James R. Thompson Center

Overview

A short experimental documentary focused on The James R. Thompson Center, a government building in downtown Chicago. The building, designed by architect Helmut Jahn and erected in 1985, was intended as an example of the city's budding contemporary and postmodern architecture. However, it was only to be received by public disdain and an onslaught of engineering complications. Using the unique effects of 16mm film distortion, the Thompson Center is abstracted, stretched, and squeezed into new narrative forms with mysterious intentions. "James R. Thompson Center", shifts the image of this building into a vessel of failed materiality.