Frei Otto: Spanning the Future
2016 · 60m · Documentary
The life and works of Frei Otto told in his own words and by those he inspired. An in-depth look at the rise of lightweight architecture, form finding, and its continued relevance for the future of architecture.
More Like This

Noble and Mundane Prague
1949
A documentary film comparing current / everyday and historical / noble aspects of Prague.
More info →Grandma and Le Corbusier
Documentary about a grandma that lives in the Unité d'habitation.
More info →
City of Dreams
2000 · ★ 10
This fascinating documentary explores the collaboration between Marion Mahony, the first registered woman architect in the world and the longest serving designer in Frank Lloyd Wright’s practice, and husband Walter Burley Griffin. Their struggle with unyielding bureaucracy, the philosophies that underscored their life and work, and their passionate commitment to an architecture that expressed a balance between society and the environment and an affinity between the human spirit and the natural world. The film weaves together their personal and professional lives, drawing on archival and contemporary footage of their work, an extensive collection of photographs, the couple’s own correspondance and writing, and interviews with prominent architects, social historians and the people who knew them.
More info →Die Hugenottenstadt Erlangen. Eine der interessantesten Städteanlagen Deutschlands
1931
A silent documentary film about the history and the architecture of the town of Erlangen in the Middle Franconia region in Bavaria, Germany.
More info →
Beyond Eternity
2024
An exploration of architecture in the context of climate change, resource scarcity, circular strategies, real estate speculations and refugees crisis, framed within the context of the second edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
More info →Erlangen als historische Stadtanlage
1984
A documentary about the history and the urban development of the city of Erlangen in northern Bavaria, Germany.
More info →
One Big Home
2017
On the tiny island of Martha's Vineyard, where presidents and celebrities vacation, trophy homes threaten to destroy the islands unique character. Twelve years in the making, One Big Home follows one carpenters journey to understand the trend toward giant houses. When he feels complicit in wrecking the place he calls home, he takes off his tool belt and picks up a camera.
More info →
Structures of Marvel: Medieval Paris
2021
In the heart of Paris, Île de la Cité once featured one of the most majestic palaces of medieval times: The Palais des Rois. Built in the early Middle Ages, only two parts of this grandiose palace remain: The Sainte-Chapelle, the largest and most daring palatial chapel of the time; and the Conciergerie, a medieval room of impressive dimensions, known for having served as a prison and housing the jails of Marie-Antoinette.
More info →
Mamani in El Alto
2022
His buildings are garish, colorful and completely overloaded. Columns and glittering chandeliers everywhere, and way too much of everything. The Bolivian civil engineer and architect Freddy Mamani Silvestre (*1971) builds houses in El Alto for a nouveau riche upper class of the Aymara, the largest indigenous ethnic group in Bolivia.
More info →
These Four Walls
2023
A short documentary that takes a look at Pratt Institute's Architecture program and how the first years handle the rigorous workload.
More info →