Movies Similar to Modernism, Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story

Objectified(2009)

A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

My Architect: A Son's Journey(2003)

World-famous architect Louis Kahn (Exeter Library, Salk Institute, Bangladeshi Capitol Building) had two illegitimate children with two different women outside of his marriage. Son Nathaniel always hoped that someday his father would come and live with him and his mother, but Kahn never left his wife. Instead, Kahn was found dead in a men's room in Penn Station when Nathaniel was only 11.

Rams(2018)

RAMS is a documentary portrait of legendary designer Dieter Rams by filmmaker Gary Hustwit. For over fifty years, Rams has left an indelible mark on the field of product design with his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe, and his influence on Apple. So at 86 years old, why does he now regret being a designer? RAMS is a design documentary, but it’s also a rumination on consumerism, materialism, and sustainability. Dieter's philosophy is about more than just design, it’s about a way to live. The film also features an original score by pioneering musician Brian Eno.

The birth of luxury(2020)

From China to Venice, each country preciously kept the secret of its specialty. Industrial espionage, kidnappings, debauchery or innovations, the royal envoys will not shrink from anything and intrigue in often incredible conditions to victoriously impose French splendour in Europe.

Wild Wild Space(2024)

Follow three rocket and satellite companies – Astra Space, Rocket Lab, and Planet Labs – and the quests of their idiosyncratic founders to conquer the burgeoning space industry.

The Power of Utopia: Living with Le Corbusier in Chandigarh(2023)

With the construction of the Indian planned city of Chandigarh, the Swiss and French architect Le Corbusier completed his life's work 70 years ago. Chandigarh is a controversial synthesis of the arts, a bold utopia of modernity. The film accompanies four cultural workers who live in the planned city and reflects on Le Corbusier's legacy, utopian urban ideas and the cultural differences between East and West in an atmospherically dense narrative.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Phoenix From the Ashes(2020)

A portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), a genius of modern architecture, whose life passed between glory, scandal and tragedy.

Ekodomy aneb Život v rovnováze(2008)

Changing Landscapes(1964)

A sophisticated and beautifully constructed account of landscape change in and around Paris in the early 1960s. The film raises complex issues about the meaning and experience of modern landscapes and the enigmatic characteristics of features such as canals, pylons and deserted factories. Rohmer also explores the role of landscape within different traditions of modern art and design and refers to specific architects, artists and engineers.

Fading City(2020)

A docu-art film about Kyiv and the contemporary problems of the capital. The film raises the issue of the dilapidated state of Kyiv's old buildings and the search for effective mechanisms to preserve the city's architectural heritage.

Gaudí, le génie visionnaire de Barcelone(2022)

In Barcelona, the Casa Batlló alone sums up the genius of Antoni Gaudí. During the exhibition devoted to it by the Musée d'Orsay, we take a guided tour of this eccentric, colorful residence, completed in 1906.

The Oyler House: Richard Neutra's Desert Retreat(2012)

In 1959, a government employee named Richard Oyler, living in the tiny desert town of Lone Pine, California, asked world-famous modern architect Richard Neutra to design his modest family home. To Oyler's surprise, Neutra agreed. Thus began an unlikely friendship that led to the design and construction of an iconic mid-century modern masterpiece.

Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's challenge(2022)

Combining real footage, archival footage, fiction and 3D modeling, this unseen documentary traces the history of this spectacular and unfinished work.

La Chapelle de Ronchamp(1969)

Harmonious, inspired by nature, moving, luminous... there is no shortage of words to describe La Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut in Rochamp (France) and its curves. To create this Catholic place, at the beginning of the 1950s, Le Corbusier was inspired by the mosque of the Algerian Sahara of Sidi Brahim, by a crab shell for the shapes of the roof, and by the nearby Vosges valleys. .. Multiple influences for a building full of contradictions, a mixture of round and square lines, slender or squat depending on the angle of view, apparently vast from the outside, but small and intimate from the threshold crossed. Both a place of contemplation and major architectural innovation, the Chapelle de Ronchamp has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1965. Labeled “Heritage of the 20th century” in 1999, it entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2016 with 16 others works of Le Corbusier.

Mid-Century Moderns: The Homes That Define Palm Springs(2013)

This documentary film goes beyond the walls and hedges of Mid-Century homes that were built in neighborhoods like Twin Palms, Vista Las Palmas and Racquet Club Estates. The film features interviews with noted architects James Harlan, author of The Alexanders. Watch as home owners in various Palm Springs neighborhoods speak directly to the pride that goes beyond home ownership as they tour us through their homes. They gladly accept that they are the stewards of these mid-Century monuments that they live with everyday.

L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui(1930)

Regarding Le Corbusier: the man and his architecture

First Person Singular: I.M. Pei(1997)

Architect I.M. Pei speaks about his famous works, such as the addition to the Louvre in Paris, the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas. Footage of these projects shows both interiors and exteriors. Various other experts comment on the impact and importance of Pei's work.

Tokio - Die Stadtkultur von morgen(2021)

Tokyo, the largest city in the world, wants to create a new urban culture. It is returning to the urban traditions and building techniques of the small town. The aim is to create a new balance between megacity and small-scale garden city. Tokyo's architects are the driving force. They want to create a new urban culture with revolutionary ideas.

Julius Shulman: Desert Modern(2008)

Julius Shulman: Desert Modern focuses on Shulman's remarkable 70-year documentation of the renowned Mid-Century Modern architecture of the Palm Springs area/ Shulman, at the age of 97, describes with humor and insight his artistic intentions and the back-story to some of his most legendary photographs. He is joined by noted architectural historian Alan Hess and Michael Stern, co-authors of the book, "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs". Stern is also curator of the "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs" exhibition which originated at the Palm Springs Art Museum in February 2008. The flm showcases Shulman's inspired photography of the architecture of Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, John Lautner, E. Stewart Williams, Palmer and Krisel and William Cody, among others. E. Stewart Williams' Frank Sinatra House is featured, as well as Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House, one of the most famous homes in America, largely due to Shulman's iconic 1947 photograph.

Amancio Williams(2013)

A biography documentary of the Argentine modernist architect Amancio Williams.