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Dive into an iconic work of the Spanish architect Gaudí, Casa Batlló. This fantastic and magical building is less known than the Sagrada Família, but much more iconic in his work, since he managed to invite nature into the city...

Nowadays, the city of Barcelona cannot be dissociated from Gaudí, an artist who has always been inspired by Mediterranean culture – which shows in all his work. The Casa Batlló and its plant world in the heart of the city – design, color, shape, space and light – is the ideal combination of art and functionality, of architecture and design; it is a key building for understanding Catalan modernism... and for understanding the Gaudí myth!

Founding museums is a pastime among high-stakes collectors. Follow a magnificent Paris Museum restoration, where French Billionaire Francois Pinault showcases its art collection.

After five years of extraordinary renovation and construction work by Tadao Ando – one of today's greatest architects – François Pinault is preparing “Ouverture”, the museum's inaugural exhibition. This was an artistic and personal challenge for Pinault, a passionate collector and businessman at the height of his power, a billionaire and a non-conformist, as he defines himself.

This film proposes to show the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, to whom the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (the UNHCR) appointed the task in 1955 of studying emergency shelters, after the earthquake of Kobe.

Shelters which he designs in paperboard, an ephemeral and very cheap material, the format and thickness of which as desired, and which is light, easy and quick to manufacture. The Paper Loghouse turns out to be less expensive and faster to erect, store and re-cycle than any other type of shelter, whilst the heat insulating properties of paperboard enable it to be used in a great many countries.
Precarious, and fragile in appearance, the shelters of Shigeru Ban are a most faithful reflection of that moment when all that formerly seemed ours forever becomes suddenly lost.
The film will strive to show the approach of an architect in action, proposing a different attitude towards the dwelling - an architecture meeting the new needs of contemporary society.

Who was Raymond Loewy? A designer with the golden touch - such a genius that he could cross the US by air, rail, or road, stylishly seated in a plane, train, or automobile he'd designed himself!

French designer Raymond Loewy was a star when the American Way of Life was at its flamboyant capitalist peak. He styled his own destiny as a Hollywood thriller. After all, he was a tycoon, a New York celebrity. Yet by the end of his life, he’d been forgotten. He took the mystery of his iconic Coca-Cola bottle to the grave with him. The bigger they are, the harder they fall: One day, megalomania got the better of Loewy, and he came to a tragic end. Suspense, drama, twists of fate: Loewy invented the medium as the message.

The northern part of the Vosges is one of the most important crystal manufacturing regions in Europe, with three world-renowned crystal factories: The Compagnie des Cristalleries de Saint Louis, Lalique and the Meisenthal International Glass Art Center. With Christmas approaching, the glassworks in Moselle are in full swing.

The northern part of the Vosges is one of the most important crystal manufacturing regions in Europe, with three world-renowned crystal factories: The Compagnie des Cristalleries de Saint Louis, Lalique and the Meisenthal International Glass Art Center. With Christmas approaching, the glassworks in Moselle are in full swing.

Chartres is one of the last French strongholds of stained glass. Discover the city's passionate master glass artists. Among them, at 80 years old, Jacques Loire is still as creative as when he started.

Notre-Dame de Chartres is a breathtaking cathedral, both because of its monumentality and the magnificence of its stained glass windows. Glass painting workshops still abound around the building – like the Maison Lorin, one of the last 19th century establishments still in operation. At its head, Élodie Vally contributes to the preservation of an invaluable cultural heritage. For Jacques Loire, master glass artist, the art of stained glass also represents a vocation. At 80 years of age, the man who, with his father Gabriel, designed the imposing blue stained glass windows of Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is still as creative as ever. Nowadays, he is working on a project for a nursing school in Japan. GEO Reports followed the different stages of his work.

Famous for its ghost, the Opéra Garnier of Paris is above all the product of a titanic building site and the symbol of the birth of a new era. From 1852 to 1870, eighteen years of flamboyance made Paris the capital of modernity.

This documentary  - written by Stéphane Landowski  -  aims to tell the story of the great Paris construction of the Garnier Opera House, which lasted 14 years (from 1861 to 1875). While plunging into the backstage, its wheels and its legends, it will explain the special place it occupied in what Nietzsche called the "civilization of opera", the golden age of the bourgeoisie based on the appearance and the spectacular, which was then put in place. By the admission of Charles Garnier, the Opera as a whole was to serve as stage for the new elite of the time.
 
From the story of its construction and architectural details, we will open windows on historical, social, political and artistic themes that will be treated to the image by paintings, period photos, film clips, animations in 3D and historical evocations (fiction). We will also call on specialized speakers on these different themes. Interviewed in studio and in situ, they will guide us, step by step, in this building still alive and full of anecdotes. Throughout the story, we will also follow the myth of the ghost, invented from scratch by the novelist Gaston Leroux, and so well integrated into the monument that it remains today THE symbol and an important key to understanding. Finally, music and ballet will be present in this film, in the form of musical excerpts and lyrical performances.

The Mediterranean is home to the world’s highest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Its stunning wealth means that veritable gems get left in the shade – the forgotten treasures of the Mediterranean.

Each film is like a fantastic story that takes viewers on a tremendous journey to discover a forgotten treasure, country, history, know-how of men and women.

Placing the art of design in its sociological and technological context, the DESIGN collection tells the story of the 20th century through the industrial objects that have made their mark on it. The objects reflect their time, while at the same time anticipating the future.

Just like a piece of art, an industrial object is a mirror of its era, though in a more direct and explicit manner than a painting or a sculpture. The industrial object obeys two fundamental criteria: It needs to be functional, perform its task in daily life - and after all must be sold. Therefore, it has to be technically innovative and esthetically pleasant.

The series, rather than explaining last century's objects, uses them to zoom on different periods. Which invites the audience not so much on a tour through museums, but on a journey in time. Archive images illustrate the political, social and cultural situation of a defined chapter from our past, via film extracts, cultural presentations, popular music etc. The history of the object itself, its conception, creators, fabrication and a contemporary frame story join in to build a bridge between the past and the present.

2004 : International Festival of Art Film, Montreal - Best "essai" of the Emile-Nelligan Foundation for the AKARI LAMPS.

Discover the hidden artistic treasures behind the construction of iconic monuments. How they fit into art history and have been preserved until today. With: the Castle of Fontainebleau, the Chauvet cave, Wagner’s Opera in Bayreuth... and many others.

In each episode, you discover little known aspects of the greatest European monuments and the secrets behind their outstanding architecture.
Visit places that are inaccessible and parts of the building that are restricted to the public.
Architects, archeologists, artists, landscapers, curators or art restorers will guide your visit. Their insight will help you learn the intricacies of each site and the links they hold to art history.

In its landscape as in its way of life, Vietnam seems to have inherited from China. However, at the bend of the streets of Hanoi, one sometimes feels like in Paris. Western-style buildings contrast with local architecture, a legacy of nearly 100 years of French colonization.

Travel in the French heritage of Vietnam...