Concept
Beyond Media was an architecture film festival held in Florence from 1997 to 2009. The festival aimed at observing the use of audiovisual tools for architecture and more generally at discussing relationships between architecture and the media. Beyond Media was organized by Image, a group of architects, historians and researchers based in Florence and active in the field of communication in architecture. In the course of its nine editions, the festival became one of the main events worldwide devoted to architecture videos. The latest edition, "Beyond Media 2009: Visions", presented 80 videos selected from over 600 submissions from 35 countries. The festival began in the context of the deep changes occurred in the mediasphere during the 1990s. With the large diffusion of new media and computer driven design tools, videos quickly became an accessible and powerful instrument for architects. They were used by designers not only as a more lively form of representation but also as a storytelling device for projects. In other words, they made it possible for architects to express their projects in a narrative form and created a brand new and autonomous form of expression for architecture. This is the context in which Beyond Media was born and had its mission, that was to provide an account of all shifts produced by the introduction of new media in architectural design and to promote a venue for discussion about this topic. As Pedro Gadanho, today curator for Contemporary Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, wrote: “When I say that this Festival is “haunted by its very initial premises” I do not mean that showing the audiovisual media which are today quintessential to architecture representation should bear any special problem. On the contrary, it is only natural and logical that someone should be doing it. At its 9th edition, the Florence festival also has in its curriculum to be one of the firsts to do so”. Since its very first edition in 1997, the core of the event was the screening of architecture videos.
