14 x 19.5 cm

ISBN 978-3-85881-906-2

On the slope of a hill in northern Italy’s Po Basin stands Casa Girasole. Built in the early 1930s by the Italian architects Angelo Invernizzi and Ettore Fagiuoli, this villa exemplifies the Italian style Futurismo in architecture. But what makes Casa Girasole truly extraordinary is its ability to follow the sun across the sky, rotated using an electric motor and providing its occupants with a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape.

The award-winning documentary film Il Girasole offers an inside look into Casa Girasole, guiding audiences across the grounds and through the rooms of the villa, which has been entirely preserved in its original state. Filmmaker Christoph Schaub and architect Marcel Meili provide not just a history of this architectural feat but also a survey of its various rooms, furnishings, and decorations. The film also offers insights into the period in which the villa was conceived and constructed.

The DVD is complemented by a booklet with introductory essays and illustrations and will appeal to anyone interested in twentieth-century architecture.

«If you’re unable to experience Il Girasole by living in it for a while, the second best thing is a short film by Marcel Meili, an architect, and Christoph Schaub, a film-maker.» Patrick Krause, Qvest Magazine

«An education into the purest aspirational form of architecture, the film shows how the intention to build a space can be brought from conception to finished construction without compromise, a demonstration that even the most ambitious undertakings can be seen as prototypes for future structures.» Apphia Michael, wallpaper

«Grâce au jeu des acteurs qui déambulent nonchalamment dans la maison, et à l’émouvant récit livré en voix « off » par la fille de l’ingénieur Invernizzi qui réside régulièrement à Il Girasole, le court métrage de Schaub et Meili propose également une restitution probante du mouvement des corps dans l’espace. L’architecte et le cinéaste, dont les moyens de tournage ont été importants, parviennent ici à renouveler cet art difficile du film d’architecture, genre par excellence de la rencontre entre le mobile et l’immobile. Le livre qui accompagne le DVD renferme quelques éclairages sur cette question et d’intéressants dessins et photographies anciennes de la villa.» Valérie Didelon, D’Architectures