over the course of the year, designboom has highlighted many projects in the fields of architecture, art, design and technology, presented via the format of moving image. 2020 was a special year, that we can all agree on. what’s good about it is that creatives never stopped creating, and even documented this period of time. from ai weiwei directing and producing a documentary remotely from europe, while filming was done by ordinary citizens living in wuhan to olafur eliasson sharing messages of hope, we highlight our TOP 10 videos of 2020.

ROBERTO GRAZIANO MORO DOCUMENTS THE COVID-19 CRISIS IN VENICE, ITALY, IN ITS MOST CRITICAL MOMENTS

for several years, photographer roberto graziano moro had been engaged in the documentation of the music industry in italy and today’s youth culture, but the pandemic changed the focus of his lens. the north of italy was struck early and violently by the outbreak, and areas including milan and the veneto region were burdened with an increasing number of cases, overcrowded hospitals, and an overwhelming sense of urgency to control the crisis.

FILM DOCUMENTS THE WEAVING OF THOUSANDS OF FLOWERS INTO AN EPHEMERAL CARPET IN BRUSSELS

in a video titled ‘flower power’, filmmaker, director and producer joerg daiber documented the weaving of more than 500.000 flowers into an ephemeral, 1.800-square-meter carpet at brussels’ grand place. since 1971, ‘flower carpet’ (see previous coverage here) takes place every two years in the historic center of the city, where a hundred volunteer gardeners put together this monumental piece of public art in less than eight hours. though the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, daiber’s film of the 2018 ‘flower carpet’ offered an alternative viewers can enjoy until the next edition takes place.

‘THE GIGANTIC CHANGE’ FILM VOICED BY WHOOPI GOLDBERG ENCOURAGES ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CRISIS

actress whoopi goldberg teamed up with environmental protest group extinction rebellion in a new animation film discussing the global climate crisis. the 3-minute movie, produced by passion pictures, is set in the future, looking back from 2050 to show how people came together to save the world from global warming. the film, entitled ‘the gigantic change‘, was released on friday 5th june 2020, as part of world environment day.

THIS STEP-BY-STEP ANIMATED SHORT SHARES QUIRKY CUES ON HOW TO MAKE SUSHI IN STYLE

london-based 3D designer and animation director jonathan lindgren created a two-minute film documenting how to make sushi. during the autumn of 2018, lindgren designed a couple of frames based on the premise of a sushi-chef. using this as his starting point, designer and director took further influence from his long-standing passion for japanese animation and wes anderson’s ‘isle of dogs’ film, mixing that with his own animation style.

SEE BULGARIA’S OTHERWORLDLY SOVIET MONUMENTS IN MINIATURE IN JOERG DAIBER’S LATEST SHORT FILM

joerg daiber’s latest short film transformed bulgaria into a fascinating miniature model of green landscapes, vibrant cities, and otherworldly soviet monuments. part of the ‘little big world’ series, the film was shot using tilt-shift photography, which you can read more about in our interview with the berlin-based filmmaker here. the four-minute-long video packs over ten destinations, among which the now-abandoned ‘buzludzha monument’, built by the bulgarian communist government in 1981.

AI WEIWEI’S CORONATION: THE FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH FILM ON THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN WUHAN

ai weiwei released a feature-length documentary about the lockdown in wuhan, china, during the COVID-19 outbreak. the chinese artist directed and produced the movie remotely from europe, while filming was done by ordinary citizens living in wuhan when placed under an unprecedented lockdown. ‘CORONATION’ examines the political specter of chinese state control from the first to the last day of the wuhan lockdown. sprawling emergency field hospitals were erected in a matter of days, 40,000 medical workers were bused in from across the country, fleets of roving sanitation-fogging robots were deployed, and the city’s residents were sealed inside their homes.

TAKE A SURREAL RIDE WITH FERNANDO LIVSCHITZ’S BEAUTIFUL CHAOS FILM

known for his surreal, uplifting and dream-like films, argentinian filmmaker fernando livschitz presented beautiful chaos, a movie that literally took us for a ride. set within an amusement park, the video starts by portraying those seconds before the roller coaster starts. people pull the belts over their body, the metal starts screeching, and you hear some faraway screams. some people wave while smiling, others hold hard into their seats and as the roller coaster cars start slowly ascending, people start preparing for the ride. what they don’t know is that this park is part livschitz’s imagination and that there, anything is possible.

A LONE FIGURE RUNS THROUGH AN OTHERWORLDLY LANDSCAPE IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO BY KACHI CHAN

hong kong and london based artist, kachi chan, directed an epic music video for singer-songwriter olivier cong. created for the song, delusion, the 11 minute video features a surreal alien landscape to complement cong’s ominous yet calming musical style.

OLAFUR ELIASSON SHARES A SIMPLE MESSAGE OF HOPE DURING CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

with the population of italy, and many other parts of the world, following lockdown and social-distancing orders as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, designboom — whose headquarters is in milan — asked artist olafur eliasson to share a message of hope with our readers. responding to the current situation, eliasson drew an illustration dedicated to italian friends and family, as well as the wider community. centered around an image of the world adorned with the word ‘BOOM’, the artist encourages us to use this time for creativity, caring, and contentedness.