Backlight: Grand Paris- The Architect and the President | |
Duration: 52'' Director: Bregtje van der Haak Producer: VPRO Television and the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, supported by the Netherlands Architecture Fund sales contact NPO Sales
| French president Sarkozy not only wants to see a prestigious building built in his name - like his predecessors - but he wants to shape the future of Paris in its entirety. His wish is to make the city sustainable, attractive for investors and to improve its infrastructure, bridging the gap between the poor suburbs and the rich historical centre. That is why he launches the prestigious project Grand Paris in the summer of 2008, inviting ten leading architects to the Elysée to draw up a plan for the sustainable growth of Paris. What should Paris look like in 30 years? This documentary follows the Dutch architect and urban designer Winy Maas for a year during his participation in ‘Grand Paris’. For his Rotterdam based MVRDV office, there is much at stake. He was selected along with nine other teams, including French celebrity architects Jean Nouvel, Christian de Portzamparc, Roland Castro and the relatively young Djamel Klouche to contribute ideas to the conversion of Paris and its suburbs into ‘a 21st century metropolis’. But how do you do that? How do you keep your footing in the vortex of power, media and architecture? |
