Build Something Modern tells the story of a hidden canon of architecture - groundbreaking young architects who pushed the boundaries of design, with surprisingly little recognition in their own country. Between the 1950’s and 1970’s many adventurous architects travelled to Africa for excitement and creative freedom. At the same time others were given the opportunity to design hundreds of modern buildings in Africa, but remarkably never got to see the finished constructions. These structures - churches, seminaries, hospitals and schools - were for the most part built as part of a massive community effort. They were co-ordinated by the missionaries, often without a contractor and with the architect mostly absent. Build Something Modern reveals a surprising and untold history about these people and their innovative creations. We travel back to the 1950s, when colonies were still in place, through the atrocities of numerous wars where many of the structures were destroyed, right up to present day Africa.
Film Crew
- : Nicky Gogan
- : Paul Rowley
- : Nicky Gogan
- : Maya Derrington
- : Dennis McNulty
- : Aza Hand
- : Paul Rowley
- : Paul Rowley
Technical Information
- Couleur
- English
Images
Videos
Bande annonce
The peculiar history of Irish architects designing hundreds of ground breaking modernist buildings in Africa without ever getting to see them built.-
Gogan and Rowley follow-up their acclaimed asylum seekers-in-Butlins doc Seaview with this highly stylised documentary on the highly stylised buildings that Irish architects inflicted upon Africa as the Catholic Church made its presence felt.
Paul Byrne, Movies.ie -
Build Something Modern finds Irish fingerprints in unlikely places. Slyly, the film-makers set up a complex tangle of post-colonial ironies using small, evocative images.
Tara Brady, The Irish Times
