February 22, 2019

Text: Edie Cohen

Architecture and Design Film Festival in LA to Screen Films on Gehry, Piano, Bohlin, and Others

Architect Peter Bohlin is interviewed by Interior Design Editor in Chief Cindy Allen in “Peter Bohlin: From Here to There.” Photography by Nic Lehoux.

After making its debut 10 years ago in New York, the Architecture Design Film Festival (ADFF) is having its third Los Angeles run March 13-17. Curated by the festival’s founder, Kyle Bergman, this year’s films explore the lives of several architecture and design heroes, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, and Dieter Rams among them. The 22 features and shorts—which include the documentary “Peter Bohlin: From Here to There,” sponsor Interior Design’s foray into filmmaking—will unspool at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in DTLA. 

Architect Frank Gehry’s study of prison design is the subject of the documentary “Frank Gehry: Building Justice.” Image courtesy of ADFF.

Opening night will see the LA premiere of “Frank Gehry: Building Justice,” which delves into the Pritzker Prize laureate’s study of prison design as an ideal way to teach architecture, with students at SCI-Arc and Yale exploring the subject and learning first-hand about life inside. Who knew? A conversation with KCRW’s Frances Anderton, the film’s producer-director Ultan Guil, and Ingrid Archie of A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project will follow the screening.

“That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles” details five Maya-inspired homes he built, including Ennis House. Image courtesy of ADFF.

“That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles,” will screen on March 14. It is directed by Christopher Hawthorne, former architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times and current chief design officer for the City of Los Angeles, and explores the five Maya-inspired houses Wright built in LA early in the 20th century, including Ennis House and Millard House. Photography courtesy of ADFF.

Architect Renzo Piano is the subject of filmmaker Carlos Saura’s “Renzo Piano: The Architect of Light.” Image courtesy of ADFF.

Before the official opening, Angelinos can spend Saturday, March 9 viewing short films and exploring the showrooms of the Helms Bakery complex in Culver City. This mini-festival, dubbed SFW:LA (for Short Films Walk), ends with Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura’s “Renzo Piano: The Architect of Light” and a conversation between architecture critic Edward Lifson and Kerry Brougher, the first director of the Piano-designed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, currently under construction in LA.

The Renzo Piano-designed Centro Botin visual arts center in Santander, Spain opened in 2017. Photography courtesy of ADFF.

> Can’t make it to the festival? Watch Interior Design Editor in Chief Cindy Allen talk to Peter Bohlin for the short documentary “Peter Bohlin: From Here to There.” You can also check out projects by Renzo Piano and Frank Gehry.

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