'From Balsa Wood to Bodrum'
John Hill
22. juni 2022
Photo: Screenshot
Foster + Partners has shared an episode of the Sky Arts documentary series The Art of Architecture that is devoted to the firm's Dolunary Villa in Kaplankaya, Turkey.
Across three ten-episode seasons, the UK series delves into the design and realization of notable commissions by famous architects, from Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub in the first episode to buildings designed by David Adjaye, Kengo Kuma, Renzo Piano and, of course, Norman Foster, as well as less-familiar names like Christina Seilern, Magnus Strom, and Clare and Sandy Wright.
The episode dedicated to Dolunary Villa uses the models created in the office of Foster + Partners as a starting point for telling the story of the bespoke villa designed for "a client who wasn't too bothered with budget," as described by narrator Alastair Layzell. Norman Foster talks about the role of models in the firm's design process, in project's like the Apple Campus, but then it's up to partners Niall Dempsey and David Summerfield to explain the particulars of the project. Further commentary by author Marcus Binney rounds out the in-depth presentation of a remarkable house. If only all architecture documentaries were made as well as The Art of Architecture.