Amie Siegel’s film installations often reveal the hidden narratives behind architecture and design, investigating the mechanisms by which objects, materials, and spaces accrue meaning and value. The Architects examines the processes of architectural creation, using the artist’s signature slow, parallel tracking shots to offer insight into the inner workings of multiple architecture firms, slicing through them laterally like an architect’s section plan. While gesturing to the New York cityscape visible through the windows of every workspace, The Architects speaks to global systems of architectural production. Charting workplace typologies that range from small-scale studios to those of multinational corporate firms, the film unveils the vast, unseen network of labor behind the design of the buildings that make up our urban fabric. In this way, Siegel not only punctures the myth of the singular “master architect” but also poses questions around creative autonomy, the sociopolitics of labor, and the circulation of capital.
Organized by Martino Stierli, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, and Mallory Cohen, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design.
