Arcadia Public Library

Winner of 10 international awards, Death by Design is a guided tour into the invisible world of cells, told through a collage of metaphors and interviews with cellular biologists. State-of-the-art microcinematography is playfully intercut with parallel images from life at the human scale: a hundred lighted violins, imploding skyscrapers, Busby Berkeley musicals, Harold Lloyd antics and more.

The great churches represent some of the world’s most stunning masterpieces of architecture, art, and faith. Go on a guided tour of the most outstanding, memorable, and meaningful churches in the world. Lavishly illustrated with breathtaking photos, detailed floor plans, and 3-D models, these lectures take you deeply into Christianity through its most important buildings.

A poet among architects and an innovator among educators, John Hejduk converses with poet David Shapiro at The Cooper Union about the mystery and spirit of architecture. His own sketches and structures are shown.

The churches of Romanian Moldavia, unique in the world, are richly adorned with frescoes both inside and outside. Explore examples of the extraordinary exterior paintings, noting how narrative themes are consistent on north, west, east, and south-facing walls. Study the three-room church interiors, and the frescoes' remarkable range of religious themes.

Begin by considering what defines a church, encompassing both its religious uses and its functions as a place of assembly. Learn how the first churches came into being, based architecturally on the secular pagan "basilica." Study some of the best surviving basilica-type churches in Italy, noting their structural features and their remarkable mosaic decoration.

This timely, uncensored and richly cinematic portrait of China’s ancient capital captures the true nature of a city as it undergoes a profound transformation. The film takes an intimate and compelling look at the lives of three cab drivers as they confront modern issues and changing values against the backdrop of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Through their daily struggles infused with humor and quiet determination, BEIJING TAXI reveals the complexity...

At the end of the 1980's a new architectural sensibility challenged the prevailing post-modern attitude. This film documents explosive and seemingly chaotic structures from Vienna to L.A., and interviews those who pursue its aesthetic issues. Filmed on location with the architects and at the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition Deconstructivist architecture, which was curated by Philip Johnson.

Travel to the four corners of the world in this visually sumptuous series that captures the best examples of the art and architecture of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Each film brings to life the most significant religious buildings. Art of Faith enables viewers to enter into the lives of the people who worship and celebrate their faith and gain a deeper understanding of the three Abrahamic faith traditions.

A cinematic homage to one of the most distinguished engineers of the late 20th century, An Engineer Imagines traces the extraordinary life and career of Peter Rice from his childhood in Ireland to his work on the Sydney Opera House, The Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd’s Building, to his untimely death in 1992. Marcus Robinson uses stunning time-lapse photography and revealing interviews to tell the story of a genius who stood in the shadow of architectural...