Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival 2014
Paolo Soleri walking in the desert surrounding his home in Arizona.
Arcosanti - Soleri’s experimental town constructed in the Arizona desert under the principles of ‘arcology’
Ceramica Artistica Solimene, Vietri, Italy was one of Soleri’s early commissions.
The Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival 2014 kicks off in Auckland this May featuring a broad selection of films from around the world, including The Vision Of Paolo Soleri: Prophet In The Desert.
The Vision Of Paolo Soleri, is a biographical documentary on architect and environmentalist Paolo Soleri. Born in Torino, Italy in 1919, Soleri travelled to America in 1946 to mentor under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West. Inspired by what he learned, Soleri embarked on his own original course finding inspiration for his ‘arcology’ – the symbiosis of architecture and ecologoy – in the deserts of Arizona.
While uncovering Soleri’s legacy as an architect, environmentalist, and philosopher, the film poses critical questions about mankind’s future, and architecture in a world facing environmental, social, and economic crisis, says filmmaker Lisa Scarfuro.
“Few architects have proposed more ambitious design, and been less prone to compromise. Given the current global crisis, Soleri’s life’s work has become increasingly relevant to our world dilemma and his ideologies prophetic.”
Over ten years in the making, the film’s cast and crew included Emmy Award-winning director of cinematography Sam Shinn and features interviews with Jean-Michel Cousteau, Paul Goldberger, Eric Lloyd Wright, Steven Holl, Will Wright, and Morley Safer, as well as music by Andrea Bocelli and Thirty Seconds To Mars.
The Vision Of Paolo Soleri will have its New Zealand premiere during the Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival 2014. The festival will run in Auckland from 8-21 May, Wellington from 29-11 June and Dunedin from 12-22 June. For a full film listing, visit the website.
