Architects’ portraits at AFFR 2025
Every year, AFFR presents a wide selection of portraits of both architects and buildings in the Portraits section, in different locations and from different perspectives, broadening your view of what architecture can be. Curious about the ‘architecture films’ on this year’s programme? Find them all in one place:
Portraits at AFFR 2025
Anna Mariani – Photographic Notes
This film is both an in-depth presentation of Anna Mariani’s iconic photographs of Bahian facades, one of Brazil’s most beloved visual archives, and a luminous portrait of the photographer through her own writings.
Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines
A captivating portrait of visionary architect Arthur Erickson, a charismatic designer, flamboyant personality, and daring businessman in equal measure.
Bruno Morassutti, theme and variations
Bruno Morassuti, a reserved yet innovative voice of Italian modernism, is rediscovered through rare archival materials and testimonies, with a special focus on his alpine architecture.
COPAN
In the heart of São Paulo stands the legendary skyscraper Edificio Copan by Oscar Niemeyer. A world of its own, with 5000 residents, 100 workers, 20 lifts and its own postcode. An intimate and impressionistic portrait of this world, torn by polarised politics.
Make Materials Matter. How Danish Søren Pihlmann Redefines Architecture
Copenhagen-based architect Søren Pihlmann is one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary architecture. Advocating for radical simplicity, reuse, precision, care and contextual awareness, Pihlmann approaches architecture as a form of curatorship across scales and materials.
Miralles
Miralles’ work amazed everyone. This documentary takes the viewer on a poetic journey through eleven of his projects and offers a glimpse into his character and the free spirit that came with it.
SCHINDLER SPACE ARCHITECT
Adolf Loos advocated his Raumplan, Le Corbusier his plan libre. The Austrian-American architect Rudolf Schindler combined both into a unique style in which everything revolved around the experience of space: Space Architecture.
Sep Ruf – The Architect of Modernism
A richly illustrated portrait of Sep Ruf, an understated modernist who brought elegant transparency to post-war German architecture, establishing a democratic design language in the conservative Bavarian context.
The A’dammer – The man behind the cabinet
The ‘A’dammer’ is a timeless and iconic cabinet. Designer Aldo van den Nieuwelaar (1944–2010) reveled in its success exuberantly with lovers and friends – but fame, as he would discover, is fleeting.
The Great Arch (La Grande Arche)
Unknown Danish architect Johan Otto von Spreckelsen (Claes Bang) wins François Mitterand’s competition for a new monument at La Défense. The true story of an idealistic architect, entangled in a web of political intrigue.