Viewpoints

The Architecture & Design Film Festival Enters a New Chapter

ADFF 2026 brings together stories of reuse, climate action, architectural history, politics, gender, and public life.

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How Dune and Poor Things Rely on Architecture History

This year's sci-fi and fantasy blockbusters are the latest in an ongoing relationship between architecture and science fiction.

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A New Film Chronicles the Design Legacy of Airstream

Alumination, a new documentary by filmmaker Eric Bricker, captures the history and legacy of the iconic American travel trailer on its 90th anniversary.

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From Bauhaus to Bunkers: The Aspirational Architecture of Hollywood Villainy

Why do bad guys in the movies always live in "good" houses? A new book digs into that question.

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5 Highlights from New York City’s Architecture & Design Film Festival

At this year's edition, a run of films shine a light on issues of housing, from the perils of gentrification to the intractable challenge of urban homelessness.

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Documentary Film Explores How Architects Can Help Reform the Criminal Justice System

Frank Gehry: Building Justice, which is set to screen at the ADFF:NOLA festival, showcases how Gehry-led student architecture studios developed proposals for more humane prisons.

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New Documentary Explores the Definition of “Home,” From the Arctic Circle to Megacities

The Human Shelter, which today makes its U.S. premier at the Los Angeles Architecture and Design Film Festival, explores subjects like climate change, human conflict, and urban development.

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New Documentary Provides a Portrait of Design Superstar Dieter Rams

In Rams, Gary Hustwit—of Helvetica and Objectified acclaim—looks into the enduring legacy of the 86-year-old German industrial designer.

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Architecture & Design Film Festival Opens in New York City

If you ask Kyle Bergman, founder of the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF), he’ll say that architects talk among themselves too much. Movies, says Bergman, an architect himself, are a perfect opportunity to

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What Hollywood Can Teach Architects About Design

Woods Bagot and SCI-Arc organized two events in Los Angeles: one on the role of architecture in film, and a second on the future of L.A. urbanism.

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Filmmaker Rick Prelinger Is Resurrecting New York City’s Lost Urban Landscapes

Prelinger's film, Lost Landscapes of New York, uses rarely-seen period footage to reveal the city's daily life and changing streetscape.

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“Starship Chicago,” a Documentary on Helmut Jahn’s Controversial Thompson Center, Is Free to Watch Online

The 1985 building, threatened with demolition, is a riot of glass, mirrors, and blue- and salmon-colored panels that swirl around an enormous 17-story atrium.

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10 Can’t Miss Films at New York’s Architecture & Design Film Festival

The festival, which runs from November 1 to 5, features movies about Kevin Roche, Glenn Murcutt, Maggie's Centres, Jane Jacobs, and more.

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“Citizen Jane” Puts Jacobs on a Pedestal (Throws Moses Under the Bus)

Despite its flaws, the documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City is an entertaining call to action, and a reminder that when motivated individuals come together, a small corner of their world can change.

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IMAX Film Shoots World’s Most Awe-Inspiring Feats of Engineering

Dream Big, in theaters tomorrow, highlights the human ingenuity that brought us some of the world’s greatest structures, including the Great Wall of China and the world’s tallest skyscrapers.

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Sons of Koolhaas, Saarinen Explore Fathers’ Works in New Documentaries

Eric Saarinen and Tomas Koolhaas have both produced visually-stimulating architectural documentaries that give unique insight into their parents' minds and works.

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Architecture Isn’t the Villain of "High-Rise"—We Are

In the film adaptation of J.G. Ballard's book, a few people’s domestic fantasies are enough to tear apart Anthony Royal’s Brutalist monolith.

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“High-Rise” Imagines a Dystopia in the Sky, Bloodied Concrete and All

The first film adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s classic novel "High-Rise" is a decadent romp set against a background of Brutalism.