GROUNDWORK : INTO THE ISLAND
A FILM BY THE CCA FEATURING XU TIANTIAN
Online Film and Exhibition
Still from Groundwork: Into the Island (2024) featuring Chinese architect Xu Tiantian. Courtesy Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Psarokokalo is proud to collaborate with the Canadian Centre for Architecture to publicly stream Into the Island, the first installment of a three-part film and exhibition series showcasing the conceptual development and fieldwork of contemporary architects. This segment focuses on the work of Chinese architect Xu Tiantian
Architect Xu Tiantian, founder and principal of Beijing-based studio Design and Architecture (DnA), describes her approach as “architectural acupuncture,” small-scale
interventions into rural communities that seek to revitalize local culture, attuned to specific economic, social, and ecological patterns and constraints. Into the Island,
directed by Joshua Frank and the first in the Groundwork film series by Montreal’s Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA).The film centers on Xu’s practice on
Meizhou, a small landmass off the coast of the Fujian Province, a place where fishing and mass tourism maintain an uneasy balance. Psarokokalo now presents the
online film "Into the Island", which documents the early stages of Xu’s early architectural process in the field.
Groundwork aims to “to document the early phase of architectural work — the very rich thinking process in reaction to the site and the brief,” as Francesco Garutti,
CCA’s associate director of programs, explains, and Into the Island depicts Xu as she explores the island diagnosing the issues at hand, following fisherman on their
daily routine, resulting in a small intervention in the landscape — a small hill that peeks out at low tide — where she’s repurposed abandoned oyster pillars,
assembling them in a circle within a diameter of 100 meters. Xu found five other locations for potential interventions, including a mangrove research base and a
seaweed farm. “With the Groundwork film series, we hope to open up fresh discussions that will help redefine what the architect actually does in a context where
the profession is losing authority and influence,” explains Francesco Garutti, entering into “constant dialogue with practitioners during the elaboration of the project.”
The conversation starts with Xu here, and will continue with films featuring b+ from Berlin (currently led by Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert, Jonas Janke, Roberta
Jurčić), and Carla Juaçaba from Rio de Janeiro.
VIDEO INTRODUCTION by the film director and the film curator
FILM
进岛方向/Into the Island
2024 | 41 min.
Digital film
Directed by Joshua Frank
Curator: Francesco Garutti
Curatorial Assistant: Irene Chin
Research: Matthew Kalil
Graphic design: HIT
Production Manager: Camille Lavallée Prairie