the importance of being an architect
DIRECTORS
G. Ferrero and F. Biasin
MYBOSSWAS production
Italy 2021
60′
Original Music composed,
performed and produced by
G. Ferrero and R. Mongitore
A choral and musical documentary that investigates the responsibility of architects in building the society of tomorrow. A society founded on reciprocity, collaboration and coexistence, through a holistic approach to sustainable design. A first step towards an armistice between nature and architecture.
Set in four acts, the film “The Importance of Being an Architect” (a MyBossWas production, by GiorgioFerrero and Federico Biasin, 60’, Italy) explores – through the gaze of architect Antonio Citterio, one of the most renowned Italian designers in the world, and architect Patricia Viel, the two co-founders of ACPV ARCHITECTS – a vision for the architecture of tomorrow, centered on an armistice between nature and the built environment. Alternating dialogues with various personalities from the world of fashion, art and design, and exploring pieces of architecture designed by ACPV ARCHITECTS, the documentary offers a vision of the post-Covid world, in the midst of the climate crisis and urban redistribution, while guiding the viewer between elements of the design methodology, from data analysis and technological innovation, to travel as an inexhaustible engine of inspiration.
“My life has always been a journey through places, ideas and experiences that represent a continuous source of inspiration: this film revisits these moments to map the outlines of my vision for the future.”
“In 2020, I turned 70, celebrated the 50th anniversary of my career, and the 20th anniversary of the practice founded together with Patricia Viel. This documentary has been an opportunity to take a step back and look at the most important moments of the past decades as an architect and designer.”
Antonio Citterio
Conceived as a virtual dialogue and musical journey, the film starts off with the first act that focuses on the compatibility between architecture and nature, with personalities such as Anna Zegna, Massimo De Carlo, Francesco Bonami and Rolf Fehlbaum, who seek a definition of the concept of architecture and the social responsibility that it carries in present-day society. In the second act, the former director of the Design Museum (London), Deyan Sudjic recounts Antonio Citterio’s professional path as a designer and architect, starting from the 1980s creative boom in Milan. In the third act, ACPV opens up to the viewer, offering a glimpse of a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the day-to-day complexities of designing buildings and spaces. The film closes with the memories of the great masters Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel met during their life and work; and finishes with an understanding of how the responsibility of the architectural profession has evolved, as far as being expected to respond to social changes and the challenges of globalization.
“With this film, we are proposing an interpretation of the role that architecture and architects will play in present-day society and beyond, We do it through a series of dialogues with people from the world of art, fashion, culture and lifestyle, with whom we have built a shared history. Architecture is introduced as an undulating, non-intrusive element, echoed in the notes hit by the musicians that bring the four acts to life.”
patricia viel
The energies within the architectural works by ACPV ARCHITECTS are evoked through musical scenes set in different parts of the world: Milan, L'Aquila, Hamburg, Taichung, Miami.
different musicians hit spatially distant notes that meet in a single composition that breaks down distances and projects man into his natural habitat, that of the cities of tomorrow.
“During the pandemic, at the beginning of 2020, we wondered what the future of our cities would be,”
says Giorgio Ferrero, one of the film’s directors, and musical authors.
“Our built habitat contains latent energies that can modify our confidence in the future and our prospect of happiness in a historical period in which disorientation seems to take over. We live in an era of change, in which, for the first time, nature begins to be perceived as something fundamentally integrated with us and our cities.
To understand in which direction to orient our thinking, we asked one of the most important architectural firms in Italy, and around the world, to tell us about its experience and to share its vision.”
“We thank Antonio Citterio, Patricia Viel, the ACPV practice, and all the guests who have shared their ideas with us in this journey,” adds Federico Biasin, film director, “and for helping us understand how care for the project, whatever it may be, should be projected towards a future that is functional to a conscious, collaborative, and inclusive change and not just compressed in the grip of today’s frenzy.”
