Beyond Metabolism
Apr 16, 2016
(Stefanie Gaus & Volker Sattel, Germany, 2014, 41min)
Seattle premiere!
Beyond Metabolism. TRAILER from Milano Design Film Festival on Vimeo.
First triangles, then hexagons – the hexagon as the geometric DNA of an erratic structure with an eerie lack of scale. Slowly, in the succession of hallways, apertures, views, and spaces, an enormous construction is disclosed. Already in its first images, Beyond Metabolism conveys a fascination for a utopia of architecture that imagines life in future societies in flexible, large structures, expandable at will. We find ourselves in the interior of the International Conference Center in Kyoto, which was built in 1966 by the Japanese architect Sachio Otani – a student of the famous Kenzo Tange. Following an interpreter’s narrative, fragments of documentary archive material recall what may be the most significant event ever to occur at this place, the 1997 World Climate Change Conference.
In Beyond Metabolism Stefanie Gaus and Volker Sattel question our idealistic future in post high economic growth era, with the help from the International Conference Center in Kyoto.
Screens with
Fortress of Solitude
(Simone Niguille, 20 min)
Fortress of Solitude is an essay film in three chapters investigating the technology used to make the home smarter. The internet and alternative network protocols are the backbone to home automation. Much of the technology infused into homes and our everyday lives have a history of defense funding or only exist because of military research. Is the smart home in fact a militarisation of the domestic, home.mil? Is our home becoming a data machine rather than architecture for living? Are our most privates spaces broadcasting our lives involuntarily instead of providing shelter?
Tracing the possibilities of a military-domestic complex, Fortress of Solitude is an investigative narrative interspersed with future product proposals.