Ever fallen down an online rabbit hole of demolition videos or stonework being cleaned? These topics make for compelling – if unexpected – spectacles, inviting us to slow down for a moment and just… watch.

Slow Down! is the theme of this year’s Arquiteturas Film Festival, which takes place in Porto from 27 September-1 October 2022. The programme probes the art of pausing with a series of documentaries and experimental films exploring transformative topics of demolition, reduction and reuse of architecture.

While the Arquiteturas Film Festival is in its ninth edition, it is first hosted by Porto. The festival takes over five venues in the city – the Cinema Passos Manuel, the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto (FAUP), Fundação Instituto Marques da Silva (FIMS), INSTITUTO and Casa Comum.

Highlights include  ‘Architecture on the Edge: Nishizawa House’, exploring how Chile’s extreme geography has produced avant-garde architecture; and Jonathan Ben-Shaul’s film ‘What Shall We Do With These Buildings?’ on the legacy of Soviet architecture in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Talks, exhibitions and masterclasses are also on offer, including one by The Spaces contributor and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Richard John Seymour.

Explore the programme.

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