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This film explores the global issue of gentrification by observing how trendy restaurants and bars have spearheaded the transformation of America’s most notorious skid row, the Bowery, in New York City.
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This historical documentary chronicles New York real estate developer William Levitt's postwar construction of affordable housing for returning WWII veterans and their families in Levittown and other Long Island communities, thereby establishing the prototype for modern suburbia.
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Can a single building impact the career of an architect, the image of a global company and the future of a major city? Building the Gherkin chronicles the design, planning and construction of the controversial Swiss Re building, dubbed 'the erotic gherkin' by the British press.
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In ‘City of Dreams’ Architect, Naigzy Gebremedhin takes the audience on a tour of his beloved city, Asmara, in Eritrea, showcasing the stunning rationalist architecture left by Italian colonizers from the 1930s, and the lifestyle of Asmarinos living in and around these buildings.
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This video chronicles, from inception to completion, the creation of a commissioned art work, showing how one community comes together to make a vision a reality.
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Hoboken, New Jersey--"Naples on the Hudson" to some, a square mile of prime real estate to others. Filmmaker Nora Jacobson spent eight years documenting Hoboken's battles over gentrification, from boom in the '80s to bust in the '90s.
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This video illuminates the emergence of ecological design in the twentieth century. A provocative educational tool, Ecological Design provides a practical basis for learning about the environment and about our capability to design a desirable and sustainable future.
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Documents the life and work of Harry Devlin, whose long and varied career as a commercial and fine arts artist has spanned more than half a century, with work in virtually every medium in the fields of syndicated cartooning, publishing and advertising.
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From Buena Vista Social Club to Hollywood blockbusters, Havana's crumbling architecture has been romanticized in countless films and movies. But what about the people who must live in these buildings? This unique documentary paints a thought-provoking portrait of the inhabited ruins of Havana and their curious blend of magic and decay.
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Depicts the efforts of Latino residents of New York's Lower East Side who have taken over their own buildings abandoned by landlords.
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Examines the plight of `squatters' in Brooklyn, NY as they try to claim buildings abandoned by the city and to transform them into habitable dwellings.
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This video examines the ancient Red Sea port of Jeddah, one of the oldest commercial waterways in the world, and renowned in the Middle East as "the Bride of the Sea."
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Documents the making of a public art piece that raises questions about the meaning of private and public space and the role of public art.
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This video follows the sculptures of the late Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), one of Europe’s most popular artists, as they are transported from his Swiss studio to their new home at the Museum of Basel.
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Chronicles the history of neon, the luminescent gas discovered in 1898 by a British chemist, showing how neon is utilized today by designers, photographers, artists, sculptors and architects.
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Documents the efforts of a group of American volunteers--including architects, artists, teachers and psychologists--in building and operating a primary school in a poor Tiajuana neighborhood.
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From the bulldozing of the public garden Esperanza to the completion of the luxury condos built in its place, Not For Sale chronicles life on East Seventh Street in New York City and the transformations that have taken place in the lives of its inhabitants.
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In this offbeat mockumentary, Thompson Merrimack, Chairman of WorldWide Monitor, hosts a performance of the Surveillance Chamber Music Society in a celebration of Jeremy Bentham, whose architectural design of the Panopticon revolutionized systems of penal surveillance in the eighteenth century.
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What does it mean to be gay and old in America? A Place to Live: The Story of Triangle Square addresses this issue by following the construction and development of the country's first affordable housing facility for LGBT seniors.
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There was time when the Salton Sea was known as the Riviera of the West - a premiere vacation destination for the rich and famous. Today, it's considered one of America's worst ecological disasters. Narrated by John Waters, this irreverent documentary looks at what went wrong.
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Written and hosted by Jamake Highwater, a world renowned author on Indian culture, this film examines the differences between Native American and Western cultures, including their contrasting views of nature, time, space, art, architecture, and dance.
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This timely documentary encourages Americans to think more deeply about the importance of memorials on our landscape. In light of the continuing debate surrounding the September 11th memorial design in New York, it is an excellent opportunity for the greater public to rethink the meanings and motivations behind building a memorial of such historical significance.
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The intriguing (and twisted) story behind the design and construction of the "Turning Torso," Europe's tallest residential building, designed by world famous architect Santiago Calatrava.
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Part city symphony, part visual poem, The Solitary Life of Cranes explores the invisible life of a city, its patterns and hidden secrets, seen through the eyes of crane drivers working high above its streets. Referencing both Ruttmann and Vertov as well as Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," it's a beautiful meditation on how our existence is shaped by the spaces we inhabit.
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A magical portrait of Russia's revolutionary artistic avant-garde - Mayakovsky, Voloshin, Blok, Malevich, Tatlin - through the life of Sonia Dymshitz-Tolstaya, an impassioned artist whose life reflected the social upheavals of her time. She was one of the few Jewish women who became part of this inner circle.
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Tells the stories of poor people in Philadelphia who illegally take over or `squat' in abandoned houses in order to get places to live and to change housing policy locally and nationally.
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This film tells the story of the unstoppable rise of the skyscrapers. Tall pits the struggle for artistic integrity against the demands of fashion and the client’s bottom line. It documents the showdown between Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham. The outcome changed the future, shaping the modern skyline throughout the world.
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When a group of Moroccan street children faced with the choice of emigrating illegally to Europe take part in a treehouse building workshop, they find themselves unexpectedly transformed. This wonderful documentary offers a timely and intimate window into the world of Arab youth.
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An urgent, beautifully crafted examination of urban sprawl and its impact on the environment, The Unforeseen is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning documentary from director Laura Dunn and executive producers Terrence Malick and Robert Redford.
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This documentary tells the exciting story of who was involved: hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens from all walks of life, even children, gave their small earnings to realize Miss Liberty, first in France and then in the U.S. It took 14 years to consummate.
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This video, which documents a controversy over plans to alter the original architectural design of the Whitney Museum of American Art, examines some of the problems raised by the decision, including Modernist and Post-Modernist styles, architecture as art, the responsibility of art museums to the public, and the role of the architect.
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Examines gentrification, a process by which an underdeveloped neighborhood is 'upgraded' by real estate speculation, with higher income individuals moving into and improving existing properties, but also displacing many of the neighborhood's longtime residents.
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