Valentina Espinoza Cáceres
The University of Auckland
Following a short (10 month) hiatus, we are back in conversation with Val! After a few years asking the questions, it was Val’s turn to showcase her own work, inspiration and advice. Val’s thesis builds on a passion for cinematography, bridging film and architecture through speculative exploration of Cinema, Dystopia and Modernism.
SANNZ: Hi Val! Usually it’s you asking the questions. Have you been looking forward to Show(ing) Us Your Thesis?
Val: Definitely! Was very chuffed to be asked by you both, thank you so much.
SANNZ: What’s your thesis on?
Val: My thesis is a speculative exploration of Cinema, Dystopia and Modernism through the architectural dissection of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film Alphaville. My investigation into these topics was fuelled by my passion for film, but equally shaped by the boundaries of the history of Architecture and Urbanism in the context of La Defense, Paris where the film was shot on location.
SANNZ: Who was your supervisor? Why did you choose to work with them?
Val: I was luckily graced with the support of two supervisors during my thesis, my primary supervisor was Eu Jin Chua and my co-supervisor was David Cowlard. I chose to work with Eu Jin because of his theoretical insights, and extensive knowledge into both Cinema and Modern Architecture. David on the other hand, had taught me in his elective course on Architecture and Moving Image the year prior, and through my conversations with him I started grasping a firm idea as to the direction my thesis would take early on. Having his additional support and shared knowledge on film and photography was incredibly beneficial for me in dissecting not only the architecture of Alphaville itself, but also the technical and narrative aspects of the film.
SANNZ: How did you approach the daunting task of starting a thesis and choosing a topic?
Val: For me it was always going to be researching further into a specific realm or aspect of Cinema. Cinematography was what I initially wanted to do as a career when I was young and I've just never been able to let that go. I think the closer it got to fourth and fifth year, I started to get very specific as to what I wanted my thesis to be, specifically what film or films I wanted to dissect architecturally. Upon revisiting the film, I noticed the architectural context of Alphaville was deeply specific in its allusion to the pre-existing experiences of society at the hands of both totalitarian power (capitalist authority) and rapid architectural expansion (modernist sprawling). I thought this could serve me as an intriguing basis for further research.
SANNZ: Was it a dream come true getting to bridge your loves of cinema and architecture?
Val: Absolutely! I can’t stress enough how fulfilling it feels to have the opportunity to bridge two divergent passions. Having the trust of supervisors throughout my thesis year was essential for me to develop my field of inquiry through my thesis research. Even when I reflect on my past projects, which aspire to grapple with similar topics on cinema or architectural cinematics; I always hoped to preserve my conceptual individuality throughout the duration of my own thesis. To keep challenging myself and the potentials of the project to reflect my speculative approach to architectural and film research, in a way that hasn’t been done before.
SANNZ: Can you give us an overview of your methodology or process? How did it develop over the course of your thesis year?
Val: My methodology varied based on my written research. These methods included making several video edits in which I cut the architecture from the film and represent it through moving images. This also led me to begin presenting my diagrams and filmic research into a visual taxonomy. Taxonomies were incredibly useful to individualise characteristics of the modernist spaces and spatial narrative of the film. Throughout the year, what grounded my methodology was simply rewatching the film, studying each scene from an architectural standpoint and both sketching and writing alongside. The pivotal development in my process was for me to acknowledge that this technique would be useful for implementation to the very end of the project.
SANNZ: Tell us about your theoretical background; what are some of the key readings relevant to your work?
Val: Consistent dissection and analysis of both literary and visual texts greatly aided my theoretical research. My treatment of visual texts such as films and shorts was of equal importance to that of literature, if anything I utilised these literary texts as a supplementary tool to expand on theorisations about the contextual and architectural qualities presented to me on screen. Literary readings were particularly useful for me in understanding and expanding on the pre existing conceptions of Dystopia (and Utopia), Modernism and history of the built environments of La Defense.
Visual texts which supported my speculations on Modernism, Dystopia and the intersection of the two represented through virtual architectural spaces on screen, beyond Godard’s Alphaville were; Jacques Tati’s “Playtime” and “Mon Oncle”, Alezandre Astruc’s “Prey for the Shadows”, Eric Rohmer’s documentary short “The Metamorphosis of the Landscape”, Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Red Desert”, Jean-Luc Godard’s “2 or 3 Things I know about her”, George Lucas’ “THX 1138” and Francois Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451”.
Rem Koolhaas’ thesis “Exodus, or the Voluntary prisoners of Architecture”, Gilles Delleuze’s essay “Postscripts on the societies of control”, Bernard Tschumi’s “The Manhattan Transcripts” and Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” were particularly inspiring key texts which particularly aided both the theoretical and historical framework in my writing.
SANNZ: What experiences did you have in the school that aided you in your thesis? Eg: Particular classes, projects, techniques or tutors?
Val: I was very lucky to be a Teaching Assistant for first year history at the University, in which the topic of Modern Architecture and Urbanism is taught. This both motivated and aided my historical and theoretical research on Modernism and Modern Architecture which was one of the cornerstones of my thesis. My co-supervisor David Cowlard’s Moving Image elective in fourth year, greatly guided my ability to manifest film techniques into the design process’ within my thesis project. This elective, along with several design papers I selected throughout University, encouraged me to up-skill on video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, this made my editing process during thesis significantly easier and gave me time to focus on more tedious and complex elements of my project.
SANNZ: What part of your thesis year did you enjoy the most? Why?
Val: In retrospect, I remember the month before our final crit presentation was particularly special for me, the imminent stress of it all aside. Not just because the culmination of ideas, speculation and research had started coming together, but because I was lucky enough to share that with my archi family. Seeing their work as well as mine come to life in those last three to four weeks was my biggest enjoyment. To see ideas rendered into designs, both realised and manifested physically after months of gradually learning to understand them is very special, especially when both the work and the people who make it resonate with me.
SANNZ: Has your thesis prepared you for what you wanted to do next?
Val: I think it has certainly prepared the cornerstone for what I want to do next for sure, but that still remains relatively broad. There are so many specific avenues I would like to take within architecture in my career. I have a feeling I will be spending many years cultivating a place for the intersections of cinema and architecture (and vice versa) with my work in the architectural industry, but I am incredibly content with the prospect of doing that.
SANNZ: Lastly, what advice would you give to future thesis-goers?
Val: Pursue a topic which you are either passionate about, challenged or inspired by. If you are lucky enough to do this, you will carry the project with you for the rest of your life. Equally value your personal time and your time devoted to your work. Take care of your mental, physical and/or spiritual health, support and help elevate your peers when they need you. Actively utilise the resources available to you on campus to aid your project. When in doubt during your thesis journey, work harder.
SANNZ: Thank you Valentina for all your work with SANNZ and Show Us Your Thesis over the years, we wish you all the best!
Val: Thank you so much!
Images of work provided by Valentina Espinoza Caćeres
Interview by Tane Pamatatau-Marques
