Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy – Film Screening and Discussion

Albert Frey, the unpretentious Swiss-born, mid-20th-century architect, was a key figure in the introduction of Corbusian-influenced modernism to the United States. Through his innate curiosity about the American landscape, he developed an extraordinary design style, blending industrial techniques with a love of nature.

Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy – Part 1 (2018) explores the architect’s formative years while working closely with Le Corbusier in Europe. It also shows his important transition to America, where he produced work including the famed Aluminaire House, the Canvas Weekend House, the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Kocher-Samson Building in Palm Springs. Ultimately, the film reveals why Frey was such a significant force in the development of modernism in the United States.

This special screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the director and several Frey experts who appear in the film.

Panelists:
Frances Campani, Associate Professor, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Jake Gorst, Co-Director and Co-Author, Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy – Part 1 (2018)
Elizabeth Edwards Harris, architectural historian and writer
Michael Schwarting, Professor of Architecture and former graduate program director, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)

Moderator:
John S. Arbuckle, Assoc. AIA, President, DOCOMOMO New York/Tri-State

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Frances Campani is a practicing architect, a painter, and an educator. She is a partner in the firm Campani and Schwarting Architects in Port Jefferson, NY. She is an Associate Professor at New York Institute of Technology. She and Michael Schwarting have worked for more than 25 years to save, protect and document Albert Frey’s Aluminaire House.

Jake Gorst is an Emmy awarding winning filmmaker and writer. He co-directed and co-wrote Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy – Part 1 (2018) with his wife Tracey Rennie Gorst. Other recent documentaries include: The Nature of Modernism: E. Stewart Williams, Architect (2014), and Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island (2012). He is the author of the book Andrew Geller: Deconstructed (2015, Glitterati Inc.) and a contributing writer to The Architect’s Newspaper and Modern Magazine.

Elizabeth Edwards Harris is an architectural historian and writer. She and her former husband restored Richard Neutra’s iconic Kaufmann Desert House. Harris was among the lead supporters who enabled the Palm Springs Art Museum to purchase and restore the Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan, designed by E. Stewart Williams in 1961, now the Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion. She is currently writing her fifth article in an ongoing series on modern houses on Martha’s Vineyard.

Michael Schwarting is an architect, urban designer, and professor. He is a partner in Campani and Schwarting Architects in Port Jefferson, NY. He is a Professor of Architecture and former Director of the graduate program in Urban and Regional Design at New York Institute of Technology. Since 1987, he has led efforts to restore Albert Frey’s Aluminaire House.

John S. Arbuckle, Assoc. AIA is the President of DOCOMOMO New York/Tri-State. He guides tours through the AIANY Architecture Tour Committee, the Municipal Art Society (M.A.S.) and Arbuckle Architecture Tours, LLC. He is the immediate past co-chair of the AIANY Historic Buildings Committee. In 2016 the AIANY honored him with the Harry B. Rutkins Award in recognition of “his continuing work to raise the public’s awareness of architecture.”

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About the film: 
Length: 65 Minutes | Director: Jake Gorst

Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy – Part 1 was produced by Design Onscreen – The Initiative for Architecture and Design on Film, a non-profit foundation dedicated to producing, promoting, and preserving high-quality films on architecture and design. Watch the trailer for this film here. 

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