Latest Release

Albert Frey II


Frey, the Swiss-born mid-20th century architect, aided in the introduction of Corbusian-influenced modernism and developed an extraordinary design style, blending industrial techniques with his love of nature.

About Design Onscreen

Design Onscreen is a 501.c.3 private operating foundation dedicated to producing, promoting and preserving high-quality films on architecture and design. Here is a current list of our films.

Founded in 2006 by Denver architecture and design enthusiasts Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III, Design Onscreen has completed nine films, with two more currently in production.


Frey II: The Architectural Interpreter (2020)

Frey I: Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy (2018)

The Nature of Modernism: E. Stewart Williams (2014)

Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island (2012)

Contemporary Days: The Designs of Lucienne & Robin Day (2010)

William Krisel, Architect (2010)

Hella Jongerius: Contemporary Archetypes (2009)

Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler (2009)

Desert Utopia: Mid Century Architecture in Palm Springs (2008)

…view film trailers

Our Films


Get In Touch

DCPs & Pro-Res of all films available for festivals and theaters.

info@designonscreen.org

H. Kirk Brown III
Executive Director
hkb3@designonscreen.org

Office: 303 863 1250

Cell: 303 570 1505


In Production

In Production

KNOLL


KNOLL (working title) looks behind the public façade of Florence Knoll’s life to discover the complex person whose style is indelibly stamped on interior designs from the 1940’s to today.

Photo courtesy of Knoll Archive

Florence Knoll – The Enigmatic Woman Behind the Timeless Modernist Designs


The mid-century-modern “Knoll look” is seen today in millions of offices and homes around the world. But little is known about Knoll herself, reputed to be shy and self-effacing, yet tough and uncompromising. How did a shy, quiet woman win the business of major corporations like General Motors and CBS? Why was a tough, uncompromising person so beloved by employees, friends, and family? And why, at the peak of her powers, did she suddenly turn her back on the leadership position she had worked so hard to create?

Googie


Modernism for everyone. Googie architecture burst on the midcentury scene in the exuberant everyday buildings where modern people lived their car culture lives. Critics dismissed it, but today we see that Googie showed how modern architecture once belonged to all of us.

Nuance, not Nostalgia: With bright neon, bold rooflines, glittering stainless steel, colorful plastics, and glass walls the size of billboards, Googie seemed anything but subtle. But beneath the gleam lay the architects’ knowing response to a new pace for the modern city and a new architecture of communication. 

Googie is a feature length documentary introducing a neglected chapter to the story of Modern architecture.

—Alan Hess, Architect

In Production

Googie: Futurism vs. Primeval


Googie design balanced unexpectedly between a high tech future of sweeping cantilevers and a verdant past of primeval nature. Rooted in the Organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and practiced by leading architects of midcentury Los Angeles Modernism, Googie expressed a Modern way to live with technology that still has relevance today.

Our Documentaries

  • Albert Frey: The Architectural Interpreter – Part II

    2020, 87 min

  • Albert Frey: The Architectural Envoy – Part I

    2018, 63 min

  • The Nature of Modernism: E. Stewart Williams, Architect

    2014, 80 min

  • Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island

    2012, 86 min

Get In Touch


Interested in architecture and design? We would love to hear from you.