Joining us for this screening is architect Janneke van der Velden, responsible for the award winning Marga Klompé Building by Powerhouse Company, who will give an introduction on material use in architecture. Tickets are available through the website of LantarenVenster.
Architecton, ’99, Viktor Kossakovsky, 2024
Except for water, concrete is the most widely used material in the world, observes Viktor Kossakovsky in Architecton. The film is an impressive visual investigation into the relationship between architecture, nature and civilisation, focusing on concrete as a symbol of both creation and destruction. Kossakovsky asks urgent questions about how we build and calls for a conscious, sustainable approach before it is too late.In hypnotic images, accompanied by Evgueni Galperine’s mesmerising soundtrack, he connects historical sites such as the ancient ruins of Baalbek, earthquake-ravaged Turkish cities and bombed-out Ukrainian buildings. At the centre is a landscape project by architect Michele De Lucchi, who advocates humility towards nature with his “magic circle”, a place where people are not welcome.
Following his successful documentaries Aquarele (2018) and Gunda (2020), award-winning documentary director Victor Kossakovsky delves into the world of architecture with Architecton. A beautifully poetic study in which he follows Italian architect Michele De Lucchi, showing impressive images of ancient ruins, modern structures and recent devastation caused by the war in Ukraine and the 2023 earthquake in Turkey. With observational eyes, Kossakovsky questions how our way of building affects our civilisation. Architecton premiered at last year’s Berlin Film Festival and was shown at IDFA.
'A gorgeously photographed poetic reverie on the subject of stone and concrete'
– Wendy Ide, The Observer
About the speaker
Janneke van der Velden graduated from the TU Delft in 2005. During her internship in São Paulo, she developed a fascination for brutalism – a style that has inspired her ever since. In her work, the experience of the user is central; she designs buildings with meaning and always looks for integral solutions in collaboration with the team.
At Powerhouse Company, she worked on various renovation projects, including the Central Library and the Muziekwerf in Rotterdam. She recently completed the Marga Klompé Gebouw in Tilburg: a sustainable education building with a wooden construction and a marble façade.
Janneke is currently working for the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, where she focuses on the transformation of Ministry of Defence sites.
