The year in videos for architecture lovers provided a peek behind-the-scenes in a historic LA movie theatre, a trip to the world’s most stylish water park, some mid-century Americana and a look at an ancestral royal seat. Here are our top 10 videos of the year.
Solange – ‘Almeda’
On When I Get Home, her follow up to 2016’s seminal A Seat at the Table, Solange pens a love letter to her Texan roots and the video for ‘Almeda’ only serves to reinforce this. Her native Houston and cowboy culture set the scene, but it is the Fort Worth Gardens that take centre stage. The tiered swimming pool was designed in 1974 by New York architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
Diplo feat Mø – ‘Get it Right’
Superstar DJ Diplo is joined in a dance routine by Danish singer Mø in the King Edward Ballroom of the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles. Built in 1906 by architect John Parkinson the building has seen fluctuating fortunes since its 1930s heyday. Since a total renovation in 2005, its ballrooms have been used extensively as a film location – the King Edward is one of three in the eight-story property. Find out more about this video and its location.
Jonas Brothers – ‘Sucker’
The Jonas Brothers returned from a six-year hiatus with Sucker filmed on location at the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth I – Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, England. Rooms in the shoot include the magnificent Marble Hall with its chequered black and white flooring, the Armoury, the Long Gallery and the Library.
Billie Eilish – ‘Bad Guy’
Electropop ingénue Billie Eilish flaunts some classic mid-century modern American architecture in her video for Bad Guy. Filmed in and around the original Eichler home, ‘La Nanette’, built in 1963 by Joseph Eichler as part of the Balboa Highlands tract in Granada Hills, California.
LIONLION – ‘Ocean’s Rise’
Set in the Pescher House built by Richard Neutra in 1968 – one of the great architects last projects – German four-piece LIONLION pay homage to Neutra’s ‘Biorealism’ design principle of aiming to bridge the gap between inside and outside to create a seamless connection with the natural surroundings.
Tyler, the Creator – ‘The Boy is a Gun’
The 1928 Tudor revival-style Greystone Mansion serves as the backdrop for Tyler, the Creator’s track ‘The Boy is a Gun’. The Beverly Hills manse was built for oil tycoon Edward L Doheny’s son, and it has featured extensively in film and television, including The Big Lebowski and There Will Be Blood. In this instance, it is the backdrop for Tyler’s seemingly tempestuous and doomed love affair.
Weval – ‘Someday’
Irish artist and filmmaker Páraic McGloughlin weaves together scenes of architecture, geometric design and infrastructure in this stunning video for Dutch duo Weval. Edited to appear as if in time-lapse, it ebbs and flows with the beat and melody of the song to create a hypnotic tableau of patterns in the world around both seen and unseen.
Poppy ft Fever 333 – ‘Scary Mask’
For the last couple of years, living internet meme Poppy has steadily made a respectable pop-star of herself. With the help of Fever 333 and regular collaborator/director Titanic Sinclair the darkness and light of song ‘Scary Mask’ is nicely represented in the location of the video – an anonymous, low lit yet beautifully decorated, wood-panelled LA mansion.
Eden – Projector
Irish singer/songwriter Jonathan Ng, aka EDEN, allows us into what appears to be the most chilled out summer house in the world for his video for ‘Projector’. Extreme minimalism and pastel hues converge to create a dream-like interior, suggesting the influence of American light-artist James Turrell.
Haim – Hallelujah
The sisters Haim teamed up with director Paul Thomas Anderson once again – this time to showcase an intimate look at the legendary 2000-seater Los Angeles Theatre, in their video for ‘Hallelujah’. Designed by S Charles Lee and Samuel Tilden Norton in 1930, the interior is said to have been modelled after the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles and is notable for its neo-Baroque styling. See more on the video.
A flurry of new London restaurants to check out this winter
