A lecture by Ron Kenly: Two Films and City Textures – Of Clouds and Shadows, An Aerial Arpeggio and Touching Some European Cities

Date: 29 June 2013

Venue: Academy Yushima

Guest: Ron Kenley, a professor of L’école nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris La Villette

It was a presentation of two films and his architectural projects in Europe then there were questions and answers about a connection between films and architecture and urban design.

The film, Arpeggio(2010) was a representation of overlaying actual maps, and old maps on the aerial photographs, tracing the routes of a trial flight by a Montgolfier balloon in Britain in 1786. At that time there was a sense of obtainment by capturing lands (urban space) from above on the map existed.　That suggests it is a visual integrant.

In the following part, Mr. Kenley explained a connection between films and architecture and urban design, referring to Fernand Legier, Eisenstein, and Chris Marker. He also added there may be a hint in a sociologist, Peter Sloterdijk’s irony in terms of ambiguity in contemporary socialism in European cities for our filmic expression architecturally.