Reflections on Architecture

For his new film, the Israeli film-maker and trained architect Amos Gitaï spoke with the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.
Paradigms change. Who would have dared to think a couple of decades ago that the purpose of an industrial building could be something more than serving as a functional structure? Today’s priority is to include sustainable materials in the construction process, as can be witnessed in the Ricola building created by Herzog and de Meuron, who used tightly compacted earth as building material.
Reflections on Architecture alternates images from his old films with footage containing fragments of conversations with Herzog & de Meuron, and shots of some of their constructions.

We always doubted whether a film about architecture could be successful since there are hardly any good examples to refer to. Architecture can be great in a film when playing an active role, like an actress, instead of simply being documented. There are unforgettable, impressive roles played by architecture in films by Antonioni and Hitchcock. Nevertheless, when we met Amos Gitai we wanted to give it another try: against our better judgement. This was because of Gitai’s interesting biographical background at the intersection of architecture, politics and film. It became clear that the film project would combine documentary and fictional elements, an experiment that Amos Gitai insisted on venturing into. For once we were not authors: we were objects not subjects. We followed the process as listeners and critics but at the end of the day – comparing the film with a still life – you could see our role of being like flowers in a vase, if slightly wilted flowers …

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron,
May 2016

Introduction by Peeter Pere