Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect
Kevin Roche

#IrishFilm: Documentary Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect in Irish cinemas from October 13th

Wavelength Pictures have announced that documentary Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect, will open at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin, on October 13th.  This will follow the World Premiere of the film at the Irish Film Institute on October 1st where it is screening as the closing night film of IFI Documentary Festival.  This is followed by screenings at Indie Cork on Weds 11th October at the Gate Cinema Cork, and on Thursday 12th October at Offline Film Festival in Birr, Co. Offaly.  The film, directed by Irish filmmaker and UCD architecture graduate Mark Noonan, delves into the life and work of award-winning Irish-American architect, Kevin Roche, showcasing his remarkable architectural achievements on the big screen.

Still working at age 95, Pritzker Prize winning Irish-American architect Kevin Roche is an enigma.  He’s reached the top of his profession, but has little interest in celebrity and eschews the label “Starchitect”.  Despite a lifetime of acclaimed work that includes 40 years designing new galleries for The Met in New York, he has no intention of ever retiring.  He graduated from UCD in 1945, and after more than 60 years in the USA, his first Irish project, the Convention Centre Dublin, opened in 2010.  Roche’s architectural philosophy focuses on creating “a community for a modern society” and he has been credited with creating green buildings before they became part of the public consciousness.

He has won awards for his designs of over 300 major buildings around the world, among them the Pritzker Prize in 1982 – the highest honour given to a living architect.  Some of his best known work includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York which he has worked on for almost 50 years, the revolutionary Oakland Museum of California, the Ford Foundation and United Nations Plaza in Manhattan, A Centre For the Arts at the Wesleyan University, corporate campuses for Bouygues in Paris and Banco Santander in Madrid.  Roche has also been the subject of special exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Architectural Association of Ireland in Dublin, and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Kevin lives and works in Hamden, Connecticut.

Architecture is an achievement that comes from the commitment of the owner and the understanding of the architect that the work to be realised will be a response not only to the immediate requirements but also to the broader concerns of the community, the accommodation of the natural and cultural environment, and the belief that the final responsibility is not only to the user and the community, but ultimately to posterity.
Kevin Roche

Irish Director Mark Noonan’s debut feature film You’re Ugly Too featured Aidan Gillen (‘Game of Thrones’) and Lauren Kinsella (Albert Nobbs) and premiered at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) where it was nominated for Best Debut Feature.  Completed in Summer 2017 Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect is his debut documentary feature, and was filmed at locations in New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Indiana, Oakland California, Paris, Madrid and Dublin.

This is not a film about rarified architectural theory.  On the contrary, Roche’s ability to pierce the skin of architectural theory allows him to draw deep insights into his life and singular architectural process.  We’’ve strived to photograph his buildings in a cinematic style that brings the spectacular nature of their size and beauty to the big screen and allows the audience immerse themselves in architecture they might never get a chance to visit.
Mark Noonan, Director

Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect was produced by John Flahive for Wavelength Pictures in association with Still Films, with the participation of the Irish Film Board / Bord Scannáin na hÉireann, and Just Films|Ford Foundation.

Tickets are now on sale for the Doc Fest screening at the IFI.