Summary: A series of portraits from which comes out the wealth of meanings of the term design, which avoids any definition that claims to be univocal and conclusive. The author’s story has been collected in video interviews which are filled with spontaneity and immediacy of the conversation, in which the expression of experiences, reflections and considerations about life and work of planning is free flowing.

Achille Castiglioni (Architect): Achille Castiglioni was a renowned industrial designer. He was often inspired by everyday things and made use of ordinary materials. He uses the minimal amount of materials while creating forms with a maximum effect.

In 1982 Castiglioni created the cutlery design called “Dry” for Alessi, Alessi’s first cutlery line and a seminal product. The design was something of a reaction to the over-formalist, over-functionalist decades of particularly Scandinavian design. Castiglioni’s method, to have “a constant and consistent way of designing, not a style” led him to help create new products to restore Italy’s quality of life in the post-war years and to innovate upon the household object.The New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has his most important designs in its permanent collection.

Richard Sapper (Designer): Richard Sapper is a German industrial designer located in Milan, Italy. He has received numerous international design awards, including 10 prestigious Compasso d’Oro industrial design awards, the first being in 1959, and 15 of his products are in New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as a permanent collection.

In 1980 he became the IBM corporate industrial design consultant and began designing portable computers, including the first ThinkPad 700C in 1992 and follow-on models such as ThinkPad 770. Sapper continues today to influence the iconic ThinkPad brand as design consultant to Lenovo after it acquired the IBM PC Division in May 2005.

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Participating NGOs: Aseema, Doorstep School, Muktangan and The Vatsalya Foundation.

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Panelists: Gieve Patel (Artist & Poet) | Girish Shahane (Art Critic)
Discussant: Mallika Sagar Advani (Art Consultant)

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Summary: A series of portraits from which comes out the wealth of meanings of the term design, which avoids any definition that claims to be univocal and conclusive. The author’s story has been collected in video interviews which are filled with spontaneity and immediacy of the conversation, in which the expression of experiences, reflections and considerations about life and work of planning is free flowing.

Andrea Branzi (Architect): Branzi was born in Florence, where he also graduated in architecture. Currently he lives and works in Milan, Italy. His work and interests relate to industrial design, architecture, urban planning, and cultural promotion. He also works as a professor of industrial design at the Politecnico di Milano University.

Ettore Sottsass (Designer): One of the most significant counter-forces to modernism in the history of design, Ettore Sottsass made monumental artistic contributions to every decade since 1945. His remarkable career produced a provocative body of work, including architecture, furniture, industrial design, glass, ceramics, painting, photography and a wealth of writings. With this work he intellectually and aesthetically challenged the conventional wisdom of forms and proportions for over 65 years.

Sottsass was continually driven by a personal search for a new language of modern design. His rigorous pursuits led to the creation of such groundbreaking movements as radical design, anti-design, post-modernist architecture, and the founding of Memphis in the early 1980s.

Arthur C. Clarke has been hailed as ‘one of the true geniuses of our time’. His novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was one of the greatest space adventures ever written, and the film of the book won Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick cult status. A one-man think tank, Clarke is listened to by the United Nations, US Congress, Microsoft and NASA.

In a rare interview from his tropical paradise home in Sri Lanka, he talks about his life, from his upbringing in rural Somerset in England, to the writing of his latest best-seller, 3001: The Final Odyssey. This is a unique profile, amply illustrated by specially-filmed extracts, CBS coverage of the Apollo moon landing and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of 2001.

Art: 21–Art in the Twenty-First Century is a series that focuses exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States. Fascinating and intimate footage allows the viewer to observe the artists at work, watch their process as they transform inspiration into art, and hear their thoughts as they grapple with the physical and visual challenges of achieving their artistic visions. Art:21 takes viewers into the artists’ lives, unfiltered, for a rare encounter with the creative process in action and an exciting opportunity to hear what cutting-edge artists are thinking about as they work.

Place & Contemporary Art

How does contemporary art address the idea of place? How do artists working today reveal and question commonly held assumptions about land, home, and national identity? The Art:21 documentary “Place” explores these questions through the work of Laurie Anderson, Richard Serra, Sally Mann, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, and Pepón Osorio.

Consumption & Contemporary Art

How does contemporary art address the idea of consumption? How do artists question commonly held assumptions about commerce, mass media, and consumer society? The Art:21 documentary “Consumption” explores these questions through the work of the artists Barabra Kruger, Michael Ray Charles, Matthew Barney, Andrea Zittel, and Mel Chin.

Synopsis: What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you’re renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians procastinate, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes, Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

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