Synopsis
Directors statement: "PARABETON starts with the first still exstant dome built of concrete by the Romans in the 1st century BC in Baiae near Naples. Followed in chronological sequence by twenty buildings of Italian civil-engineer Pier Luigi Nervi (1891-1979) – inventor, grandmaster of concrete structures and the architect's architect of the 20th century: among others the Pirelli-skysraper in Milano, the Headquarters of Unesco in Paris, the Palazzo del Lavoro in Turin, the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome and the Papal Audience Hall at Vatican City. This succession is from time to time halted by cinematic studies of large Roman structures, among others the Pantheon and the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. In doing so the film relates Nervi's path-breaking constructions with the pioneering Roman inventions in his field 2000 years ago. The 100 minutes long film is the first of two parts of the project Decampment of Modernism with which I will conclude my series Architecture as Autobiography about the origins, fate, glory and decline of modern architecture. In a way, PARABETON will be the "grand finale" of the series by going back to the Roman origins of the constructional core of Modernism." We will see (in order of appearance): Tempio di Mercurio, Baiae 1st cen. B.C. Municipal Stadium, Florence 1932 Experimental warehouse, Rome 1945 Tempio di Giove Anxur, Terracina 1st cen. B.C. Exhibition Hall B, Turin 1948 Exhibition Hall C, Turin 1950 Salt Warehouses, Tortona 1951 Tobacco Factory, Bologna 1953 Terme di Caracalla, Rome 3rd cen A.D. UNESCO Headquarters, Paris 1958 Pantheon, Rome 2nd cen. A.D. Small Sports Complex, Rome 1957 Tempio di Minerva, Rome 3rd cen. A.D. Pirelli Tower, Milan 1958 Flaminio Stadium, Rome 1959 Colosseum e Forum Romanum, Rome 1st cen B.C. Sports Complex, Rome 1960 Aqua Claudia, Rome 1st cen A.D. Train Station, Savona 1960 Palace of Labour, Turin 1961 Villa Adriana, Rome 2nd cen. A.D. Burgo Paper Factory, Mantua 1962 Mausoleo Tor de ’Schiavi, Rome 4th cen. A.D. Roof of the Cuore Immacolato di Maria Church, Bologna 1962 Palatin and Motor boat in ferro-cement, Rome 1967 Papal Audience Hall, Vatican City, Rome 1971 [source: http://www.filmgalerie451.de/en/filme/parabeton/ ]
