THE HARVARD 5: A STORY OF LOVE, ARCHITECTURE, AND A DESIGN REVOLUTION
Director: Devon Chivvis
Duration: 60 mins
Year: 2025
Subtitles
Documentary
This documentary tells the story of five ground-breaking architects and designers who ignited a modern design revolution from the least likely place—colonial New Canaan, Connecticut. The ‘Harvard 5’ as they became known—Philip Johnson, John Johansen, Landis Gores, Eliot Noyes and Marcel Breuer—were fuelled by a sense of hope and optimism in the wake of WWII but their modern ideals and avant-garde designs were not greeted openly by the locals who did not understand these pioneers—or their ‘Kleenex’ box houses.
Through never-before-seen interviews with the spouses, family, clients and biographers of the ‘Harvard 5’, this film weaves together the fascinating personal and the professional story of these architects and designers ultimately proving their paramount contribution to defining the United States in the post WWII era—a contribution that continues to influence society today.
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FILM SPONSORED BY
Preceded by THE TEMPLE OF KINETIC RESONANCE
Director: Nick Stevenson
Duration: 17 mins
Year: 2026
Local
How do you combine the vision of two entities into a single building? Taking an artist’s legacy and extending that into a built form to last centuries. The Temple of Kinetic Resonance is a short film showcasing the design and intent behind the Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The controversial and iconic building that would house the body of work of renowned film and kinetic artist Len Lye. Designed by noted New Zealand architect Andrew Patterson, from Patterson Associates, the film dives into the intent, challenges and journey to build this unique structure.
Told through the stories of stakeholders on the project, the creation of a joint vision combining the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Foundation in a single building and the Bilbao Effect that the building has had on the cultural identity and economy of regional Taranaki over the last 10 years since its opening. This is a story of a building’s resonance far greater than its initial brief and intent.
