Next month, the national traveling Architecture & Design Film Festival debuts in Washington, D.C. The first edition of Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF: D.C.) opens Feb. 22 at the National Building Museum (NBM). Presented by nonprofit Revada Foundation, the four-day festival will feature more than 25 films about life and work of architects, designers, and activists including Rem Koolhaas, Hon. FAIA, Frank Gehry, FAIA, Dries van Noten, and Jane Jacobs. Additional films examine projects that have had substantial impact on the design of healthcare and community centers, such as Maggie's Centers and MASS Design Group's Ilima Primary School.
ADFF: D.C. will kick off with a screening of BIG Time, a documentary directed by Copenhagen-based Kaspar Astrup Schröder. The film profiles Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), over the course of six years, highlighting commissions such as Via 57 West and Two World Trade Center.
The festival's lineup also includes The Experimental City, a documentary directed by Chad Freidrichs, that narrates the story of the Minnesota Experimental City, a 1960s Utopian urban planning project proposed by visionary scientist Athelstan Spilhaus to combat the urban pollution. Oscar Boyson's The Future of Cities, another film included in the festival, is a documentary featuring more than 75 personal stories from around the world about a simple question: "What does 'the future of cities' mean?" according to the NBM.
Each year since 2009, the Architecture & Design Film Festival selects films that represent "the creative spirit that drives architecture in design," according to the NBM. The festival launches in New York City, and then travels to cities across the country with slightly different lineups, according to the ADFF founding director Kyle Bergman, AIA. This October, the ADFF will celebrate its 10th anniversary in New York City. According to Emma Filar, NBM's director of marketing and communication, the ADFF: D.C. will be held annually in D.C. for at least two years.
