Good Design

Two heavyweights of the New York architecture scene were the subjects of two videos we recently shot and edited for Architizer.com David Rockwell of Rockwell Group, and Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro spoke to us about improving the city through design, specifically their collaboration for The Film Society of Lincoln Center: The Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Renfro is well-known for his transformation of NYC’s High Line, and Rockwell for many hotels and restaurants in the city, and even the 81st Academy Awards. We filmed them in their bustling offices and got a behind the scenes look at their process.

It was a fast turnaround for this shoot, about 48 hours! A little more rushed than we’re used to, but sometimes pressure is good. The videos screened at a summit for the Municipal Art Society of New York. Having two cameras on this really saved me. We had less than an hour with each architect, so coverage was paramount. We did what we could with available light since we were pressed for setup time, and then we augmented with my homemade “covered wagon” light, a softbank of high-powered daylight fluorescent floods, which Rockwell liked a lot. I was expecting to see green in these fluorescents, but never did. Really useful little light.

I’ve already started looking at buildings in a different way: trying to imagine what the initial sketch model looked like, and what design elements make each building unique and beautiful (or ugly). Check out the videos below: