“Camera Eye”: Cinematic Studio Research into Architectural Practice

ABSTRACT

This article deals with the process and results of an experimental research studio called “Camera Eye,” which has been conceived and executed at the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology. This project departed from the presupposition that the relationship between architecture and film often has been construed through a very narrow window. The main issue at stake is that too often the emphasis lies on the differences between these two modes of expression. This essay elaborates on three vital errors in reasoning, each generating a number of consequences that bifurcate into the realms of philosophy, media theory, filmmaking and, ultimately, architecture itself. The first misconception is that of overrated medium specificity, which addresses media on their strengths and not on their weaknesses. Second comes the fallacy of shallowness, which prevents research looking for the real common denominators and thus remaining superficial and meaningless. The third delusion is that of the myth of representation, which contains critical flaws as it disregards the irreducibility of the complexity of reality. The description of the studio work offers some suggestions on how to reboot these misconceptions and demonstrates the effectiveness of “cinematic thinking” in architectural research.

Keywords:

• cinematic research
• architectural design
• modeling
• philosophy
• Deleuze, affect

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marc Boumeester

Marc Boumeester has been working for major television and film producing companies and has realized over sixty productions, varying from commercials to feature films. Boumeester is a researcher at the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and connected to the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. His research focuses on the interplay between the non-anthropocentric desire, architectural conditions and unstable media, cinema in particular.