Fifth International Academic Forum Conference on Arts & Humanities

Description

Re-Framing the Past: Using Film and Cinema to Write Architectural History
with Christopher S. Wilson
Since its invention in the 19th century, photography has long been utilized by architectural historians to aid in the writing of architectural history. Along with other archival material such as drawings, sketch books and written correspondence, images such as official publicity shots, construction photographs, newspaper reports, magazine features, demolition captures and even tourist snapshots have all been employed as documentary evidence to understand the development and transformation of the built environment over time, thereby allowing architectural historians to tell their stories. From the travel photography of exotic places by Francis Frith to the back streets of Paris by Eugene Atget, from the Modernist masterpieces of Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman to the contemporary digital documentation of Iwan Baan, photography has played a major role in the writing of architectural history. Even though moving images - film and cinema - can be equally documentative, they have been much less utilized for this purpose than their static, still-image counterparts. This could be due to the fleeting existence of cinema, a lack of easy access to films, or the belief that such material was not “scholarly.” Whatever the reason, the lack of cinema as archival evidence in architectural history writing is stark.  This presentation argues that moving images from fiction and documentary films can inform architectural and urban historians about the built history of a particular place just as easily -- if not better -- than still images. Using a series of case studies from various film genres, including action, comedy, documentary, horror, romance, thriller, even science fiction, this presentation aims to highlight cinema as a viable and vital resource for writing architectural history.

Period	03 Jan 2025 → 07 Jan 2025
Event type	Conference
Location	Honolulu, United States, HawaiiShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International