Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Architecture and Film (1980-2000)
Speaker
Diane Kane, Ph.D., AICP
Coordinator
Steve Clarey
This two-part lecture series completes Diane Kane’s
summer 2024 multi-lecture series that examines
the parallel and often intertwined disciplines of
architecture and film. These two lectures discuss
film innovation during the 1980s, including the
advances in computer and video technology,
and the disruptive digital technology in both
architecture and film during the early 21st century.
Video recordings of the summer lectures can be
found in the Osher online video library of recorded
lectures by searching for “Diane Kane.”
February 20: Star Wars to Avtar: Architectural
& Film Innovation (1980-2000)
How did late 20th century advances in computer
technology and space-age materials influence
architecture, film, design theory and modern life?
Video democratized TV news, documentaries and
art films, eroding the film industry’s monopoly on
film and television production. Video games, pop
music videos and security cameras used small
screen technology to inhabit/invade personal space.
Post-modern design techniques of fragmentation,
collision, adjacency, superimposition and
transparency blurred perceptions of real space;
scale stretched from molecular to interplanetary,
while time wrapped and warped. This lecture will
discuss how special effects in fantasy, action, sci-fi
and horror films migrated from movie set design
through Disneyland, to festival retail and urban
planning, while the built environment likewise
inspired fantasy worlds of the imagination.
February 27: Digital Technology in Architecture
and Film (2000-2020)
Computer Generated Images (CGI) and Computer
Aided Design (CAD) extend creativity, build the
impossible and confound reality in both disciplines.
Models, green screens and fabricated sets blur the
division between the real and the imaginary in film.
Yet, Virtual Reality and 3-D design aid architects
in communicating reality with clients, colleagues
and the general public. Buildings now warp, collide
and twist, stretch to dizzying heights and assume
impossible shapes. New cities extend into infinity,
burrow deep underground and inhabit previously
inhospitable locations, while fending off climate
change and searching for sustainability. The good,
bad and ugly of disruptive visual technologies play
a role in contemporary life, where all the world’s a
stage and everyone is an actor in it.
summer 2024 multi-lecture series that examines
the parallel and often intertwined disciplines of
architecture and film. These two lectures discuss
film innovation during the 1980s, including the
advances in computer and video technology,
and the disruptive digital technology in both
architecture and film during the early 21st century.
Video recordings of the summer lectures can be
found in the Osher online video library of recorded
lectures by searching for “Diane Kane.”
February 20: Star Wars to Avtar: Architectural
& Film Innovation (1980-2000)
How did late 20th century advances in computer
technology and space-age materials influence
architecture, film, design theory and modern life?
Video democratized TV news, documentaries and
art films, eroding the film industry’s monopoly on
film and television production. Video games, pop
music videos and security cameras used small
screen technology to inhabit/invade personal space.
Post-modern design techniques of fragmentation,
collision, adjacency, superimposition and
transparency blurred perceptions of real space;
scale stretched from molecular to interplanetary,
while time wrapped and warped. This lecture will
discuss how special effects in fantasy, action, sci-fi
and horror films migrated from movie set design
through Disneyland, to festival retail and urban
planning, while the built environment likewise
inspired fantasy worlds of the imagination.
February 27: Digital Technology in Architecture
and Film (2000-2020)
Computer Generated Images (CGI) and Computer
Aided Design (CAD) extend creativity, build the
impossible and confound reality in both disciplines.
Models, green screens and fabricated sets blur the
division between the real and the imaginary in film.
Yet, Virtual Reality and 3-D design aid architects
in communicating reality with clients, colleagues
and the general public. Buildings now warp, collide
and twist, stretch to dizzying heights and assume
impossible shapes. New cities extend into infinity,
burrow deep underground and inhabit previously
inhospitable locations, while fending off climate
change and searching for sustainability. The good,
bad and ugly of disruptive visual technologies play
a role in contemporary life, where all the world’s a
stage and everyone is an actor in it.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Diane Kane, an architectural historian,
is a retired Senior Planner for the City of San
Diego. Previously, she was the Heritage Resources
Coordinator for Caltrans in Los Angeles. She is
a six-term Trustee of the California Preservation
Foundation and chairs the Preservation
Committee of the La Jolla Historical Society.
A popular lecturer at Osher, she has taught
architectural history and planning at several
southland universities. She received her Ph.D.
in architectural history from UC Santa Barbara.
is a retired Senior Planner for the City of San
Diego. Previously, she was the Heritage Resources
Coordinator for Caltrans in Los Angeles. She is
a six-term Trustee of the California Preservation
Foundation and chairs the Preservation
Committee of the La Jolla Historical Society.
A popular lecturer at Osher, she has taught
architectural history and planning at several
southland universities. She received her Ph.D.
in architectural history from UC Santa Barbara.
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