FanFare

A documentary series about dwellings that break the mold, from the Naturhus movement in Sweden that puts homes inside greenhouses to a reconfigurable tiny apartment in 344 square feet of Hong Kong. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan on Apr 21, 2020 - 2 comments

A young man searches for home in the changing city that seems to have left him behind. "An unhurried tone poem with no guns and next to no blood, Last Man is a tale of race and the city, not Race and the City. First-time director Joe Talbot is white; his collaborator, Jimmie Fails, is black; they grew up together in Fillmore. This is Jimmie's story, and he plays himself." [NPR review - trailer] [more inside]
posted by cosmologinaut on Jun 16, 2019 - 8 comments

Frank Lloyd Wright believed that the buildings we live in shape the kinds of people we become. His aim was nothing short of rebuilding the entire culture of the United States, changing the nation through its architecture. Central to that plan was a philosophy and associated building system he called Usonia. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Feb 15, 2017 - 0 comments

Frank Lloyd Wright was a bombastic character that ultimately changed the field of architecture, and not just through his big, famous buildings. Before designing many of his most well-known works, Wright created a small and inexpensive yet beautiful house. This modest home would go on to shape the way working- and middle-class Americans live to this day. And it all started with a journalist from Milwaukee. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Feb 15, 2017 - 7 comments

Few forms of contemporary architecture draw as much criticism as the McMansion, a particular type of oversized house that people love to hate. McMansions usually feature 3,000 or more square feet of space and fail to embody a cohesive style or interact with their environment. Kate Wagner, architecture critic and creator of McMansion Hell, is on a mission to illustrate just why these buildings are so terrible.
posted by mama casserole on Oct 19, 2016 - 7 comments

On the night of February 27th, 2010, a magnitude of 8.8 earthquake hit Constitución, Chile and it was the second biggest that the world had seen in half a century. The quake and the tsunami it produced completely crushed the town. By the time it was over, more than 500 people were dead, and about 80% of the Constitución's buildings were ruined. As part of the relief effort, an architecture firm called Elemental was hired to create a master plan for the city, which included new housing for people displaced in the disaster. But the structures that Elemental delivered were a radical and controversial approach toward housing. They gave people half a house.
posted by eotvos on Oct 16, 2016 - 4 comments

Gerry's mate, Paxton (an ex-con predictably enough), wants him to investigate the death of his grandson, Jake. Apparently, Paxton hid some ill-gotten gains in a building that was going to be torn down. He sends his grandson to retrieve the goods. The grandson falls to his death. Paxton believes a former accomplice, Pelham, followed Jake and killed him.  Gerry also comes to terms with a daughter who is a beat cop, and her marriage to a earnest solicitor. ‎ In a never-before-seen plot twist, DCI Miller sharks the guys at pool. [more inside]
posted by Ik ben afgesneden on Aug 19, 2014 - 1 comment