The documentary My Architect screens as part of the San Diego Architectual Foundation Film Series (HBO Documentary)
The Oscar-nominated documentary My Architect screens as part of the San Diego Architectual Foundation's film series on Thursday September 25 at 7:30pm in the Luce Loft (1037 J Street, doors open at 6:30pm). The film is a personal journey by Nathanial Kahn who undertakes a five year, worldwide trek in an effort to understand his famous father and architect Louis I. Kahn. Louis Kahn died alone in 1974. He was considered by architectural historians to have been one of the most important architects of the second half of the twentieth century. As Louis Kahn's illegitimate son, Nathaniel sets out to try and reconcile the life and work of the mysterious and contradictory man that was his father.
The film will be presented by multi-hyphenate Keith York who is KPBS TV's director of programming as well as a teacher and mid-century design and architecture historian with his own architecture site . York is excited about the opportunity to screen this unique documentary:
In dreaming up the film series, San Diego Architecture Foundation Executive Director Leslee Schaffer saw this unique cinema showcase as including many curators and many different ways film and architecture have reflected each other. For our third outing, the San Diego Architecture Foundation presents a favorite film (and not just architecture related films) of mine My Architect. The film, about a son's journey to discover the deceased father he never knew, while a bit overplayed in the documentary format seeing its way through the film nation's film festivals, has never before come so alive on screen as Nathaniel Kahn's search for the identity of world renowned architect Louis I. Kahn. While I have spent many an afternoon enjoying every acoustical and visual facet of Louis Kahn's Salk Institute in La Jolla, it is witnessing many first-time visitors' reactions to what some have said is the single most important building west of the Mississippi, that is arresting. Sitting in the Luis Ramiro Morfín Barragán designed courtyard with a sunset, ocean and paraglider at the horizon, there may be no more beautiful built environment in our region. But Kahn's place in San Diego history, and the Salk's role in our regional architectural inventory aside, I hope by ModernSanDiego.Com sponsoring the presentation of this film, and having the chance to introduce the film, I can in a small way extend Kahn's myth and majesty to a few more people. Before the film, I hope to share a few stories about how Kahn's visits to San Diego so impressed local architects that even then, 40-plus years ago, while still alive, this man was a legend.
So if you are interested in both architecture and good filmmaking, check out the screening of My Architect . The screening is free but a donation of $10 is suggested.
Companion viewing: The Sketches of Frank Gehry. Belly of the Architect, Frank Lloyd Wright , Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
