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This is the 2024-festival archive page
If you would like to find out more about the 2025 festival, please go to the main page
Ark Rex 2025
The Ark Rex Architecture Film Festival was founded in 2019. Since that year, it has been organised in November, every second year. In 2024, there was also a one-evening stopover event. The festival was originally founded in collaboration with the Amos Rex Art Museum. One important reason was that the museum also owns one of Helsinki’s most famous old and big cinemas. The Glass Palace cinema Bio Rex with its lobbies, is already a legend, and the location on Mannerheimintie is also the best possible, considering both the festival audience and our international guests.
The 2025 event has been scheduled for mid-November: Saturday and Sunday, 15 and 16 November, just before the start of the holiday season.
The challenges facing architecture and the profession of architects and engineers are now immense: far too much is being demolished or made redundant in Finland. New housing that is too cramped with tiny but expensive apartments is constantly being built in cities, while the still highly liveable countryside is being emptied of inhabitants by closing village schools and concentrating even basic health services in bigger cities.
Climate problems are increasing at an unexpected rate. There is a horrible housing shortage in many parts of the world, and at the same time, wars are wreaking havoc; the world, let alone the built environment, is by no means ready. Transnational real estate investment companies are taking over the construction sector everywhere, and to top it all, mass tourism is becoming a problem in places where there is already beauty, but soon all that will vanish, together with local inhabitants who are recklessly pushed away.
Amidst all these challenges, the themes and films of the festival mustn’t lead us to overly gloomy thoughts. That is why we also take our audience to beautiful buildings and stunning landscapes, and to meet people who believe in the power of high-quality architecture and bold experiments. We also meet architects who are also artists. One of them has both built new buildings and wanted to protect magnificent natural areas from construction and the destruction of ancient landscapes, and done that through his art. We shall also meet some architects who themselves have become enthusiastic about making films.
The Ark Rex Architecture Film Festival was founded in 2019. Since that year, it has been organised in November, every second year. In 2024, there was also a one-evening stopover event. The festival was originally founded in collaboration with the Amos Rex Art Museum. One important reason was that the museum also owns one of Helsinki’s most famous old and big cinemas. The Glass Palace cinema Bio Rex with its lobbies, is already a legend, and the location on Mannerheimintie is also the best possible, considering both the festival audience and our international guests.
The 2025 event has been scheduled for mid-November: Saturday and Sunday, 15 and 16 November, just before the start of the holiday season.
The challenges facing architecture and the profession of architects and engineers are now immense: far too much is being demolished or made redundant in Finland. New housing that is too cramped with tiny but expensive apartments is constantly being built in cities, while the still highly liveable countryside is being emptied of inhabitants by closing village schools and concentrating even basic health services in bigger cities.
Climate problems are increasing at an unexpected rate. There is a horrible housing shortage in many parts of the world, and at the same time, wars are wreaking havoc; the world, let alone the built environment, is by no means ready. Transnational real estate investment companies are taking over the construction sector everywhere, and to top it all, mass tourism is becoming a problem in places where there is already beauty, but soon all that will vanish, together with local inhabitants who are recklessly pushed away.
Amidst all these challenges, the themes and films of the festival mustn’t lead us to overly gloomy thoughts. That is why we also take our audience to beautiful buildings and stunning landscapes, and to meet people who believe in the power of high-quality architecture and bold experiments. We also meet architects who are also artists. One of them has both built new buildings and wanted to protect magnificent natural areas from construction and the destruction of ancient landscapes, and done that through his art. We shall also meet some architects who themselves have become enthusiastic about making films.
Program
The interim year 2024 stopover event will be organized on 21.11.2024 at the request of the public at 17:00 to 22:00. The program addresses not only architects and the general public, but also doctors and people in the healthcare field.
More information →
The interim year 2024 stopover event will be organized on 21.11.2024 at the request of the public at 17:00 to 22:00. The program addresses not only architects and the general public, but also doctors and people in the healthcare field.
More information →
Tickets
The event is open to all and pre-registration is not required. Welcome!
The event is open to all and pre-registration is not required. Welcome!
Tickets
The event is open to all and pre-registration is not required. Welcome!
The event is open to all and pre-registration is not required. Welcome!
Sven Blume
Movies
At the very beginning of the stopover event, current shorter films leading to the themes of next year’s festival will be screened. Included is a short film about the former experimental laboratory of Berlin’s Charité hospital, which, despite the end of its operation, should be preserved, repaired and put into a completely new use. The nickname of the house is Mäusebunker or Mouse Bunker. The program also includes a longer film about the European Bplus group’s project HouseEurope, to fight the unnecessary demolition of suitable buildings, as well a film about the buildings of Marie-José Van Hee, who was awarded the Alvar Aalto medal in 2024. The film takes us to a combined family home and doctor’s office/surgery. The films at the beginning of the event also have a thematic connection to the autumn and next winter exhibitions of the Finnish and now merged Architecture and Design Museum.
The long architecture films of the evening are the thought-provoking Rehab (From Rehab) by the world-famous filmmaker duo Bêka & Lemoine and the excellent architectural portrait Lewerentz — Divine Darkness by the Swedish director Sven Blume, who himself is the grandson of the well-known architect Carl Nyrén. Both films represent top quality of their genre.
Rehab takes us to a Swiss rehabilitation clinic in Basel, designed by world-renowned architects and where both holistic architecture with wood coated facades with wide glass openings and planted courtyards, and various holistic rehabilitation methods make the building an absolutely unique place. The inspiration to make the film came from the fact that after her father’s car accident, Louise Lemoine saw many different clinics and hospitals. After experiencing Basel’s Rehab clinic, she was impressed by how different a hospital/ clinic building can be. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who have received the world’s most significant Pritzker Architecture Prize, have designed the building.
Sven Blume himself will join in, to present his latest film. It takes us to Sweden, where the extremely beautiful and impressive Skogskyrkogården cemetery (Woodland Cemetery) is located. It is based on Sigurd Lewerentz´s and Gunnar Asplund’s architectural competition winning project, and an example of the unique merging of architecture, landscape and woodland nature. The cemetery is now also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The main character of the film, Sigurd Lewerentz himself, is known above all for his superior church buildings and Malmö's eastern cemetery and its absolutely delicious and radical flower kiosk.
Interviewees in the film include e.g. Kieran Long, the current director of the Amos Rex art museum, and architect Juhani Pallasmaa, although the main focus of the film is on Lewerentz’s career and his life and uncompromising personality. Juhani Pallasmaa has promised to give a short speech at the event.
More information →
At the very beginning of the stopover event, current shorter films leading to the themes of next year’s festival will be screened. Included is a short film about the former experimental laboratory of Berlin’s Charité hospital, which, despite the end of its operation, should be preserved, repaired and put into a completely new use. The nickname of the house is Mäusebunker or Mouse Bunker. The program also includes a longer film about the European Bplus group’s project HouseEurope, to fight the unnecessary demolition of suitable buildings, as well a film about the buildings of Marie-José Van Hee, who was awarded the Alvar Aalto medal in 2024. The film takes us to a combined family home and doctor’s office/surgery. The films at the beginning of the event also have a thematic connection to the autumn and next winter exhibitions of the Finnish and now merged Architecture and Design Museum.
The long architecture films of the evening are the thought-provoking Rehab (From Rehab) by the world-famous filmmaker duo Bêka & Lemoine and the excellent architectural portrait Lewerentz — Divine Darkness by the Swedish director Sven Blume, who himself is the grandson of the well-known architect Carl Nyrén. Both films represent top quality of their genre.
Rehab takes us to a Swiss rehabilitation clinic in Basel, designed by world-renowned architects and where both holistic architecture with wood coated facades with wide glass openings and planted courtyards, and various holistic rehabilitation methods make the building an absolutely unique place. The inspiration to make the film came from the fact that after her father’s car accident, Louise Lemoine saw many different clinics and hospitals. After experiencing Basel’s Rehab clinic, she was impressed by how different a hospital/ clinic building can be. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who have received the world’s most significant Pritzker Architecture Prize, have designed the building.
Sven Blume himself will join in, to present his latest film. It takes us to Sweden, where the extremely beautiful and impressive Skogskyrkogården cemetery (Woodland Cemetery) is located. It is based on Sigurd Lewerentz´s and Gunnar Asplund’s architectural competition winning project, and an example of the unique merging of architecture, landscape and woodland nature. The cemetery is now also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The main character of the film, Sigurd Lewerentz himself, is known above all for his superior church buildings and Malmö's eastern cemetery and its absolutely delicious and radical flower kiosk.
Interviewees in the film include e.g. Kieran Long, the current director of the Amos Rex art museum, and architect Juhani Pallasmaa, although the main focus of the film is on Lewerentz’s career and his life and uncompromising personality. Juhani Pallasmaa has promised to give a short speech at the event.
More information →
Sven Blume
Moviesovies
At the very beginning of the stopover event, current shorter films leading to the themes of next year’s festival will be screened. Included is a short film about the former experimental laboratory of Berlin’s Charité hospital, which, despite the end of its operation, should be preserved, repaired and put into a completely new use. The nickname of the house is Mäusebunker or Mouse Bunker. The program also includes a longer film about the European Bplus group’s project HouseEurope, to fight the unnecessary demolition of suitable buildings, as well a film about the buildings of Marie-José Van Hee, who was awarded the Alvar Aalto medal in 2024. The film takes us to a combined family home and doctor’s office/surgery. The films at the beginning of the event also have a thematic connection to the autumn and next winter exhibitions of the Finnish and now merged Architecture and Design Museum.
The long architecture films of the evening are the thought-provoking Rehab (From Rehab) by the world-famous filmmaker duo Bêka & Lemoine and the excellent architectural portrait Lewerentz — Divine Darkness by the Swedish director Sven Blume, who himself is the grandson of the well-known architect Carl Nyrén. Both films represent top quality of their genre.
Rehab takes us to a Swiss rehabilitation clinic in Basel, designed by world-renowned architects and where both holistic architecture with wood coated facades with wide glass openings and planted courtyards, and various holistic rehabilitation methods make the building an absolutely unique place. The inspiration to make the film came from the fact that after her father’s car accident, Louise Lemoine saw many different clinics and hospitals. After experiencing Basel’s Rehab clinic, she was impressed by how different a hospital/ clinic building can be. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who have received the world’s most significant Pritzker Architecture Prize, have designed the building.
Sven Blume himself will join in, to present his latest film. It takes us to Sweden, where the extremely beautiful and impressive Skogskyrkogården cemetery (Woodland Cemetery) is located. It is based on Sigurd Lewerentz´s and Gunnar Asplund’s architectural competition winning project, and an example of the unique merging of architecture, landscape and woodland nature. The cemetery is now also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The main character of the film, Sigurd Lewerentz himself, is known above all for his superior church buildings and Malmö's eastern cemetery and its absolutely delicious and radical flower kiosk.
Interviewees in the film include e.g. Kieran Long, the current director of the Amos Rex art museum, and architect Juhani Pallasmaa, although the main focus of the film is on Lewerentz’s career and his life and uncompromising personality. Juhani Pallasmaa has promised to give a short speech at the event.
More information →
At the very beginning of the stopover event, current shorter films leading to the themes of next year’s festival will be screened. Included is a short film about the former experimental laboratory of Berlin’s Charité hospital, which, despite the end of its operation, should be preserved, repaired and put into a completely new use. The nickname of the house is Mäusebunker or Mouse Bunker. The program also includes a longer film about the European Bplus group’s project HouseEurope, to fight the unnecessary demolition of suitable buildings, as well a film about the buildings of Marie-José Van Hee, who was awarded the Alvar Aalto medal in 2024. The film takes us to a combined family home and doctor’s office/surgery. The films at the beginning of the event also have a thematic connection to the autumn and next winter exhibitions of the Finnish and now merged Architecture and Design Museum.
The long architecture films of the evening are the thought-provoking Rehab (From Rehab) by the world-famous filmmaker duo Bêka & Lemoine and the excellent architectural portrait Lewerentz — Divine Darkness by the Swedish director Sven Blume, who himself is the grandson of the well-known architect Carl Nyrén. Both films represent top quality of their genre.
Rehab takes us to a Swiss rehabilitation clinic in Basel, designed by world-renowned architects and where both holistic architecture with wood coated facades with wide glass openings and planted courtyards, and various holistic rehabilitation methods make the building an absolutely unique place. The inspiration to make the film came from the fact that after her father’s car accident, Louise Lemoine saw many different clinics and hospitals. After experiencing Basel’s Rehab clinic, she was impressed by how different a hospital/ clinic building can be. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who have received the world’s most significant Pritzker Architecture Prize, have designed the building.
Sven Blume himself will join in, to present his latest film. It takes us to Sweden, where the extremely beautiful and impressive Skogskyrkogården cemetery (Woodland Cemetery) is located. It is based on Sigurd Lewerentz´s and Gunnar Asplund’s architectural competition winning project, and an example of the unique merging of architecture, landscape and woodland nature. The cemetery is now also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The main character of the film, Sigurd Lewerentz himself, is known above all for his superior church buildings and Malmö's eastern cemetery and its absolutely delicious and radical flower kiosk.
Interviewees in the film include e.g. Kieran Long, the current director of the Amos Rex art museum, and architect Juhani Pallasmaa, although the main focus of the film is on Lewerentz’s career and his life and uncompromising personality. Juhani Pallasmaa has promised to give a short speech at the event.
More information →
| Location The main entrance to Bio Rex is in the Lasipalatsi, on the Mannerheimintie side. The nearest metro stops are Kamppi and Rautatieasema, both of which can be reached without crossing busy roads. The tram stop (Lasipalatsi) is in front of the museum on Mannerheimintie. Accessibility and accessibility: Accessible entrance via the Lasipalatsi square. Accessible lifts are located in the museum lobby. The Bio Rex hall has a gently sloping staircase. Wheelchair spaces on the upper level in front of the door. Accessible toilets are on the side of the Glass Palace restaurant — access via the lift corridor. |
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Tilda Publishing
Photos: Tuomas Uusheimo
Location
The main entrance to Bio Rex is in the Lasipalatsi, on the Mannerheimintie side. The nearest metro stops are Kamppi and Rautatieasema, both of which can be reached without crossing busy roads. The tram stop (Lasipalatsi) is in front of the museum on Mannerheimintie.
Accessibility and accessibility:
Accessible entrance via the Lasipalatsi square. Accessible lifts are located in the museum lobby. The Bio Rex hall has a gently sloping staircase. Wheelchair spaces on the upper level in front of the door. Accessible toilets are on the side of the Glass Palace restaurant — access via the lift corridor.
From the very beginning, Ark Rex has also cooperated with the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the largest local chapter of the Finnish Architects' Association SAFA, HESA-SAFA. Archinfo, the information center for Architecture, has also participated in the briefing and helped with public relations.
In addition to the artistic director, the film festival’s program is planned by Elizaveta Parkkonen, the chairwoman of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Architects Association, Helena Teräväinen, architect and doctor of technology, Jere Pääkkönen, architect SAFA, who will soon be defending his thesis on the film, Petteri Kummala, head of the research, publication and library departments of the Museum of Architecture and Design, and Pia-Marie Lahti, representing the audience. Of course, our other great presenter and YLE journalist Jonni Roos, who has made architecture documentaries himself, is a member. The director of the group and the founder of Ark Rex (in 2019 and together with Amos Rex’s Kaj Martin) is the artistic director, architect SAFA Tarja Nurmi.
In addition to the artistic director, the film festival’s program is planned by Elizaveta Parkkonen, the chairwoman of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Architects Association, Helena Teräväinen, architect and doctor of technology, Jere Pääkkönen, architect SAFA, who will soon be defending his thesis on the film, Petteri Kummala, head of the research, publication and library departments of the Museum of Architecture and Design, and Pia-Marie Lahti, representing the audience. Of course, our other great presenter and YLE journalist Jonni Roos, who has made architecture documentaries himself, is a member. The director of the group and the founder of Ark Rex (in 2019 and together with Amos Rex’s Kaj Martin) is the artistic director, architect SAFA Tarja Nurmi.
Contact information
Tarja Nurmi
Architect SAFA,
architecture critic AICA,
Founder and curator of Ark Rex
phone: 0456765636
email: arkkivahti@gmail.com
From the very beginning, Ark Rex has also cooperated with the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the largest local chapter of the Finnish Architects' Association SAFA, HESA-SAFA. Archinfo, the information center for Architecture, has also participated in the briefing and helped with public relations.
The planning of the 2024 event has been carried out by a working group whose members include the curator of the event and the founder of the film festival, architect SAFA Tarja Nurmi, vice-president of SAFA, architect Elizaveta Parkkonen, architects SAFA Helena Teräväinen, Jari Laiho and Niklas Mahlberg. The Architecture and Design Museum is represented by Research, Collection and Library Manager Petteri Kummala. The working group also includes the event’s co-host, YLE journalist and filmmaker Jonni Roos.
The planning of the 2024 event has been carried out by a working group whose members include the curator of the event and the founder of the film festival, architect SAFA Tarja Nurmi, vice-president of SAFA, architect Elizaveta Parkkonen, architects SAFA Helena Teräväinen, Jari Laiho and Niklas Mahlberg. The Architecture and Design Museum is represented by Research, Collection and Library Manager Petteri Kummala. The working group also includes the event’s co-host, YLE journalist and filmmaker Jonni Roos.
Contact Information
Tarja Nurmi
Architect SAFA, architecture critic AICA,
Founder and curator of Ark Rex
phone: 0456765636
email: arkkivahti@gmail.com
Ark Rex 2024 is supported by
