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STEVEN HOLL: THE BODY IN SPACE (TV)

Summary

This documentary explores the work and theories of architect Steven Holl. The film chronicles the development of his design for the KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland, and examines his other projects through interviews with Holl and his colleagues and friends. Holl opens the program by explaining "phenomenology" in architecture -- the process of creating essences within an architectural framework. Highlights of this program include the following: comments by Tuula Arkio, director of KIASMA, on planning for the building; comments by Holl on guiding the low winter sunlight of Helsinki into the galleries by designing the museum walls at an angle; Holl and associate architect Juhani Pallasmaa on protests over the museum's site due to its interference with an equestrian statue; the way Holl adapted the building design to give the statue a proper backdrop; philosopher Mark Taylor on how deconstructivism has run its course, and Holl's knack for "putting things together again"; Pallasmaa on the public's reaction to architecture that engages the senses; and Holl and artist Vito Acconci on Acconci's design for an interactive site on an outdoor museum wall. Holl then discusses the following: the value of perspectival space in his design for KIASMA; the unique three-axis design allowing light to enter in three ways; and his theory that the public can experience his work without recognizing the concept behind it. Next, his Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University is analyzed by the school's chancellor, the Reverend William J. Sullivan, S.J., who admires the unconventional design of the meditative space. Holl comments on the Jesuit theory of grace as light, and his use of seven different sources of light, each symbolizing a liturgical theme. Also examined is Holl's own Chelsea apartment in Manhattan, which he designed in relation to a seminary across the street, as well as his Makahari apartment complex in Japan, with its reflections of light and color, and individual structures delineating the "inner journeys" of Zen. Next, Holl examines the influence of Alvar Alto's 1955 House of Culture on the KIASMA project, particularly its acoustic geometry, and then explains his stress on the tactile essence of materials. Then, Vesa Honkonen, the KIASMA architect, views the structure with Holl and remarks on the following: the empty intermediate range of space, leaving room for works of art; the method of enfolding space from each gallery to the next; and the glowing wall of glass. Holl then suggests that each site and circumstance can provoke a new response to architecture.

Details

  • NETWORK: N/A
  • DATE: November 30, 1997
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:57:39
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:56359
  • GENRE: Arts documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Architecture; Finland - Description and travel; Museums
  • SERIES RUN: TV, 1998
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Susann Inberg … Executive Producer
  • Michael Blackwood … Producer, Director
  • Vito Acconci
  • Alvar Alto
  • Tuula Arkio
  • Vesa Hankonen
  • Steven Holl
  • Juhani Pallasmaa
  • William J. Sullivan
  • Mark Taylor