"To Become One" by Romain Loiseau and Tristan Soreau, the fourth ten-minute docufilm in the MINUTES series, is now available for viewing free of charge online. A series of twelve short films by talented young international directors, all lasting ten minutes and dedicated to a selection of architectural works designed by KAAN Architecten.
"To Become One” by Romain Loiseau and Tristan Soreau is a ten-minute docufilm on the new ISMO, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay, designed by KAAN Architecten with Fres Architectes. The documentary received a special mention at "Living Places", the third edition of the Simon Architecture Prize, sponsored by the Fundaciò Mies Van der Rohe of Barcelona. The jury, headed by architect Anupama Kundoo and also including well known French video artist and film maker Louise Lemoine, awarded a special mention to "To Become One" as an example of the way in which film can contribute to the world of architecture. The seventh art unites the extension of space and the time dimension, and therefore cannot be reduced to a mere communication and marketing tool; it offers an important contribution to the representation and knowledge of an architectural project.
The docufilm on the Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay, "To Become One", was directed by the French team of Romain Loiseau and Tristan Soreau. In the documentary, viewers follow a woman as she explores the various parts of the building. The architecture appears to be empty, but the protagonist suddenly realizes that there is someone else there. "To Become One" is the fourth short film in MINUTES, the series launched in 2017 by KAAN Architecten. Starting from the idea that every building tells a story, the architects began to explore the relationship between architecture and film, and eventually planned a series of twelve short films. All the docufilms are ten minutes long, are directed by talented young international directors, and are dedicated to a selection of architectural works designed by KAAN Architecten. The KAAN architects granted the chosen directors great creative freedom to enable them to realize their own vision of the firm’s projects, reflecting a different approach to the way architecture interacts with the world.
Four years later, MINUTES has become a genuine work of film and is considered an interesting new experiment in the representation of architecture. It enriches the documentation that can be provided with every architectural project, and creates an unusual, important legacy for future generations.
Three other episodes of the Minutes series, as well as "To Become One" dedicated to the Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay, are now available for viewing free of charge online: “Forensic” directed by Chris de Krijger and dedicated to the Netherlands Forensic Institute in Ypenburg, “Utopia” directed by Joana Colomar and directed to the Library and Academy of Performing Arts of the same name in the Flemish city of Aalst, and “Crafted” directed by Benitha Vlok and dedicated to the Netherlands Embassy in Mozambique.
A MINUTES event entitled "Building Stories - Architecture on Film”, investigating the social impact of architectural communication, will be held at the Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam on 28 September 2021. The discussion will illustrate three completely different approaches to the portrayal of architecture, starting from an analysis of the works of the guest directors: Spirit of Space, director of “Static”, the docufilm on the Siesegem crematorium built just outside Aalst in Belgium, Jaime Levinas, director of “Notes on an immortal being”, dedicated to the project to renovate and extend the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and finally Benitha Vlok, director of “Crafted”, already mentioned above.
(Agnese Bifulco)
Images courtesy of KAAN Architecten
minutes.kaanarchitecten.com
To Become One
Romain Loiseau & Tristan Soreau
October 2019
Directed by: Romain Loiseau & Tristan Soreau
Director of Photography: Tristan Soreau
Camera Assistant: Namratha Thomas
Editing: Romain Loiseau
Drone Operator: Gary Bialas
Costume Designer: Mathilde Métral
Color Grading: Hugo Rossello
Sound Design: Romain Loiseau & Tristan Soreau
Featuring: Dasom Kim
Captions
Images courtesy of KAAN Architecten
(01-05) ISMO Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay photo by Fernando Guerra FG + SG (01-03-04), Sebastian van Damme (05)
(02) To Become One - Romain Loiseau & Tristan Soreau
(06- 10) Utopia – Library and Academy for Performing Arts photo by Delfino Sisto Legnani, Marco Cappelletti
(11-15) Siesegem Crematorium in Aalst photo by Sebastian van Damme (11-14), Simone Bossi (15)
(16-20) Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) photo by Mediamixer (16), Sebastian van Damme (17), Stijn Bollaert (18-20)
