seoul biennale documentary looks at life in rapidly changing urban environments

‘crossroads, building the resilient city’

together with the seoul biennale of architecture and urbanism (SBAU) 2021, cinematographer nils clauss, and filmmaker and videographer neil dowling, have created the documentary ‘crossroads: life in the resilient city’. the film looks at the urban experience of five individuals, exploring how they appropriate the rapidly changing environments of new york, seoul, mumbai, paris and nairobi. blurring the lines between reality and imagination, the documentary presents architecture and urban landscape as both the backdrop and the protagonist of these narratives.

seoul, above and below

all images courtesy of nils clauss

looking at the human experience

titled ‘crossroads, building the resilient city’, the third edition of SBAU curated by architect dominique perrault attempts to respond to the complexity of the relationships that shape our cities and to the key time that humanity is currently facing by drafting a manifesto for a more sustainable city. in a similar manner, the documentary by nils clauss (find more here) and neil dowling (find more here) looks at the stories of people living at the interface of the changing world, in new york, seoul, mumbai, paris and nairobi.

‘when we first heard about the theme for the seoul biennale of architecture and urbanism 2021 (…) and dominique perrault’s five crossroads (above / below – heritage / modern – craft / digital – natural / artifical – safe / risk), that are key components, fault lines, interfaces of the city, we thought that we should avoid the most obvious choice,’ mentions clauss. ‘that would have been to interview experts and illustrate the points they made with images and examples from cities around the world. instead we felt that it was important to make a film that looked at the human experience at these crossroads, where the city is changing both physically and culturally, where technology, resources, inequality, population growth, all play a role in the mix of how people adapt and modify their habits and behaviours and shape their surroundings to fit the new realities’.

nairobi, natural and artificial

a thought-provoking film

besides working in commercial and documentary genres, the creators also have a big interest in creative non-fiction or creative documentary — a documentary approach mixed with scripted elements. to a certain extent, this dramatizes the true lived experiences and makes them more impactful.

part of the objective for the film was for it to be a conversation starter, a way to provoke debate. ‘since the biennale is also asking participants to imagine possibilities for a better urban experience for everyone, we also felt like this creative non-fiction approach could also help us to dig into the characters’ imagination,’ shares cinematographer nils clauss. in each story, the main character sets out a problem and then seeks a solution, sometimes it’s a practical solution and sometimes a solution that is just an idea, or they are just visualizing how things could be better. but ideas and imagination are important ingredients in all creative pursuits, not just architecture, and design. this film also encourages the viewer to think creatively about the resilient city and about their own city wherever that may be.

new york, safe and risk

mumbai, craft and digital

1/2

paris, herritage and modern

project info:

name: crossroads : life in the resilient city
by: nils clauss, neil dowling
in association with: the seoul biennale of architecture and urbanism 2021, curated by dominique perrault

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom