A new documentary on a high-tech house describes more than just this architectural marvel. Koolhaas Houselife illustrates the relationship between human and home, as the film’s director Louise Lemoine explained to DigitalJournal.com.
Digital Journal — In Bordeaux, France, the house of the future is an outsider. Not just for its location — a lone hill overlooking the Bordeaux region — but also for its architectural innovations: made from three stacked houses, the Maison á Bordeaux is an engineering marvel by featuring moving walls, automated windows and a mechanical lift at the heart of the home. Designed by award-winning architect Rem Koolhaas, this house has been dubbed one of the most incredible residences on the planet.
Like anything extraordinary, filmmakers want to tell the world about this little-known wonder. European directors Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine have documented the Maison á Bordeaux in their upcoming film, Koolhaas Houselife, screening across North America this month. Rather than focusing on the reclusive resident of the home, a wheelchair-bound man, the directors trained their lens on the home’s housekeeper, Guadalupe Acedo. She is responsible for cleaning the futuristic elevator, dusting the moving walls and making sure the Maison keeps its charm.
In an interview with DigitalJournal.com, Lemoine explained why the film is less about the design and more about the human element. “We are trying to demonstrate the vitality and fragility of architecture through the observation of the habits, stories and testimonies of the people who actually live in, use or maintain the spaces we have chosen to observe,” she says, adding that Koolhaas Houselife is part of a film series on contemporary architecture.
Lemoine points out how the Bordeaux house attracted monumental media attention when it was first built, but little was reported afterward. She says, “We wanted to offer the possibility of a full immersion in the daily life of such a monument, just to see what’s behind the façade.”
Lemoine and Bêka wanted to highlight the technology embedded inside this residence. The platform is both unusual and symbolic, representing the free mobility for anyone working or living in the Maison. Once again, focusing on the inhabitants of a home is the filmmakers’ way of redefining a documentary genre.
“One of the main intentions of our film projects,” Lemoine says, “is trying to make architecture films not so much from a professional point of view aimed at those in the profession, but rather from an ‘inner’ point of view, both personal and subjective.”
The trailer reveals the film’s intention: tell the story of the housekeeper to explain the intricacies of a well-designed home (Gizmodo got their hands on another copy of the trailer which is much better). After all, who would know every nook and cranny better? Documentaries on architecture need to profile the faces behind the façade in order to better communicate to the world the powerful relationship we have with our buildings. Whenever Koolhaas Houselife secures a worldwide screening deal, expect more than just architects to take notice; anyone interested in how we bond with our homes will want to check it out.
Koolhaas Houselife will be shown in NewYork at Storefront for Art and Architecture from April 22 to May 3. It will screen at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal on April 10.
