The Canadian Centre for Architecture launched Groundwork, a three-part documentary series exploring innovative architectural practices amid the climate crisis. It highlights projects such as Xu Tiantian's museum, Carla Juaçaba's pavilions, and bplus.xyz's HouseEurope! initiative aimed at renewing the building renovation framework in Europe. The series, directed by Joshua Frank, emphasizes the importance of process over products, exploring themes of storytelling, community organization, and the multifaceted challenges in addressing renovation amidst the housing crisis.
The Groundwork film series was conceived by Francesco Garutti and Irene Chin, directed by Joshua Frank, and produced by the CCA. The documentaries offer a personal look at the ideas behind the projects, valuing architectural reflection and process beyond finished products.
To Build Law, the second film in the series, tells the story of the campaign behind HouseEurope!, an endeavor to transform the legal framework for building renovation in Europe. The film is 'not a documentary about legal procedures' but a story about 'trying to practice a different form of architecture.'
With a photographic eye for the interplay between old and new, as well as a focus on architectural detail, the documentary moves beyond the technical tensions of construction versus renovation, offering reflections on storytelling, community organization, and the political and economic dimensions of the housing crisis.
When you're talking about renovation, there's a great deal of complexity and many more scales available to you that the big companies cannot address.
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