Ila Bêka is a contemporary Italian artist, filmmaker and producer living in Paris. Ila Bêka is part of the artist duo

Bêka & Lemoine Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine are two architectural artists and filmmakerTheir films focus on the relationship of people and design, emphasising the presence of everyday life within some of the most iconic architectural projects of recent decades. ...

. Ila Bêka, together with

Louise Lemoine Louise Lemoine is a French video artist and filmmaker. She is an associate of the film production and publishing company Bêka & Partners. Early life and education Lemoine grew up in Bordeaux, France. Her parents ran the family-owned newspaper, ...

, "are two of the foremost architectural artists working today. Their films focus on the relationship of people and design, emphasising the presence of everyday life within some of the most iconic architectural projects of recent decades". Bêka & Lemoine's complete work (16 films) was acquired in 2016 by MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York, and is now part of its permanent collection. The acquisition of a complete work by MoMA, Museum of Modern Art is an extremely rare event for a living artist.

Life and career

Ila Bêka trained as an architect with a degree from the

Università Iuav di Venezia Iuav University of Venice ( it, Università Iuav di Venezia) is a university in Venice, Italy. It was founded in 1926 as the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia as one of the first Architecture schools in Italy. The university curren ...

of Venice and the

École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville The École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville is a French grande école and school of architecture. It is currently ranked as the best architecture school in France. The school is recognized for its focus on sustainability ...

, where he studied with

Aldo Rossi Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 – 4 September 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and design and also product design. He was one of the leading exponen ...

Manfredo Tafuri Manfredo Tafuri (Rome, 4 November 1935 – Venice, 23 February 1994) was an Italians, Italian Marxist architect, historian, theoretician, critic and academic. He was described by one commentator as the world's most important architectural histo ...

Vittorio Gregotti Vittorio Gregotti (10 August 1927 – 15 March 2020) was an Italian architect, born in Novara. He was seen as both a member of the Neo-Avant Garde and a key figure in 1970s Postmodernism. Biography Gregotti was born in Novara, in the Italian P ...

Massimo Cacciari Massimo Cacciari (; born 5 June 1944) is an Italian philosopher, politician and public intellectual. Biography Born in Venice, Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua (1967), where he also received his doctorate, writing a ...

, Bernardo Secchi, Gino Valle, Ugo La Pietra,

Henri Ciriani Henri (Enrique) Ciriani (born 1936) is a Peruvian architect and teacher. Ciriani was born and worked in Lima, Peru before moving to Paris in 1964. He has worked on modernist experimental living projects in the 1960s and 1970s, such as the San Fel ...

and Jacques Lucan. Since 2005 he has been working in collaboration with Louise Lemoine with whom he founded the research and creation platform

. Described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "cult figures in the European architecture world",Nicolai Ouroussoff
"Inhabiting a Piece of Art: It’s Not Always So Pretty"
''

'', 29 January 2010. Bêka and Lemoine focus their work on experimental new narrative and cinematographic forms in relation to contemporary architecture. ''

Koolhaas Houselife ''Koolhaas Houselife'' is a documentary film directed by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine. Reception Nicolai Ouroussoff, in ''The New York Times'', praised this film, which elevated its makers to the status of "cult figures in the European architectu ...

'', the first film Ila Bêka co-directed with Lemoine in 2008, has been acclaimed by the international critique as "The architectural cult movie". Ila Bêka has been invited to lecture and present his films at many international cultural institutions and prestigious universities such as

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

(2008, 2010, 2014),

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

(New-York),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in a Day.
MetMuseum.org (New-York),

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

(Paris),

Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...

(Paris),

Barbican Art Gallery The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibi ...

(London),

Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between r ...

(Montréal), NAi (Rotterdam, NL),

MAXXI MAXXI ( it, Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, italic=no, "national museum of 21st-century arts") is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome, Italy. The museum is managed by a foundation ...

(Rome),

SALT Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

(Istanbul), Harvard GSD,

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...

(London)
Mextropoli
(Mexico). According to

ArchDaily ArchDaily is a weblog covering architectural news, projects, products, events, interviews and competitions, opinion pieces, among others, catering to architects, designers and other interested parties. Description ArchDaily is one of the most ...

, one of the most visited architecture websites worldwide, their films "alter the face of architectural criticism". Ila Bêka is currently teachin
Diploma 16
at AA School, Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

Filmography

*2000: ''Millimetraggi'' (168 x 3min) - Short Film - Best Film at Festival du Film Très Court de Paris *2001: ''Colomba'' (2min) - Short Film - Best Film at Venice International Short Film Festival in Venice *2001: ''In Utero'' (11min) - Short Film - Official Selection at International Critic's Week at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

*2002: ''L'uomo dei numeri'' (5,30min) - Documentary *2003: ''I have seen my mother dancing in the clouds'' (6min) - Short Film - Best International Short Film at 21

Torino Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...

*2004: ''Salome & the seven heads'' (6min) - Video Installation *2004: Trilogy: ''Buongiorno'' (5min), ''Buonasera'' (5min), ''Buonanotte'' (5min) - 3 Short Films - Special Mention at

Nastri d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

, Italy. *2005: ''Quodlibet'' (84min) - Feature Film - Official Selection at 58th

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

*2005: "''A Balare''", a trilogy: "Frassinetti'' (62min), ''Pilastro'' (61min), ''Italicus'' (60min) -'' Documentaries *2006: ''Passero sublime'' (9min) - Video installation *2006: ''Mind scraping'' (5min) - Video installation, ''Contagion'' (5min) - Video installation, ''Reminiscenza onirica'' (5min) - Video installation *2006'': Ventre'' (5min) - Video installation - Best Film at Festival Internazionale Cinema d'Arte di Milano *2007: ''Monsieur et Madame Pelletret'' (2 x 6min) - Video installation *2007: ''Testamento della Memoria'' (38min) - Documentary *2008: ''

'' (58min) - Documentary - Official Selection at 8th

Venice Biennale of Architecture Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...

*2010: ''Sound of Space'' (6min) - Video installation *2010: "''Inside Piano''": ''The Submarine'' (39min), "The little Beaubourg'' (26min), "The power of silence'' (34min) - 3 Documentaries *2012: ''Natural Histories'' (11min) - Video installation *2013: ''Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron'' (51min) - Documentary *2013: ''Xmas Meier'' (51min) - Documentary *2013: ''Gehry's Vertigo'', (48min) - Documentary - Official Selection at 10th

(extract) *2013: ''Living Architectures Zip'' (60min) - Documentary - Best Film at ArchFilmLund Festival, Sweden *2013: ''25bis'' (46min) - Documentary *2014: ''

La Maddalena La Maddalena (Gallurese: ''Madalena'' or ''La Madalena'', sc, Sa Madalena) is a town and ''comune'' located on the islands of the Maddalena archipelago in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia, Italy. The main town of the same name is locat ...

'' (12min) - Video installation - Official Selection at 14th

*2014: '' La Maddalena Chair'' (25min) - Video installation - Official Selection at 14th

*2014: ''Alfred, une nuit vénitienne'' (70min) - Documentary *2014: '' 24 heures sur place'' (90min) - Documentary - Special Jury Prize at 32nd

*2014: ''L'expérience du vide'' (45min) - Documentary *2014: '' Barbicania'' (90min) - Documentary - Art project commissioned by

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

*2015: ''

The Infinite Happiness ''The Infinite Happiness'' is a feature-length documentary (85 min) by Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine which documents their life for about a month inside the “8 House” designed by the architect Bjarke Ingels in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ...

'' (85min) - Documentary *2015: ''Spiriti'' (15x3min circa)- Video installation- Art project commissioned by

Fondazione Prada Fondazione Prada, co-chaired by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli since 1995, is an institution dedicated to contemporary art and culture. From 1993 to 2010, the Fondazione has organised 24 solo shows at its exhibition spaces in Milan, conceived ...

, Milano *2016: ''Voyage autour de la Lune'' (75min) - Documentary *2016: ''Selling Dreams'' (25min + 12min) - Video installation - Official Selection Oslo Triennale *2017: '' Moriyama-San'' (63min) - Documentary - Best Prize at Architecture Film Festival London *2019: ''Butohouse'' (34min) - Documentary - International Premiere at DocAviv Film Festival *2017-2020: ''Homo Urbanus'' (10 x 55min) - Video installation - Official Selection Seoul Biennale and Agora Biennale in Bordeaux *2020: ''Tokyo Ride'' (90min) - Documentary - Artistic Vision Award, Depth of Field Competition - Best Prize -

Docaviv Docaviv, subtitled "the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival" is the only film festival in Israel dedicated to documentary films, and the largest film festival in Tel Aviv. It is run by a non-profit organisation A nonprofit o ...

Film Festival
2020
*2021: ''Oslavia, The Cave of the Past Future'' (17min) - Video installation - World premiere at MAXXI Museum in Rome

Teaching

* In 2019-2022 he taught the Diploma Unit "''Homo Urbanus, Laboratory for Sensitive Observers''" at AA School, Architectural Association School of Architecture in Londo

*In 2019-2021 he taught the course "''Filming Architecture''" at the AAM, the

Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio The Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio (AAM) is a Swiss school of architecture and is a founding unit of Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). History The Accademia was founded by Mario Botta, whose influences were Kenneth Frampton, ...

, in Switzerlan

* In 2021 he taught The Berlage Theory Master Class "A Journey Round My Room" at The Berlage Institute, Berlage Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design, in Delf

*In 2020 he taught the course "''MAXXI Architecture Film Summer School''" at MAXXI, MAXXI The National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome, I

*In 2019-2020 he taught the course "''Voyage autour de ma chambre"'' at HEAD, Haute École d'art et de design de Genève. *In 2017 he taught the course "''The Emotion of Space''" at Domaine de Boisbuchet in Lessac, France. *In 2016 and 2015 he taught the course "''Filming Architecture''" with Marco Müller and

at the AAM, the

, in Switzerland. *In 2014 and 2013 he taught the course "''Cinema & Architecture''" at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, GSAPP Columbia University for the New York/Paris program.

Recognition

* MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York: The complete work (16 films) of Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine has been acquired for the permanent collection. *CNAP, Centre National des Arts Plastiques: "Koolhaas Houselife" and "La Maddalena" have been acquired for the permanent collection. *FRAC Centre, Orléans: "Butohouse", "Moriyama-San", "The Infinite Happiness", "Selling Dreams", "Gehry's Vertigo" have been acquired for the permanent collection. *Awarded by

Metropolis (architecture magazine) Metropolis is an internationally recognised design and architecture concentrated magazine with a strong focus on ethics, innovation and sustainability in the creative sector. The magazine was established in 1981 by Horace Havemeyer III of Beller ...

as Game Changer 2015.Véronique Vienne
"Game Changers 2015: Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine"
, ''

'', January 2015. *Artist in residence at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto, Japan, 2018. *Rome Prize Italian Fellow at

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

, Italy, 2018. *Selected by Icon Design as one of the 100 most talented personalities in the world in 2017. *Presented by the

as one of the “Most exciting and critical design project of the year 2016”. *Prix d'Honneur FILAF 2020, Festival International du Livre d’Art et du Film, Perpignan, 202

Awards

*Prix d'Honneur - FILAF / Festival International du Livre d'Art et du Film, Perpignan, 2020: ''Bêka & Lemoine'' *Best Film at MDFF, Milano Design Film Festival 2020: ''"Tokyo Ride"'' *Artistic Vision Award at Docaviv Film Festival 2020: ''"Tokyo Ride"'' *Best Film at Architecture Film Festival London 2019: ''"Moriyama-San"'' *Best Film at Arquiteturas Film Festival Lisboa 2019: ''"Moriyama-San"'' *Best Prize, Arqfilmfest, Santiago, Chile, 2018: ''"Moriyama-San"'' *Best Prize, FILAF D’OR, Festival International du Livre d’Art et du Film, Perpignan, 2018: ''"Moriyama-San"'' *Best Prize, FIFAAC, Bègles, France 2018: ''"Moriyama-San"'' *Special Jury Prize at 32nd

, Torino, Italy, 2014: ''"24 Heures sur Place"'' *Best Architecture Documentaries for the film collection "''Living Architectures"'' by the festival ArchFilmLund, 2013 *Best International Short Film at 21

for "''I have seen my mother dancing in the clouds"'' *Best Film at Festival du Film Très Court de Paris: ''"Millimetraggi"'' *Best Film at Venice International Short Film Festival in Venice: ''"Colomba"'' *Best Film at Jameson Award for ''"In Utero"'' *Best Film at Premio Troisi festival for ''"Millimetraggi"'' *Best Film at Festival Internazionale Cinema d'Arte di Milano: ''"Ventre"'' *Best Film at Premio Troisi festival for ''"Buongiorno"'' *Best Film at Maremetraggio Festival for ''"Millimetraggi"'' *Best Film at Interfilm Berlin Film Festival Festival for ''"Buongiorno"'' *Special Prize of the Jury at Festival Sobra Arte 2015 (Lisbon): ''"La Maddalena"'' *Special Mention at

, Italy: ''"Buongiorno"''

Published Dvd-Books

* Beka & Lemoine, 2016, DVD-Box Set Volume 1 & 2
0701197948082
* The Infinite Happiness, 2016, DVD
0701197948105
* Koolhaas Houselife, 2016, DVD
0701197948112
* ''Koolhaas Houselife'', 2008, . * ''Koolhaas Houselife'', 2013, . * ''Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron'', 2013, . * '' Jubilee Church, Xmas Meier'', 2013, . * ''Gehry's Vertigo'', 2013, . * ''Inside Piano'',ArchDaily
"Living Architectures: Inside Piano / Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine"
''

'', 2 June 2013. 2013, . * ''Living Architectures'', 2013, .

References

General References

* Ada Luise Huxtable, « Ingenious and Demanding », ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', 2009-09-3

* Christopher Hawthorne, « Tuesday at the Hammer: 'Koolhaas Houselife' », ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', 2010-08-0

* Oliver Wainwright, Oslo architecture triennale: Airbnb cosplay for the gig economy nomad, The Guardian, 2016-09-12. * Frédérique Hedelmann, « Guadalupe et l'architecte », ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 2008-09-2

* Jean-Jacques Larrochelle, « Sacrées architectures », ''

'', 2013-04-1

* Patricia Zohn, « Culture Zohn: Life in the Koolhaas », ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', 2010-07-3

* Patricia Zohn, « Culture Zohn: the 2014 Venice Biennale, parte due », ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', 2014-10-0

* Rowan Moore, « 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale review: put yourself in their space… », ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2014-06-0

* Oliver Wainwright, "Cathedrals of Culture",

, 2014-09-25

* Susanne Kippenberger, "Raumpatrouille",

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

, 2015-10-22

* Elena Sommariva, "Voyage autour de la Lune",

Domus In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...

, 2016-01-2

* Karsten R.S. Ifversen, "8Tallet",

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

, 2015-11-1

* Isabelle Regnier, “Ila Bêka et Louise Lemoine : Nous filmons la ville à l’échelle des citadins que nous sommes”, Le Monde, 2020-10-07 * Wojciech Czaja, “Das ist der Homo Urbanus”, Der Standard, 2020-08-02 * Edwin Heathcote, “Living with a starchitect’s early work”, Financial Times, 2019-07-26 * Camille Juza, “Arpentez une maison d’architecte en regardant Koolhaas Houselife et envisagez votre intérieur d’un autre oeil”, France Culture, 2020-05-05 * Sara Marzullo, “L’umanità in città”, Il Tascabile, 2020-06-18

External links

*
''Archdaily'' 40 Best Architecture Docs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beka, Ila Living people Architectural photographers Italian film directors Year of birth missing (living people)