Life as a House

Is this a movie about art imitating life as art? Or is it about architecture imitating life? This is a rather decent movie about a father-son relationship and how focus on work can overwhelm family life. Kevin Kline is excellent in any role, playing an outdated architectural model builder is no stretch for him. Hayden Christianson plays his son, a fume huffing, sexually troubled gothic teenager. As the film opens, Kevin's character is living in a broken down cottage by the sea. He commutes to work and is given his notice of termination after working over 20 years for the same firm. He proceeds to destroy many of his models on his way out of the office, then falls to the ground from the cancer that is destroying his body. He has neglected his health and his house. We also learn that he has ignored his son from his ex-wife. After learning of some of his sons' troubles and his health, the architect insists that his son live with him for the summer and help build his dream house on the same lot as his cottage. Of course after several weeks of not getting along, the two begin to work together to rebuild the house. At the end of the film, the father dies, but not before many other hands have pitched in to complete the project.
This film speaks to me because of the relationships that are formed in life with our families can be expressed in the physical surroundings where we live. Each relationship is necessary, but not at the cost of another. The house and the architect are in poor health. Both are nearing the end of their lives, both will be reborn into a new vision. The father and son reconcile to produce a bond that will be sacred after death. The house and the family produce a physical representation of the unifying of passion and goals. The three fractured characters, father, son, and building are stripped and rebuilt with the ability to relate to each other. The climax or major breaking point for these characters occurs early in the film, with the remainder being the resolution to the actions each has taken over the past 15 years.
Overall, a nice story of learning about hard work and the perils of ignoring one part of your life for another. Coincidentally, after this movie, Max happened to draw a little cottage that I turned into plans, sections, elevations, etc., that we could build a neat little camp in the woods. Laying a strong foundation for relationships ensures a connection for years, not an act near the end of your life. Enjoy everyday that we have together and create those memories now. Balance your life, reconciliation might never happen.

Architizer part 2

I am updating my architizer blog, adding more text, logos done by Stuart as usual. I will have some of my ideas shown there soon. The concepts will hopefully garner some traffic and interest!

Money Pit

Classic comedy with Tom Hanks in a great role with Shelly Long, said to be a remake of "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," but not really. The portion of the story regarding the house doesn't start for about a half an hour into the movie, similar to MBBHDH, but definately more comedic and diverse. The house in this movie is definately a remodel job, although many of the contractors believe that missles are being tested at the site. The house was shown as a slight fixer upper with plenty of charm and in decent shape, changes happened immediately the couple takes ownership of the place. Situations quickly deteriorate and set up the comedy for the remainder of the film. As a character, the house is a partner in slapstick with Tom Hanks. The house is allowed to be stripped naked and mocked. Diginity is restored to the house at the end of the film, but the arc that it takes drives the actions of the human cast. Without the willingness to be exposed and the sidekick in the comedy duo, the film wouldn't work. "The Money Pit" is a great way to laugh at the house and the situations that occur during a renovation project, similar to what happens in teen dramas about the comedy that comes along with beautifying the awkward girl into the bell of the ball.

Amityville Horror

Another movie based on a book! The book and video covers both have the iconic image of the end of the house with sinister "eyes" in the attic, chimney for a nose and teeth in the windows and railing. This is the one of the two movies with the house having a "human" face that we can relate to create a character, the other being "Monster House." The background of the events in the house is that a horrible murder occurred in there by a deranged son, in the movie the real reasons aren't given. There are hints as to him hearing voices due to the fact that the house was built on a burial ground. Being dramatic and not searching for the answers is the exploitative portion of the movie, I was looking for some hard facts, but Hollywood is not big into facts. Nonetheless, after about 18 months of the house sitting empty following the brutal murders, a new family moves into the house and is almost immediately experiencing supernatural disturbances. Besides devolving the entire plot and story line, the house expels a priest, telling him to "Get Out!", a couch eating money for a wedding reception, and awakening the occupants at the time the murders occurred. Other events include cold spots, visions, spontaneous fly growth in the late autumn, locking an annoying girl in the closet, disconnecting the phone lines, a window "biting" a boy that is taunting his sister. The source of the problems is a hidden "red room", where the family dog digs at the wall and barks at this previously unknown space.

The house works to split the family, creating a rift between the parents and the children alike. What kind of character is the house? Is it an old person, someone wronged by the previous owners' actions? It is a vengeful teenager, unable to remove itself from the past transgressions of the burial ground? I liken this house to the former, an elderly parent that has been set upon a site where it's friends have been buried. Again, being haunted by the disturbed souls on the grounds, the house wants to expel the new inhabitants, knowing living souls can't stand to be in such proximity to disinterred burials. Most importantly, this house has a memory. It knows where it is, when it was built, who has lived there, and what has happened there. Yet this house can't move, only do anything it can to keep people away, at the expense of it's own happiness and usefulness.

Land Ho!

E and I have been pouring over realtor.com, leads from our realtor, and some signs posted in yards for a "lot for sale." This was a weekend for driving by the lots. We have found some great lots for reasonable prices. Finding the right location, site, neighbors, school district, and orientation is important to us, and we are just taking our time to educate ourselves. Nonetheless we are excited and full of possibilities. I have been working on several plans, so the plans are not an issue, just getting the land and construction loan. I have already talked to our realtor and a mortgage advisor. We are getting the ball rolling so we can strike when the time is right.

Mister Blandings Builds His Dream House

Based on a book written just after WWII, this 1948 film is a light comedy about the trials and tribulations of building a custom house. Some of the elements are revisited in movies like the "Money Pit", but are comic when done well. The story is basic and seen as an everyman story. Set after the war, an over cramped city-dwelling family wants to spread out in the suburbs that are now encouraging white flight. Relocating from an unnamed borough of NYC, Connecticut is the green paradise with 10 acres for anyone willing to drive an hour commute to the city. The first half hour of the movie sets up the disdain for the cramped apartment, ideas for the house, budget, location, and otherwise unprepared buyer/builder shenanigans that occur with some clients building their first home. At first the Blandings family believes they can salvage the existing farmhouse on the land, but the building is revealed to have major structural damage and unable to be saved, so long historic structure! When meeting with their architect, the couple blows the budget, the plans, the elevations, and the vision out of the water. Understanding what they can live with versus their dreams begins to solidify the Blandings' concept of their house. Again, more hi jinx occurs due to miscommunication, poor communication, and lack of communication. These scenes are similar to when a couple in a romantic comedy meet the first several times and prejudices and preconceived notions of each other arise. Regardless, the house is complete, with the family surviving, the husband and wife still together, a great new contract for the husbands' office, and a lesson learned about building a single custom home.
The first house can be seen as a fortune teller, warning the buyers of the land and house that there are many bridges to cross, then disappearing, similar to a Shakespearean sooth-sayer. The way in which the second house plays a role is interesting, it as an potential friend or lover. Learning about what it takes to turn each other on and each others boundaries. The owners push for a bigger house, but the budget doesn't allow. Colors, windows, locations of rooms, and exterior finishes are similar to dressing the unpolished character into the belle of the ball. Refining and learning about each other as the story moves forward, the unknown house becomes a friend, with the values of the owners expressed throughout the house.
Whether or not the writer or director knew it, the role of the house growing, maturing, or whatever you want to call it, it is about finessing a character from a rough lump of coal to a shimmering diamond.

Up

This family oriented movie is a great piece of film for all the right reason, the colors, the story, the characters, the images, the music, and for me, the flying house. The story of Carl, Ellie, and their house is a three person tale where their dwelling takes on many characteristics and fills a non-speaking role. Ellie and Carl meet at the house as children, they dream of living next to a waterfall, they fall in love there, they nurture the building back to health. Unfortunately, the human occupants can't bear children, but their residence becomes a child that is raised in a loving home. The couple dreams of taking a vacation to a South American waterfall location, constantly saving and having to repair each other and the house. As they grow, so does the house with broken bones and other ailments, just as a child develops in real life. After Ellie passes, Carl protects his home from the scary outside world of development. He does what many parents can't really do, remove them from the poor environment. We see Carl as a person who has no trouble leaving people, but his possessions are important, for they haven't left him or changed. Carl withdraws into the house to release the balloons that will set him and the house free from the ever encroaching city life. These events described above occur with very little dialog and brilliant cinematography. After taking to the skies, Carl realizes that there is a stowaway on his voyage to South America, Russell, a scout looking for his last merit badge. Many shenanigans occur after their arrival in South America, most of them include the house being tethered to Carl and Russell, this is symbolically the college years of the houses' life, still reliant on a parent for direction, but learning to navigate the world. A breaking point with the antagonist, an adventurer from ages past, Russell leaves Carl with the house, near the waterfall, too heavy from the baggage of two lives lived in it. Carl, in an effort to save the boy, purges the house, but for the necessary equipment to steer the house. The house can be seen a active in this scene, pursuing the boy and blimp, caring for those that have cared for it. After another thrilling action scene whereby the house brought Carl to the adventurers' blimp, Carl must decide on whether the house is more important than the lives that have lived in it. Freeing the house is the way for to release the building to it's future, where it should be. Carl lets go of the past, the loss of Ellie and their dreams together for a present reality and future necessity. The couple of Carl and Ellie could be seen as projecting their love of the waterfalls on the house, and then their dreams reach the waterfall. Imbuing their love into the house, it finds it's way home.

Another interpretation shows there are five stages of the house, similar to people, babyhood, in the beginning, an incomplete structure, unsure of how to handle the people inside of it. Second being childhood or adolescence, the house is repaired and clumsy, needing care from the occupants. Next is adulthood, working for years as a steady domicile for Carl and Ellie. In the penultimate stage, possibly retirement, actively aiding those that need help and shepherding them to the waterfall. In the last years, only hours, resigning to the place it occupies in the world and resting peacefully next to the one it loves, the waterfall.

As an architect, both interpretations work, especially since I am also a parent and a son. We are more than one thing, one viewpoint, we see multiple viewpoints. The story is complex and difficult for some people to emote due to the fact that a major character is an inanimate object, a house. The directors, writers, animators, etc., hit the right notes to make us feel for the house and the people in this great story.