SHELTER announces January 2021 content

SHELTER is the new home of inspiring design and architecture content. The global streaming service’s content encompasses everything from stories of design, to a deep dive into sustainability, history, and real-life aspirational stories. It offers audiences a range of fascinating ‘must-watch’ options from feature length films to television series; short series; Shelter Originals; and premium magazine video content from green magazine. SHELTER also has a range of flexible subscription options, with a new 12 month subscription now available.

Modernist architecture is in the blueprint for SHELTER this January, with LA CUPOLA leading the way.

La Cupola is a look back in time at the futuristic designs of Dante Bini, and the innovative Binishell technique.

Built as a holiday home for film director Michelangelo Antonioni and actress Monica Vitti in 1969, the single-dome structure cuts an incredible contrast to the jagged Sardinian rocks it is nestled within.

Writer-director Volker Sattel explores every architectural detail of the now-deserted building, immersed in the wild scenery of the western coast of Gallura.

Next we head across the Italian peninsula to Montenegro and the Gulf of Trieste with KARST.

After settling upon a near-inaccessible location within the Montenegrin Karst Plateau, an Italian diplomat teams up with an architect and a local stonemason family to build his dream house. Followed by director Vladimir Todorovi, both the landscape and its people gradually reveal themselves as a foreign body peacefully invades this beautiful location.

Selected for the Sarajevo Film Festival (2015), Karst is a film on social differences and the clash of cultures between a foreign owner, his local workers and a seemingly-impossible place to build a home.

From the Mediterranean we head to Central & South America with PACIFICO, a SHELTER-exclusive streaming release.

After escaping the rat-race and selling their IT business, two friends from Melbourne travel to Latin America, buy a van and spend two years travelling, surfing, fly-fishing, living amongst nature and documenting the incredible peoples and cultures they encounter along the way.

Selected for the Byron Bay International Film Festival (2019), Pacifico is a gentle discussion of the pros and cons of living with the land and in the moment; of slowing down and observing the world mindfully, and questioning of what is truly important in life.

Also released this January is FAIRHOLME SHORT FILMS, a collection from architectural photographer and filmmaker Andrew Spicer.

Spicer’s films include THE MOUNT IN MINIATURE: which follows architect and artist James Wade’s special commission – the birthplace of renowned naturalist Charles Darwin; CROFT LODGE STUDIO: a complete preservation of a ruined 18th century cottage and the creation of a new house and studio; MIDDLE BARN: an insight into the rural Herefordshire home of opera singer and amateur woodworker James Oxley, who believes buildings should be ephemeral – akin to his musical performances; and FARNLEY HEY: one of the earliest examples of mid century-modern architecture in the UK.

NEW TO SHELTER IN JANUARY:

• LA CUPOLA (40 mins) Germany 2016 (Available from Jan 4)

The portrait of a house without supporting walls. A bold dome made of concrete, an open space–right in the middle of the bizarre rock formations of a rugged coast made of reddish granite. The house belonged to actress Monica Vitti and director Michelangelo Antonioni. The emptiness of the cupola and the deserted quality of the site are the starting point for speculating, even today the utopia of an alternative concept of living seems to float above its form..

• KARST – (85 mins) Switzerland 2015 (Available from Jan 11)

An Italian diplomat choses an almost inaccessible Montenegrin karst landscape as a perfect spot to build his dream house. He hires an architect and a local stonemason family. While taming this environment, they learn how to work and function despite obvious cultural differences. From the initiation to completion, both the landscape and its people gradually reveal themselves. A foreign body enters into a beautiful and timeless landscape and a clash of cultures begins between the foreign owner and his local workers. Both strong and gentle, ambitious and modest, Karst is a film on social differences.

• PACIFICO (72 mins) Australia 2020 (Exclusive world SVOD premiere Jan 25)

Two friends quit their jobs in Australia, booked flights to America, bought an old van and set off on the journey of a lifetime. For the next two years, Christian and Chris lived on the road in their van, chased swells, climbed mountains when the sea fell quiet, immersed themselves in local cultures, and spent as much time as possible amongst nature. Pacífico offers an insight into long-term travel and how engaging with new cultures and environments can widen our perspectives and deepen our understanding of the world around us. Pacifico is the story of photography company Urth’s founders Christian & Chris, Captured over the duration of their journey, Pacifico forms a discussion around the pros and cons of living in the moment; showing how slowing down and observing the world mindfully can aid in gaining perspective and broaden an understanding of what is important in life.

• FAIRHOLME SHORT FILMS (four x five mins) UK 2020 (Available from Jan 18)

A collection of short films from architectural photographer and filmmaker Andrew Spicer, who has worked alongside major home magazines like Dwell. Spicer’s films have played at architecture and Design Film Festivals internationally.

• The Mount in Miniature: Architect and artist James Wade shows us the process involved for a special commission, a Georgian House (1800) that was the birthplace of renown naturalist Charles Darwin.
• Croft Lodge Studio: The most unique and complete residential conservation project in the UK, maybe the world.
• Middle Barn: For the past twenty years, opera singer and amateur woodworker James Oxley has been building a home in rural Herefordshire. Like his musical performances, James believes buildings should be ephemeral and, once their natural life-cycle is complete, should be returned to the ground or reused.
• Farnley Hey: One of the earliest examples of mid century-modern architecture in the UK, Farnley Hey was architect Peter Womersley’s first commission and perfectly encapsulates the philosophies and ideas behind modernist design.

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