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An Architect in the landscape

(V.O. Fr.: UN ARCHITECTE DANS LE PAYSAGE)
Documentary by Carlos Lopez.
2009 / Switzerland / 60’

Releases

  • DVD available onine on SwissDvdShop
  • Documentary film Month 2018, France
  • Many event screenings in Europe, Asia and South America, 2010-2019
  • Cinema release in French-speaking Switzerland on December 8th, 2010
  • UrbanEye Film Festival 2014, Romania
  • Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India 2013-2014 Travelling Programme
  • Arquiteturas Film Festival 2013, Portugal
  • BAFICI + travelling festival 2010, Argentina
  • MID (Mustra Internacional Doucmental)2010 + travelling festival, Colombia
  • ITZON.TV Film Festival 2011 – Finalist Audience Prize – Documentary

Synopsis

What room is left, in our urban environment, for imagination, emotions… for our humanity?

This question stands at the very heart of the work of Georges Descombes.
 As seen in a forest path for the “Voie Suisse” or in the refurbishment of an area devastated by an airplane crash near Amsterdam, the work of this landscape architect focuses on the notion of “just intervention”. Georges Descombes and some of his travelling companions, such as Herman Hertzberger and Michel Corajoud, speak of their work and cast a keen eye on modern architecture, which they find too withdrawn from real life. This film is a poetical and philosophical journey that will please all types of audience.

“It’s possible to live without philosophy, without love, without music,…but not so well.”

“It’s possible to live with an architecture devoid of artistic dimension,… but not so well.”

Press excerpts

Un film singulier et précieux qui tient du voyage poétique.
Lionel Chiuch, Tribune de Genève

Le spectateur se surprendra à observer son environnement avec un regard plus affirmé, plus exigeant aussi, comme après une conversation riche partagée avec un interlocuteur de grande qualité.
Yann Gerdil-Margueron, Intercités, Radio Suisse Romande

  • Distribution format:  HD / Beta Digital / Beta SP / Blu-Ray Disc
  • Sound: Stereo
  • Language: O.V. French, Swiss-German and Dutch.
  • Available subtitles: English, German, Spanish.
  • Directed by: Carlos Lopez
  • With: Georges Descombes, Michel Corajoud, Herman Hertzberger, Mira Kho, Martin Inderbitzin, Joseph Betschart, Isabelle Keller, Marie Bouvaist.
  • Production: Benjamin Poumey
  • Image: Denis Jutzeler
  • Sound: Rudy Decelière
  • Editing: Damian Plandolit

Support

The film was made with the help of the City of Geneva – Department of cultural affairs; the REGIO Films fund, the Republic and Canton of Geneva – Department of education – DIP Internship fund Fonction : Cinema, The Swiss Lottery, the Commune of Lancy, the Commune of Confignon.