Follow the journey of filmmaker Denise Zmekhol who unearths an incredible narrative about her father’s legacy as an architect.

Join us for this preview of a work-in-progress film, “Skin of Glass”, the story of São Paulo’s tallest high-rise favela [slum], a 24-story office tower that is a treasure of mid-20th century architecture and the masterpiece of Roger Zmekhol, the late father of filmmaker Denise Zmekhol. Just 32 years old when her father imagined the “Pele de Vidro” building in the 1960s, it was a time of hope and prosperity in Brazil.

A military dictatorship took over the country before the building was completed, and for decades it served as the federal police headquarters. Then it was abandoned, becoming an empty and decaying home for impoverished immigrants and people living at the margins of society. Denise discovered the building in this state in 2017, four decades after her father’s death.

The film follows her journey to discover her father’s threatened legacy as an artist, as she confronts the harsh reality of inequality destroying the city her father loved. Her personal search forces her to face the brutal reality of a global crisis: one in six people in the world are squatters. The film evolves as a poetic essay on displacement, and her narration, in the form of a letter to her father, guides us.

About the Architecture + the City Festival (September 11-30)

Co-presented by AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design, the 17th annual Architecture + the City goes virtual and will continue to offer behind-the-scenes programs, walking tours, literature, live presentations and more that provide an excellent opportunity for all communities to experience architecture and design in a myriad of ways throughout the city. Every September, the festival reveals the many facets and layers of San Francisco, and how ­architecture and design play a key role in this ever-changing urban landscape.

For more info visit www.archandcity.org