CAFx: Our Houses Are Dying - An Evening Exploring Demolition

Across much of Europe, demolishing a perfectly functional building is still more profitable than renovating it. The consequences for the climate are immense, but so is the damage to communities and collective memory.
Join us for an evening of short film screenings poetically exploring demolition from the perspective of inhabitants and the buildings themselves, while transporting you from Germany, United Kingdom Japan and beyond.
My House is Dying reveals how this culture of demolition alienates people from one another, breaks apart communities and worsens the housing crisis. When young filmmaker Jannes Schmidt finds a temporary flat in a building dating from 1948, he is delighted. As he uncovers the building’s remarkable history, he increasingly questions why it should be demolished at all.
Elephant Families explores the ways in which Latin American immigrants made the much-maligned Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre in London into a place that felt like home. Before it was demolished in 2020.
Umbrella House is an atmospheric portrait of Japanese architect Kazuo Shinohara’s iconic wooden house, built in Tokyo in 1961. Saved from demolition, the building was carefully reconstructed on the Vitra Campus in Germany.
More shorts will be added to the evening's program, as well as an introductory speaker.