In the framework of a partnership between Edinburgh University and IUCN Urban Alliance, students of Edinburgh College of Art have created a series of experimental short films exploring the theme of ecological urbanism. The trailer and synopsis of one of the films are outlined below. The full-length films will be screened at the Urban Planet Pavilion during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France, in September 2021.
Logline
Science, architecture and design are getting together to provide a synthetic key to connect ecology with an urbanism that is not in contradiction with its environment.
Synopsis
“Astphilia” from the Greek word, “Αστυφιλία”, means friendliness of the urban area, referring to the people who are attracted to live in the cities. As we know nowadays, the urban environment is becoming larger and larger within the natural environment. This film is going to be a trip through Nature’s Energy Forrces exploring the existing innovations with eco-friendly application into modern cities.
Science, architecture and design are getting together to provide a synthetic key to connect ecology with an urbanism that is not in contradiction with its environment.
This film is emphasized on the links between the reaction of energy forces, creating a puzzle of senses and sounds to reawaken the feelings that nature is offering limitless ecological solutions to the contemporary urban lifestyle.
The character of the film has a combination of cinematic and sometimes documentary scenes and abstracted images, creating an atmospheric and emotional narrative which is aiming to communicate a potential coexistence of nature and humans in a new way of eco-urbanism.
Director’s statement
The term Astyphilia is a word of Green origin deriving from the Asty denoting the physical space of a city or town, and Philia meaning friendship.
Astyphilia is defined as the demographic phenomenon in which the inhabitants of the villages leave the countryside and settle permanently in the large urban centres, something that causes the rapid increase of the population of the cities. In other words, this is the trend of internal migration of the population from rural areas to large-scale urban centres.
After the industrial revolution, the term took a rather negative meaning. Astyphilia is considered to be one of the most critical problems in contemporary society. Today people are turning to cities in search of work and a better life. They are attracted to the material pleasures of the cities and the fancy urban environment. Thus, huge megacities were created with various problems such as pollution and ecological destructions, while the countryside is gradually being abandoned.
However, the aim of this short film is to reclaim the term to make it a positive landmark. We believe that humankind has achieved technological innovations able to transform the world’s cities to eco-friendly environments where the citizens can coexist within the urban ecosystem harmoniously. There are plenty of examples in the world that big contemporary cities can make the transition from the harmful way of living to one full of green energy and ecologically friendly living.
For the preparation of this non-narrative visual essay, we travelled and filmed different parts of ecologically friendly cities, such as a watermill and a wind park in the suburbs of Edinburgh, the Icelandic geothermal energy provisions and the eco-friendly towers of Bosco Verticales in Milan. As a result, the film presents an entanglement of different images related to ecological urbanism aiming to give the sense of a vital urban way of living with its environment. Our environmental concerns as artists have guided us to create this short film in order to raise awareness that nature and the urban environment can coexist in a pragmatic scenario.
Filmmakers’ biographies
Director: Andreas Papamichael
Andreas Papamichael was born in Paphos-Cyprus in 1992. He studied for one year at the University of Barcelona at Facultad de Bellas Artes in 2011-2013. Then, he received a BA (Honours) in Fine Arts and new Media at Middlesex University in 2013-2016. Currently he is on the second year of his studies in Edinburgh, doing an MFA in Art, Space and Nature at Edinburgh College of Art. His body of work include mostly sculptures, installations and actions. Since 2014, Papamichael’s work and actions have been exhibited at exhibitions both in Cyprus and internationally.
Music composition: Alexandra Katerinopoulou
Alexandra Katerinopoulou completed her graduate studies in Composition for Screen at the University of Edinburgh. She holds a Bachelors degree in History and Theory of Art from Athens School of Fine Arts and a Piano degree from Conservatoire ‘Orfio’, in Athens, Greece. She also attended the short course, “Introduction to Composing for Film”, at Goldsmiths University; and numerous seminars such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: Women Conductors Seminar, with the conductor Alice Farnham; and an Orchestral Conducting masterclass with conductor Jonathan Brett. Alexandra has just completed an internship with the composer Marco Viscarini in Bologna, Italy.
Sound design: Gavin McCabe
Gavin McCabe is a Sound Designer, Musician and Writer from Dublin. He graduated with a Masters in Sound Design from the University of Edinburgh in 2019. Gavin’s area of sonic interest lies with the use of naturalistic materials as compositional tools in his sound design pieces. Likeningthe art of design to musical creation, Gavin’s work combines these two practices in artistic symbiosis. He has worked in film, animation and theatre ad currently resides and works in Edinburgh.