in Selinunte
The Selinunte Film Institute: Film Intensive + Archival Library
Project by:
Alexandra Grypinich, Trey Heller, Kyle Kalmar
STUDIO X
The Selinunte Film Institute serves as a center for the study of film, containing both a private camp and a public library space. The library space is open year-round and is dedicated to the preservation of archival films, especially those relevant to Selinunte and Sicily. The camp offers three semesters; the fall and spring semesters (50 campers) are open to Italian high school students, while the summer semester invites participants (100 campers) from all over the world. The semesters culminate in a capstone project, in which campers are required to make a film of their own.
The design is generated through the exploration of the cinematic quality of the site and understanding of plot elements. We consider diagrammatic plot as a method of architectural analysis, in order to measure the narratives of light, noise, density, etc. across our project.
The different programs of the camp are separated across the site and put into pods. While campers have a “home pod,” they must travel across the site and through the different pods to access the production spaces of each pod which make up the necessary steps to creating a film.
Different circulation paths throughout the site separate the boundaries of public and private while mimicking typical Italian city fabrics. Tight, excavated paths also help regulate outdoor comfort levels and create interesting lighting conditions in and around the surrounding buildings.
