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Few art forms have fascinated architects more in the past 100 years than film. Perhaps due to its focus on world making, or maybe because of the integral role architecture has played in so many classics, film is a medium of inspiration as much as it has become a primary form of representation for architects. In the past year, as our desks have become personal film sets, we are bound to the editorial constraints of the screen more than ever.

This conversation will discuss how we think about film in relation to architecture and how film affects the way we think about architecture. From buildings as settings to buildings as characters, we will be exploring the broad spectrum of architecture’s place in film, while looking at how architects leverage the medium to design, represent, and express their design intentions. Join us as our guests from Spirit of Space will share their approach to these questions as they seek to uncover the character of a place, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill will explore the role its buildings and spaces have played in films for the last 50 years.

Panelists

(Moderator) Matthew Messner, Assoc. AIA, writer and designer

Matthew is a Chicago-based designer and critic currently working at Brininstool+Lynch and teaching at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Messner holds a Master of Architecture and a Master of Art in Design Criticism from the University of Illinois Chicago. He is the former Midwest Editor of the Nationally circulated Architect’s Newspaper and was the Project Coordinator for the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial. Messner has also worked in the offices of Jimenez Lai/Bureau Spectacular in Chicago/Los Angeles and Julian De Shmedt in Copenhagen, Denmark.

His designs, writing, and films have been published and featured in international galleries and publications, to include the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, the Graham Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, the People's Art House of Zagreb, Croatia, and the 2014 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Along with the nearly 500 articles published in the Architect’s Newspaper, he has contributed to numerous other publications including Architectural Record, Architectural Review, and Clog.

In addition to writing, Messner has lectured to academic and professional audiences including at SOM, HGA, USGBC, Exhibit Columbus, the University of Texas Arlington, Ohio State University, and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Messner served in the  Army Reserve as an ammunition and explosives expert and heavy equipment operator for 8 years and is a Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (’09) in Afghanistan.

Finn MacLeod, Assistant Global Communications Leader, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Finn is Assistant Global Communications Leader at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, based in Chicago, where he shapes the studio’s voice and brand for audiences around the world. Hailing from Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada, Finn is a design communications expert with a background in architectural journalism, history, and design.

In past lives, he was based in Rotterdam, London, and Venice, where he held roles with OMA, ArchDaily, the Venice Biennale of Architecture, 5468796 Architecture, the Danish Architecture Center, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. His writing has been published in the Huffington Post, ICON magazine, ArchDaily, Arcspace, and The Walrus magazine.

Finn is an avid world traveler, cyclist, and architecture tourist, and above all, fascinated by what happens in the spaces between buildings where architecture meets culture, economics, and quality of life.