CTURES MARATHON CONTENTS 1. Press release... 3 2. About Living Architectures... 4 3. The five films... 5 4. The Living Architectures Marathon program... 6 5. Biographical note of Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine... 8 6. Credits... 9 7. Images for the press... 10 ufficio stampa press contact Image Susanne Lambert susanne.lambert@image-web.org mobile: +39 393 0824 646
1. PRESS RELEASE: JUNE 12, 2013 GREAT ARCHITECTURE IN A MARATHON OF FILMS IN ITALIAN MUSEUMS LIVING ARCHITECTURES MARATHON is the tour that from 27 June to 20 September 2013 will present Living Architectures to the Italian public, a series of five films by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine that recount in surprising ways the life of works of architecture designed by some of the most famous architects of our time: Rem Koolhaas, Richard Meier, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, and Herzog & De Meuron. A marathon to discover and understand great architecture, and which will visit the MAXXI in Rome, the Triennale in Milan, the Pecci Centre in Prato, the Mart in Rovereto, and Casa Cavazzini in Udine. THE SUCCESS OF THE FILMS BY ILA BÊKA AND LOUISE LEMOINE. After having achieved great international success with Koolhaas Houselife, the first film in the Living Architectures series an extraordinary story constructed around the curious figure of the housekeeper of the villa designed by Rem Koolhaas in Bordeaux the two filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine produced four other films that comprise a path unique in its kind: Xmas Meier; Gehry s Vertigo; Inside Piano; Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron. To recount their experience and share with the public the possibility of approaching the works of some of the leading figures of architecture of our time (Rem Koolhaas, Richard Meier, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Herzog & De Meuron), Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine have just produced a publication in several volumes which includes all five films as well as considerable documentation on their production: this is an impressive work, which expresses with great strength and incisiveness the unusual and piercing point of view that the two filmmakers have reserved for famous architecture of our time. THE ITALIAN TOUR: LIVING ARCHITECTURES MARATHON. Previewed at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the volumes and the complete series of films will be presented to the Italian public in a tour entitled Living Architectures Marathon, which, between 27 June and 20 September 2013, will visit some of the main exhibition institutions in Italy: the MAXXI in Rome, the Triennale in Milan, the Pecci Centre in Prato, the Mart in Rovereto, and Casa Cavazzini in Udine. A marathon across Italy, therefore, in which each presentation will be based on a free screening of the series of films and will offer the public an opportunity to meet the filmmakers along with several other special guests. THE FILMS TELL THE PUBLIC THAT ARCHITECTURE IS ALIVE. While the image of architecture usually tends to construct an idealized, perfect and at times sacred representation of itself, Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine s films overturn this point of view calling into question the easy fascination and even describing the masterpieces of contemporary life not as infallible monuments but as places of everyday life. The common thread that accompanies the films of the Living Architecture series lies in the capacity to bring out the life of the architectures we are used to observing as untouchable icons, to be approached with devotion. The films propose looking at architecture through different eyes and, for this reason, they allow a better understanding of its qualities through intimate and conversational dimensions, in which space is portrayed by the gestures of the people that really live there, experience it and use it every day. Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine leave the architecture to reveal itself demonstrating the vitality, fragility and vulnerable beauty recounted and witnessed by the people that live in it and maintain it every day. Press contact: Image Susanne Lambert susanne.lambert@image-web.org mobile: +39 393 0824 646 p. 3
2. ABOUT LIVING ARCHITECTURES Frédéric Edelmann, Guadalupe et l architecte, in Le Monde, November 22, 2008. Ada Louise Huxtable, Ingenious and Demanding, in The Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2009. Nicolai Ouroussoff, Inhabiting a Piece of Art: It s Not Always So Pretty, in The New York Times, January 29, 2010. For a wider press review, please visit: www.living-architectures.com/press.php p. 4
3. THE FIVE FILM KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE, 58 Building: Maison à Bordeaux, Floirac, Francia, 1998 Architect: Rem Koolhaas/OMA First project of the Living Architectures series, Koolhaas Houselife portrays one of the masterpieces of contemporary architecture. The film lets the viewer enter into the house s daily intimacy through the stories and daily chores of Guadalupe Acedo, the housekeeper, and the other people who look after the building. Pungent, funny and touching. POMEROL, HERZOG & DE MEURON, 51 Building: Réfectoire, Pomerol, Francia, 2002 Architect: Herzog & de Meuron Second project of the Living Architectures series, Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron takes us to the party atmosphere of mealtime among the grape-pickers in the dining hall designed by Herzog & de Meuron in Pomerol for one of the most prestigious vineyards in the world. A real punch of vitality! XMAS MEIER, 51 Building: Dives in Misericordia, Roma, Italia, 2003 Architect: Richard Meier Third project of the Living Architectures series, Xmas Meier takes us, during the Christmas season, in the heart of a working-class neighbourhood in the suburbs of Rome, which had been lifted from anonymity to international renown thanks to the church built by Richard Meier for the Jubilee. Controversy, caustic irony and free speech opposed to the faithful s devotion. Welcome to Rome! GEHRY S VERTIGO, 48 Building: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spagna, 1997 Architect: Gehry Partners, LLP Fourth project of the Living Architectures series, Gehry s Vertigo shakes up the idealized image of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, one of the most symbolic icons of contemporary architecture. Surprisingly realistic and highly emotional, the film puts us in the shoes of the climbers in charge of glass cleaning, who tirelessly, 30 meters above ground, fight against a few specks of dust. Suspense and vertigo! INSIDE PIANO (The Little Beaubourg, 26 - The Submarine, 39 - The Power of silence, 34 ) Building: B&B Italia, Novedrate, Italia, 1973. Architect: Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers. Building: Ircam, Parigi, Francia, 1973/1990. Architect: Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers. Building: Fondation Beyeler, Basilea, Svizzera, 1997. Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop Fifth project of the Living Architectures series, Inside Piano is composed of three films on three symbolic buildings of Renzo Piano s career. A visit throughout the prototype-building of the Centre Pompidou. An immersion in the soundproof world of a submarine floating in the depths of the Parisian underground. A journey aboard a luminous magic carpet of a highly sophisticated architectural machine. A humorous, caustic and quirky point of view. p. 5
4. THE LIVING ARCHITECTURES MARATHON PROGRAM MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (as part of the Summer Program YAP MAXXI) Rome, via Guido Reni 4a www.fondazionemaxxi.it Thursday June 27, 2013 at 8 pm conversation between Emilia Giorgi and Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine screening of the film XMAS MEIER Thursday July 4, 2013 at 8 pm introduction by Massimiliano Tonelli screening of the film POMEROL, HERZOG & DE MEURON Thursday July 11, 2013 at 8 pm introduction by Luca Galofaro screening of the film KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE Wednesday September 11, 2013 at 8 pm introduction by Elena Del Drago screening of the film GEHRY S VERTIGO Wednesday September 18, 2013 at 8 pm introduction by Marco Brizzi screening of the film INSIDE PIANO MART Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Rovereto, corso Angelo Bettini 43 www.mart.trento.it Friday June 28, 2013 at 6 pm Meeting with Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, Marco Brizzi, Luca Dal Bosco, Nicola Di Battista, Giovanni Marzari, Alberto Winterle and screening of the film marathon KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE - XMAS MEIER - GEHRY S VERTIGO - INSIDE PIANO - POMEROL, HERZOG & DE MEURON Casa Cavazzini Udine, via Cavour 14 in collaboration with Gallerie del Progetto di Palazzo Morpurgo www.udinecultura.it Thursday July 11, 2013 at 10 pm Meeting with Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine and screening of the film marathon KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE - XMAS MEIER - GEHRY S VERTIGO - INSIDE PIANO - POMEROL, HERZOG & DE MEURON p. 6
La Triennale di Milano Milano, viale Alemagna 6 www.triennale.it Thursday July 18, 2013 at 5 pm Meeting with Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, Marco Brizzi, Mario Piazza, Gianluigi Ricuperati, Roberto Zancan and screening of the film marathon KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE - XMAS MEIER - GEHRY S VERTIGO - INSIDE PIANO - POMEROL, HERZOG & DE MEURON Centro per l arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci Prato, viale della Repubblica 277 www.centropecci.it in collaboration with Ordine degli architetti di Prato, Ordine degli architetti di Firenze, Fondazione Architetti Firenze, Federazione degli architetti toscani Friday September 20, 2013 at 7 pm Meeting with Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine and screening of the film marathon KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE - XMAS MEIER - GEHRY S VERTIGO - INSIDE PIANO - POMEROL, HERZOG & DE MEURON Palazzina Reale / Ordine degli architetti di Firenze piazza della Stazione Thursday July 4, 2013at 9 pm presentation of the screening program at the Centro Pecci Thursday October 3, 2013 at 9 pm screening of the film KOOLHAAS HOUSELIFE p. 7
5. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE OF ILA BÊKA AND LOUISE Presented by Nicolai Oroussoff in The New York Times as the cult figures in the European architecture world, Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine mainly focus their research on experimenting new narrative and cinematographic forms in relation to contemporary architecture. The uniqueness of their work holds on their subjective, creative and humoristic look at masterpieces of architecture portrayed through the depiction of their daily life. Ila Beka is an Italian artist and filmmaker who lives and works in Paris. He trained as an architect with a degree from the IUAV of Venice and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Paris-Belleville. Louise Lemoine is a French filmmaker who lives and works in France. She is graduated in cinema and philosophy from the Sorbonne, Paris. Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine teach Architecture & Film at Columbia University, New York-Paris programme. www.bekapartners.com www.living-architectures.com p. 8
6. CREDITS LIVING ARCHITECTURES MARATHON is a program made in collaboration with MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo MART Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Casa Cavazzini di Udine La Triennale di Milano Centro per l arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci di Prato and with the support of Gallerie del Progetto di Palazzo Morpurgo, Udine Ordine degli architetti di Prato Ordine degli architetti di Firenze Fondazione Architetti Firenze Federazione degli architetti toscani the marathon program is curated by Marco Brizzi the event at the MAXXI in Rome is curated by Emilia Giorgi the event at Casa Cavazzini in Udine is curated by Bruno Morello graphic design Bruno Morello with the collaboration of Raffaele Scarpa organized by Image p. 9
7. IMAGES FOR THE PRESS The following images are protected by copyright. Please contact Image a press@image-web.org to request high-res files and to publish them. Image # 41200-001 Caption: Living Architectures Marathon: the poster. Size: 1,7 MB - 2480px 3507px (format JPG) p. 10
Image # 41200-009 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Koolhaas Houselife. Size: 1,3 MB - 2364px 2776px (format JPG) Image # 41200-006 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Koolhaas Houselife. Size: 3,1 MB - 2376px 3168px (format JPG) Image # 41200-011 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron. Size: 1,4 MB - 4224px 2376px (format JPG) Image # 41200-013 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron. Size: 1 MB - 2360px 2776px (format JPG) p. 11
Image # 41200-015 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Xmas Meier. Size: 982 KB - 3888px 2592px (format JPG) Image # 41200-016 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Xmas Meier. Size: 899 KB - 2360px 2776px (format JPG) Image # 41200-019 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Gehry s Vertigo. Size: 1,6 MB - 3888px 2592px (format JPG) Image # 41200-020 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Gehry s Vertigo. Size: 1,2 MB - 2356px 2776px (format JPG) p. 12
Image # 41200-027 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Inside Piano. The Little Beaubourg. Size: 1,6 MB - 3888px 2592px (format JPG) Image # 41200-027 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Inside Piano. Size: 895 KB - 2360px 2776px (format JPG) Image # 41200-026 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Inside Piano. The Submarine. Size: 2,1 MB - 5616px 3744px (format JPG) Image # 41200-024 Caption: Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Inside Piano. The Power of Silence. Size: 1,2 MB - 3888px 2592px (format JPG) p. 13
PRESS OFFICE For additional information, to receive high resolution images and to set up an interview with the architect you may contact: Susanne Lambert Image via Venti Settembre 84 50129 Firenze, Italy susanne.lambert@image-web.org office +39 055 4684 187 mobile +39 393 0824 646