The Goethe-Institute and Max Mueller Bhavan is screening a film, “Architects in Conclave” on August 11 at 6.30 pm at Max Mueller Bhavan, 716 CMH Road, Indiranagar 1st Stage.
In June 2005, after the 40th anniversary celebrations of the architecture practice von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp), the co-founders, Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg, together with six other partners of the practice gathered in Mallorca.
In the seclusion of a holiday home they attempted a critical evaluation of their built projects, with a view to reaffirm their shared architectural beliefs. One of the questions addressed at the meeting was what effects globalisation has been having on the growing activities of gmp in East Asia.
The documentary by Christel Kapitzki accompanies the debates, heated in parts, and portrays several buildings from the unusually broad range of the gmp oeuvre, going beyond well-known projects such as the Berlin Central Station and the Berlin-Tegel and Hamburg airports.
Engaging the "gmp phenomenon", the film navigates between continuity and change. The result is a fascinating and exciting combination of new architectural photography in Germany, of projects in Europe and Asia as well as of archive material.
Conversations between the partners as well as in-depth interviews convey a lively dynamic which lies at the heart of the architectural projects. The film is also a portrayal of the architects as individualists who have come together under the logo 'gmp', to write architectural history.
