Online Screening:
How Buildings Learn
Online
October 4 – November 13, 2022
Container City in the London Docklands uses recycled shipping containers for shelter, an idea Brand embraces in How Buildings Learn. Source: Wikipedia
Salt presents an online screening of the documentary series How Buildings Learn (1997), which offers insight into how buildings gradually change with the human-environment interaction. Written by Stewart Brand in 1994 and adapted into a television series by BBC in 1997, the six-part documentary will be open to access via saltonline.org from October 4 to November 13.
Based on his book sharing the same title, American writer Stewart Brand looks into the life history of buildings—how they are shaped by their architects, and how they are further transformed by their inhabitants. The series offers a critique of modernist approaches to architecture, and instead argues for “an organic kind of building, which is easy to change and grow as the ideal form of building.” Refusing the “center out” understanding of design, assuming that a single person or a group of people designs a building for others to use, Brand adopts an evolutionary approach where users can change the functions of a building over time to meet their varying needs.
Each episode will be streamed online weekly, starting from Tuesday, October 4 until Sunday, November 13 via saltonline.org.
How Buildings Learn (1997)
6 Episodes, English; Turkish subtitles
saltonline.org
Episode 1: Flow, 29 minutes
October 4-November 13
The first episode introduces the main concepts discussed in the documentary, and critically examines modern architecture through a selection of buildings designed by notable architects such as Frank Gehry and Le Corbusier.
Episode 2: The Low Road, 30 minutes
October 10-November 13
In the second part of the series, Brand takes a closer look at buildings such as sheds, warehouses, garages, huts, shacks, boats, and mobile homes, and how people arrange them according to their needs.
Episode 3: Built for Change, 29 minutes
October 17-November 13
In the third episode, Brand examines the concept of adaptability in the design process through a selection of buildings that can be modified and repurposed as the needs of their inhabitants change.
Episode 4: Unreal Estate, 29 minutes
October 24-November 13
Probing into the present situation of the real estate sector, this episode seeks answers to questions about how we create our living spaces and their function as nests or shelters but also as investment tools.
Episode 5: The Romance of Maintenance, 29 minutes
October 31-November 13
The fifth episode highlights the importance of maintenance to buildings, offering a romantic approach to the underrated work of repair.
Episode 6: Shearing Layers, 29 minutes
November 7-13
The last part of the documentary focuses on different typologies of buildings, departing from questions such as: “What kind of changes do buildings undergo after surviving for centuries?” and “How do we decide whether a building is attractive enough?”
In accordance with Article 7 of Law No. 5224 amended on 18.01.2019,
films that have not been assessed and classified by the General Directorate of Cinema, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Republic of Turkey, can only be screened under the classification of 18+ at festivals, special screenings or similar culture and arts events.
Based on his book sharing the same title, American writer Stewart Brand looks into the life history of buildings—how they are shaped by their architects, and how they are further transformed by their inhabitants. The series offers a critique of modernist approaches to architecture, and instead argues for “an organic kind of building, which is easy to change and grow as the ideal form of building.” Refusing the “center out” understanding of design, assuming that a single person or a group of people designs a building for others to use, Brand adopts an evolutionary approach where users can change the functions of a building over time to meet their varying needs.
Each episode will be streamed online weekly, starting from Tuesday, October 4 until Sunday, November 13 via saltonline.org.
How Buildings Learn (1997)
6 Episodes, English; Turkish subtitles
saltonline.org
Episode 1: Flow, 29 minutes
October 4-November 13
The first episode introduces the main concepts discussed in the documentary, and critically examines modern architecture through a selection of buildings designed by notable architects such as Frank Gehry and Le Corbusier.
Episode 2: The Low Road, 30 minutes
October 10-November 13
In the second part of the series, Brand takes a closer look at buildings such as sheds, warehouses, garages, huts, shacks, boats, and mobile homes, and how people arrange them according to their needs.
Episode 3: Built for Change, 29 minutes
October 17-November 13
In the third episode, Brand examines the concept of adaptability in the design process through a selection of buildings that can be modified and repurposed as the needs of their inhabitants change.
Episode 4: Unreal Estate, 29 minutes
October 24-November 13
Probing into the present situation of the real estate sector, this episode seeks answers to questions about how we create our living spaces and their function as nests or shelters but also as investment tools.
Episode 5: The Romance of Maintenance, 29 minutes
October 31-November 13
The fifth episode highlights the importance of maintenance to buildings, offering a romantic approach to the underrated work of repair.
Episode 6: Shearing Layers, 29 minutes
November 7-13
The last part of the documentary focuses on different typologies of buildings, departing from questions such as: “What kind of changes do buildings undergo after surviving for centuries?” and “How do we decide whether a building is attractive enough?”
films that have not been assessed and classified by the General Directorate of Cinema, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Republic of Turkey, can only be screened under the classification of 18+ at festivals, special screenings or similar culture and arts events.
