What if we could completely rethink the way we live? In the 1970s, a group of visionary architects did just that, challenging conventional housing with bold ideas about how people could live together. Could their experiments hold the key to today's housing challenges?
Discover their fascinating story in the documentary Life, Assembled, followed by a talk from renowned Dutch architect and former Chief Government Architect ir. Floris Alkemade, and a Q&A with Alkemade and filmmaker Élodie Degavre Join us for a special evening where film and architecture meet.
Genre: documentary, architecture, society
Language: French, subtitles: English
Length: 1 hr. 15 mins (2022)
In the 1970s, architectural pioneers Paul Petit, Jean Englebert, Lucien Kroll and Simone Kroll dared to imagine a different future for housing. In Brussels, Liège and Charleroi, they set out to challenge conventional housing. Inspired by the social optimism of the years following May 1968, they experimented with prefabrication, modular construction and resident participation to create homes that could be affordable, adaptable and shaped by the people who actually lived in them.
Half a century later, architect and filmmaker Élodie Degavre revisits these ambitious experiments, meeting the architects and residents to discover what worked, what failed and what remains today.
Through archival footage, personal stories and a fresh look at these extraordinary buildings, Life, Assembled explores what happens when architects dare to break the rules. More than a nostalgic look back, it’s an invitation to rethink how we design our homes and cities. At a time when affordable housing is increasingly hard to find, and rigid building systems are once again urgent issues, the film raises a simple question: who gets to decide how we live?
A special evening of film and architecture
Together with TU/e’s study association for Architecture and Urbanism, Anarchi, and the Tilburg Architecture Film Festival (TIAFF) TIAFF, we’re bringing a taste of this inspiring festival to the TU/e campus.
The evening features a screening of Life, Assembled, a short lecture by architect ir. Floris Alkemade, and a Q&A with Alkemade and architect and filmmaker Élodie Degavre. A unique opportunity to explore the ideas behind the film, ask questions and discover what the architectural experiments of the past can teach us about the future.
About ir. Floris Alkemade
Floris Alkemade is a Dutch architect and urban designer who served as the Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands from 2015 to 2021. Previously a partner at the internationally renowned architecture firm OMA, he now leads his own practice, FAA. Since 2024, he has also chaired the TIAFF. He has contributed to significant projects and studies worldwide, addressing both architectural and urban design scales.
About Élodie Degavre
Élodie Degavre is a Brussels-based architect, filmmaker and researcher. A graduate of the La Cambre Institute of Architecture, she has worked at several architecture firms and serves on the editorial boards of architectural publications, including A+ Architecture in Belgium. She teaches at UCLouvain and the Maastricht Academy of Architecture. Her research explores film as a way of investigating and understanding architecture, an approach she put into practice in her award-winning documentary Life, Assembled.
Awards
Life, Assembled won the Audience Award at the Brussels Art Film Festival in 2022, Best Screenplay at the History Film Festival Rijeka in 2023, and the Dissemination Award at the European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention (AHI) in 2023.
Reviews
“A discursive, digressive exploration of utopian thinking in architecture.” Journey Into Cinema
“Enriched by lively archive footage that shows the buildings in question.” DOKUARTS Berlin
SG & ITEC registration for bachelor’s students
Please register for SG & ITEC by scanning your student ID card AFTER the program at the venue. More information about SG & ITEC can be found here.
Ticket information
This film will be shown at Filmhuis De Zwarte Doos.
- Tickets must be purchased online in advance and can be bought by clicking the black “Order” button on this page.
- Cash or card payments are not accepted at the ticket counter.
For more information about tickets, refund policies, and other details, click here.
Please be on time
The screening of the film begin promptly at 19:30 (with a bare minimum of pre-film advertisements), and the cinema hall will open at 19:10. We kindly request that you arrive at the ticket counter at least 10 minutes before the start of the film to ensure a smooth and timely experience for all.
The Studium Generale film program is created in collaboration with the Student Film Committee and Natlab. Three striking films that explore architecture in unexpected, emotional, and poetic ways.
We conclude the evening with a Q&A with Floris Alkemade and Elodie Degavre.
TIAFF
Coming March the annual architecture film festival in Tilburg: TIAFF will take place. The festival programs documentaries, fiction, animation, and/or experimental films and aims to contribute to awareness and debate about the quality of our daily living environment through films and lectures.
Ticket reservation recommended
To be assured of a seat, we recommend reserving a ticket (black "order" button).
SG & USE/ITEC registration
Please register for SG & USE/ITEC by scanning your student ID at the venue prior to the start of the program.
More information about SG & USE/ITEC can be found here.