Dezeen Magazine

Dezeen's top 10 architecture and design movies of 2018

The top 10 movies produced by Dezeen in 2018 include our first documentary, exploring how drones will transform cities, plus exclusive video interviews with architects and designers like Kengo Kuma, Frida Escobedo and Christo. Content producer Sebastian Jordahn picks the top 10 for our review of the year.


 

Elevation film shows drones are "potentially as disruptive as the internet"

In May 2018, Dezeen launched Elevation, an 18-minute documentary exploring how drones will transform cities.

Premiered in New York, London and Venice, the film sets out how drones will revolutionise how people travel, how goods are delivered, and how buildings will look and bw constructed.

Find out more about Elevation ›


 

Christo tells the story behind the London Mastaba

The Dezeen Studio team used a drone to document buildings and installations around the world in 2018, but one of the most memorable was The London Mastaba, a 20-metre-high artwork floating on the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park.

In the exclusive movie, the artist explains how the sculpture was the culmination of over 60 years of working with stacked barrels.

Find out more about The London Mastaba ›


 

Jean and Nicholas Jullien animate the story of Emeco

Dezeen collaborated with celebrated French illustrator Jean Jullien and his animator brother Nicholas to create this short animated film telling the story of American furniture brand Emeco.

The film explores five chairs from across Emeco's 75-year history in the playful style that has marked Jean Jullien's rapid rise to prominence as an illustrator in recent years.

Find out more about the Emeco story ›


 

Neil Denari designs spherical complex for P.O.D.System Architecture

Dezeen teamed up with adidas Originals to commission five Los Angeles-based architecture firms to design conceptual buildings drawing from the sports brand's P.O.D.System sneakers.

The first of five videos in the P.O.D.System Architecture series features a spherical live-work complex called adidasphere by Neil M Denari Architects.

Watch more P.O.D.System Architecture movies ›


 

Kengo Kuma explains his design for the V&A Dundee

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma explains the relationship between his new V&A Dundee building and the sea in this exclusive Dezeen video interview.

Kuma describes the museum, which resembles a craggy rock face, as "a conversation between nature and artefact" in the movie.

Find out more about the V&A Dundee ›


 

360-degree movie explores Golden Lion-winning Swiss Pavilion

As part of our coverage of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018, Dezeen filmed a 360-degree video of the Golden Lion-winning Swiss pavilion.

Called House Tour, the exhibition invited visitors to explore bland rental homes as if they were Alice in Wonderland by presenting a series of spaces with doors, windows, light switches and counters that were either shrunk or enlarged.

Watch more 360-degree movies ›


 

MINI Living and FreelandBuck install Urban Cabin on Los Angeles rooftop

As part of our ongoing Dezeen x MINI Living collaboration, we documented car brand MINI's Urban Cabin installation on a rooftop in Downtown Los Angeles.

MINI Living teamed up with local architecture studio FreelandBuck to create the 15-square-metre micro home, which featured an exposed metal frame and colourful trompe-l'oeil graphics.

Watch more Dezeen x MINI Living movies ›


 

Rick Tegelaar explains how Meshmatics Chandelier became a Moooi product

In this film designer Rick Tegelaar tells the story behind his Meshmatics Chandelier, which is made from three concentric, inverted wire-mesh domes of different diameters and heights.

The video is part of our Design Dreams series with Dutch brand Moooi, which explores how successful designers turned their dreams into reality.

Watch more Design Dreams movies ›


 

Richard Rogers says Wimbledon house was meant to solve housing problem

In this exclusive video interview, British architect Richard Rogers reflects on the house he designed for his parents at 22 Parkside in Wimbledon, London.

Although the design didn't "solve the British housing crisis", as Rogers originally intended, the British architect explains how it led to many of his later projects, including the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Find out more about the Wimbledon house ›


 

Frida Escobedo says Serpentine Pavilion explores use of "simple things"

Frida Escobedo explains why she chose to use stacks of roofing tiles to construct the Serpentine Pavilion 2018 in this movie Dezeen filmed at the press preview in Kensington Gardens, London.

The Mexican architect used the grey concrete tiles to create a secluded courtyard framed by perforated walls, which are common in Mexican architecture.

Find out more about the Serpentine Pavilion 2018 ›