Wavelength Pictures been awarded development funding by the Irish Film Board for Kevin Roche: Living Architecture. The documentary is an examination of the life and work of one of the world’s most acclaimed international architects — Irishman Kevin Roche. Through our review of Kevin Roche’s career we will also investigate fundamental architectural issues and impacts on people’s lives. Still working at the age of 92 Kevin Roche, emigrated to the USA in 1949 and reached the top of his profession winning its most prestigious award, the Pritzker Prize, in 1982. The Irish Film Board funding has enabled director Mark Noonan to do some initial interviews with Kevin Roche and exploratory location filming in the USA.
Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect is a feature documentary film that considers many of the key architectural questions through the 70 year career of Pritzker Prize winning Irish-American architect Kevin Roche, including the relationship between architects and the public they serve. Still working at age 94, Kevin Roche is an enigma, a man with no interest in fame who refuses retirement and continually looks to the future regardless of age. Roche's architectural philosophy is that 'the responsibility of the modern architect is to create a community for a modern society' and has emphasised the importance for peoples well-being to bring nature into the buildings they inhabit. We consider the application of this philosophy in acclaimed buildings such as the Ford Foundation, Oakland Museum and at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for whom Kevin Roche was their principal architect for over 40 years.