Architecture

Combining interviews with leading architects, historians, and conservationists with location footage from all over Europe, this program examines the Modern Movement in architecture, from its emergence after World War I until World War II. The first half of the documentary explores the movement's origins and ideology, spotlighting the Bauhaus in Germany, Le Corbusier in France, the Functionalists in Holland, and the Constructivists in Russia. The second half traces the movement's growth and spread, emphasizing the influence of the social climate and political environment of the interwar years upon building design. (52 minutes)

Over the course of his career, Antoni Gaudi translated the gothic revival style into a sensuous, surreal, and highly idiosyncratic design language that established him as the leader within the Spanish art nouveau movement. Using location footage, drawings, and archival photos and film, this program places Gaudi within the context of his profession and his times. His Colonia Guell, Parq Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, and Sagrada Familia are featured. (Spanish with English subtitles, 49 minutes, color)

City planning that puts people before cars, sculptural museums that are as artistic as the masterpieces they contain, commercial spaces that redefine retail-these are some of the paradigm-shaking ideas of today's architects at work. This compilation of recent NewsHour segments introduces viewers to Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Vincent Scully, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, visionaries in the world of architecture. Episodes include... • Frank Gehry on the Guggenheim Bilbao: Elizabeth Farnsworth talks with architect Frank Gehry about the process of designing and building the Guggenheim Bilbao. Segment also sold as a part of Pritzker Prize-Winning Architects. • Vincent Scully and the New Urbanism: Ray Suarez and architectural historian Vincent Scully discuss the rethinking of urban form through city planning that de-emphasizes cars and focuses on community. Segment also sold individually. • Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and the New Urbanism: Ray Suarez interviews Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, coauthor of Suburban Nation, on the New Urbanism as exemplified by the Kentlands, a housing development in Gaithersburg, Maryland. • Rem Koolhaas and the Architecture of Shopping: Using the Prada store in Manhattan's SoHo district as a springboard, Ray Suarez talks with architect Rem Koolhaas about a new approach to designing commercial space. • Daniel Libeskind on the Denver Art Museum: Jeffrey Brown and Daniel Libeskind discuss the Denver Art Museum and the Rocky Mountains, from which the architect drew his inspiration. (54 minutes)

In the words of world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, Cities are the greatest works of art that a culture can produce." This informative and analytical six-part series, which combines outstanding aerial and ground-level footage with keen sociopolitical insights, creates a remarkable collage of urban development around the world. These programs thoroughly explore modern city architecture within a cultural context. Not available in French-speaking Canada. 6-part series, 29 minutes each."

Though architecture is surely an art, it is also a science and this program focuses on the scientific component. Skyscrapers have to stand up, not only to gravity but also to wind, precipitation, and sometimes earthquakes. The program also looks at another fascinating achievement of modern architectural science, the intelligent home," many of whose features, including lighting or heating the house and even preparing morning coffee, can be fully programmed and executed automatically. Finally, the program tells us about concrete, a construction material that has become the symbol of modern architecture and is undergoing constant improvement. (23 minutes)"

Modern museums are nearly as artistic as the art that they house. In part one of this program, correspondent Jeffrey Kaye discusses the Getty Center's design with architect Richard Meier, architecture critic Leon Whiteson, and Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight. In addition, Kaye examines the Center's manuscript and photograph collections, educational outreach program, and role in worldwide art preservation. In part two, journalist Elizabeth Farnsworth talks with Frank Gehry about the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao's remarkably innovative design. Gehry's efforts to reconcile the museum with the striking local topography and heritage led to the creation of a titanium-clad, ship-like gallery combined with a village of shapes." Critics are unified in their praise, calling the museum an architectural miracle of major significance. (29 minutes)"

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 to be built in China that will utilize bionic architecture. As an alternative to urban sprawl, the Tower is projected to house 100,000 people while taking up only a single square kilometer of ground space. (30 minutes)"

This stunning program looks at the development of the Bauhaus and at the key figures involved in it-including the founder Walter Gropius, his successor Mies van der Rohe, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers. The program also sets the history of the Bauhaus in the context of the political unrest and economic chaos of the Weimar Republic in Germany. The program features numerous experts including Christopher Frayling of the Royal College of Art, architectural historian Charles Jencks, and Dr. Peter Hahn, Director of the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin. Former students discuss their time at the Bauhaus, and the eminent architect Philip Johnson tells how it influenced his work. The program contains rare archival footage of the Bauhaus at Dessau and looks at the architecture of Chicago, much influenced by Mies van der Rohe, who emigrated there after the Bauhaus was shut by the Nazis in 1933. (50 minutes)

The symphony of construction at Disney Hall is finally completed. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra's long-awaited new home-a sculptural arrangement of billowing stainless steel-clad shapes-is the topic of this NewsHour program. Frank Gehry comments on how he designed the concert hall using 3-D computer modeling, while the Philharmonic's executive director and two musicians extol the virtues of master acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota's efforts. Sounding a dissonant note is urban planning critic Sam Hall Kaplan, who calls L.A.'s new signature civic icon an elitist misuse of money better spent on numerous smaller renewal projects. (11 minutes)

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 Palermo. Brion Memorial-one of the great enigmas of modern architecture-is examined as a hybrid of classical, abstract, and Japanese architectural forms. In Venice, craftsmen and fellow architects fondly remember Scarpa's endless experimentation with color and textures. (58 minutes)

It is an increasingly common scenario: a developer wants to build a tower in a depressed urban area, and must fill half the building before permits are issued. What's the ace in the hole? A superstar architect who brings media attention to the project. This program recounts such a story, in which Petronas Towers and Canary Wharf creator Cesar Pelli waved his magic design wand over the Cira Center project, making it stand apart from other Philadelphia high-rises. In addition to the building's design features, the program reflects on the question: are celebrity architects over-hyped and overpaid, and what-if any-public benefits exist to offset their staggering paychecks? (28 minutes)

Emphasizing harmony, proportion, balance, and simplicity, the buildings of the Greek and Roman empires have had a strong and abiding influence on generations of architects. This program classifies the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles of Greece, with their columns and entablatures, and the Tuscan and Composite styles of Rome, which augmented the Greek trabeated forms with vaults, arches, and domes. A variety of examples are drawn not only from the ancient world, but from the Renaissance and the neo-Classical period as well. A BBCW Production. (29 minutes)

An icon of architectural design, Georgian is also the most popular revival style. This program showcases examples of Georgian homes from three different centuries, offering a detailed tour of the grounds and interiors. First, the origins of the style are seen in a 1760 Georgian villa on the Thames. Next, the program visits The Grange in Toronto, a house from 1817. And then the tour arrives at the Batterwood mansion, built in 1927 in Canton, Ontario. Architect Barry Hobin and historians Fern Graham, Hal Kalman, and Dan Cruikshank provide commentary on this architectural homage to perfection. (24 minutes)

Any serious study of the modern skyscraper must acknowledge its precursor-the Gothic cathedral. This program examines the design, construction, and history of Cologne Cathedral-which, for a grand total of four years, was the tallest building in the world. Dr. Barbara Schock-Werner, the cathedral's resident chief architect, describes political and cultural conditions during Cologne's initial building years and guides viewers through the evolution of the colossal church. Dr. Ulrike Brinkmann, in charge of the cathedral's acres of stained glass, sheds light on the religious meanings and architectural significance of the myriad colored windows. (28 minutes)

Possessed of a genius for designing buildings that are as expressive as abstract sculptures, Daniel Libeskind-called the respectable face of radicalism"-is no stranger to controversy. In this program, Libeskind, structural engineer Cecil Balmond, architectural writer Charles Jencks, the Kensington Society's Sir Ronald Arculus, and other supporters and skeptics air their views on the Jewish Museum Berlin; The Spiral, the visionary addition to London's Victoria and Albert Museum; the Imperial War Museum-North; and the Felix Nussbaum House. Are Daniel Libeskind's sensational aesthetics setting the standards for 21st-century architecture? (50 minutes)"