Filter By Series
A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers Behold humanity! a sociological perspective Development of community Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy Innovation (New York, N.Y.) Metropolis (Princeton, N.J.) Pride of Place Sustainable development, the world challenge Vertical cityFilter By Series
A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers Behold humanity! a sociological perspective Development of community Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy Innovation (New York, N.Y.) Metropolis (Princeton, N.J.) Pride of Place Sustainable development, the world challenge Vertical citySummary: This beautifully photographed program, filmed on location in Italy, pays tribute to this renowned Venetian architect, famous for combining classical and modern architectural forms. Scarpa's unique ability to successfully incorporate his own designs into historical renovation projects is shown at several locations, including the 15th-century Castelvecchio in Verona and Palazzo Abatellis in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Celebrated architect Frank Gehry lives and works in Los Angeles-a world away from Finland, where his idol, the late Alvar Aalto, created stunning additions to the urban landscape and helped originate Scandinavian modernism. This film studies parallels between the two creative giants, examining their respective styles and documenting an in-depth conversation about Aalto between Gehry and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: What are the physical limitations in the conquest of vertical space? Can the organic structures of nature offer insights into tall building construction? And is "skyscraper" even an appropriate term for architectural wonders intended to be vertical self-contained cities? This program explores a vision of tomorrow's highest buildings through the example of the Bionic Tower, a 300-story structure...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program explains the surprisingly strong effect that street lighting has on our cities. In addition to being a powerful tool to prevent crime, more and better lighting has improved the sense of well-being and added new dimensions to the business and social activities of the city. But as a whole new world was created from lighting the darkness, the problem has turned from quality of light...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Many saw the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center as the end of the skyscraper. They were wrong. This program interviews architects and engineers who have dedicated their lives to reaching new heights, and investigates the risks and benefits of building tall. Two projects-Taipei 101 and the Shanghai World Financial Center-are featured as they race to become the world's tallest building....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia—the first American campus—is like its founder in exemplifying the national capacity for self-invention. Palladio's shade hangs over the individual house-temples which line the landscaped mall—a uniquely American idea. University builders have sought to separate the campus, by locating it in the country or by erecting walls—walls of stone or of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Early cities emerged from trading posts and fortresses; they were generally accessible by water and easily defended. This program examines the metamorphosis of the city from fort and trading post to cultural epicenter and beyond. Ancient cities are discussed and Athens and Rome are compared. Modern cities including New York and Paris are also presented, with a focus on Paris' attempt to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: According to the UN, more than three-quarters of the world's population will live in cities by the year 2050, and the dimensions of urban development will be staggering: towns and cities will merge to form urban complexes with populations of 20 to 30 million. This program travels through Holland, the Ruhr area, and Berlin to observe the ways technology and the wealth of ideas from architects,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: A person's home is his self-image, his autobiography as ghost-written by the architect. Mark Twain's house suited him so well that he became convinced he had himself designed it. A more imposing self-portrait is Fenway Court, which ignores the Colonial past and industrial present to recreate a Venetian palazzo in Boston; the American industrialist as Renaissance Italian prince is seen in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Villages may spring up but great cities are laid out by surveyors measuring out divisible grids to suit the visions of real estate entrepreneurs, designers of space or social policy. The effort to renew the aged, replace the obsolete or provide for growth, to connect business with residential centers and cities with nature, has provided a range of solutions that range from Colonial...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Antoni Gaudi was the enfant terrible of Catalan architecture-a genius whose Gothic inspiration and daring taste transformed Barcelona from a city evolving layer by layer and style by style from an ancient past into a dramatic statement of timeless individuality. Gaudi's architectural creations-park benches, buildings, the Cathedral-are relatively few in number but so powerful that they dominate...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Every day our cities are swamped with a logjam of cars, trucks, and buses. Behind this chaos, though, lies a master plan which struggles to keep the modern city on the move. This program explores the age-old battle between the city and its traffic as we follow a colorful London cabby on his journeys throughout the city. The program explains the origin of traffic signals, examines the American...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Despite his famous quip about the enduring patience of his client, the man known as "God's architect" never intended his masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia, to remain unfinished 80 years after his death. This program examines efforts to bring Antonio Gaudi's work to completion in a manner consistent with his original goals and ideas. Viewers meet Mark Burry, the New Zealand architect charged with...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Renzo Piano has intentionally defined no signature style because "each time the story you are telling is a different one, using a different expression. This program documents the career and the creations of the Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect, exploring his passion for visual lightness, his belief that buildings should be constructed on a human scale, and his concern that...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program documents the achievements of the Russian avant-garde movement and the impact of the Russian Revolution, which at first nurtured modern art as an emblem of communist culture and then banned it in favor of socialist realism. Set within the context of the life of the pivotal art critic Nikolai Punin, the key events of the Lenin/Stalin years and the contributions of major artists such...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: One of the strongest buildings on the planet, Torre Mayor is constructed to withstand seismic movement that would obliterate the average skyscraper. Built in the wake of Mexico City's devastating 1985 earthquake, the tower is both a monument to engineering and a haven of safety in one of the world's most active seismic zones. This program focuses on the brilliant safety solutions behind Torre...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program provides an outstanding historical overview of Bauhaus, the most controversial and forward-looking school of art and design of its time. The conflicting artistic philosophies of the school's key figures are considered, from Walter Gropius' espousal of expressionism to Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's overriding belief that fewer aesthetic ambitions would yield more functional products-that...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Having overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest polluter, China is now responsible for 11 percent of all greenhouse gas production. Can the country reduce its carbon footprint without slowing its unprecedented economic growth? This program shows how that question is playing out in the Chinese construction industry, highlighting the creation and practical application of new homebuilding...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Out of the tradition of the great 19th-century European trade exhibitions came a 20th-century American phenomenon, one that provided recreation, inspiration, and what amounted to a cultural barometer-the World's Fair. At the time this classic program was produced, the United States had hosted nine of them, from the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 to the sprawling 1982 celebration in Knoxville,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: On the outskirts of Dessau, Germany, Walter Gropius built his Higher Academy for the Arts in 1926: the Bauhaus. Filmed on location, this highly detailed study of Gropius' groundbreaking building explores every nuance of its design, as well as its history and the philosophy of its architect. A thorough tour of the Bauhaus is complemented with sketches, photographs, historic film footage, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Part in-depth analysis, part whirlwind tour, this program captures the essence of Frank Gehry and his iconoclastic creations through the celebrated architect's own words; the insights of Cesar Pelli, Richard Serra, Hiro Yamagata, and Rafael Moneo; and a broad sampling of Gehry's many structures, which speak for themselves. The Davis studio and residence, Loyola Law School, the Edgemar...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Rectangular. Two stories. Hipped or gabled roofs, with overhanging eaves. This program examines the origins of the Prairie School style as exemplified by the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright and his associates. The story of the style-inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, Louis Sullivan, and the Midwest-is elaborated upon by art historians and architects and through the words of Wright...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: He intended it as a gift to his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. It became one of the most contested buildings in American architectural history. This classic program presents the story of Frank Lloyd Wright's vision of a civic center on the shore of Lake Monona, a project that took nearly 60 years to complete. Filmed extensively at Monona Terrace, as well as Taliesin and Oak Park, the program...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: A railway through the underworld? The idea required a leap of technology as well as a leap of faith for its riders when first introduced. This program traces the history and development of subways, using unique techniques to bring old drawings and photographs to life, to dramatize the building of the first subways. The program explores the role of the subway today, peeling back the pavement to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009