the legacy of concrete traced through architecton
Architecton, an A24 documentary directed by Victor Kossakovsky, opens in theaters across the United States today, August 1st, 2025, following its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival last year. The film traces the material and political implications of construction, specifically concrete, through the eyes of architects, quarry workers, and the ruins of buildings both ancient and modern.
Italian architect Michele De Lucchi is featured prominently throughout the film, which is mostly silent. He is shown with measured movements, whether sketching or arranging stones in his garden near Milan, while the camera — handled by longtime Kossakovsky collaborator Ben Bernhard — travels from war-ravaged apartment blocks in Ukraine to earthquake-rattled structures in Turkey and stone quarries in Baalbek, Lebanon.
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
victor kossakovsky documents stone as witness
Architecton establishes its tone early, as the film opens with a sweeping drone shot over bombed buildings. Walls are torn open to reveal hollowed interiors. A banner reading ‘Kick Russia Out of Ukraine’ flutters on a facade. The film doesn’t speak in overt political terms, but its images document the damage in detail. The Russian director‘s camera lingers on absences. Missing walls and crushed concrete reveal exposed stairwells and empty living rooms.
The scenes from Turkey echo these voids, though here they result from natural disaster rather than war. Newer buildings, many concrete-framed, lie flattened while ancient stone structures nearby remain upright. These observational contrasts are embedded in the texture of the film’s editing and sound design.
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
Toward a Slower Practice
Between these scenes of destruction shown throughout the Architecton film, architect Michele De Lucchi assembling a circle of stones in his Milanese garden. This simple act of creation unfolds slowly, in contrast to the speed and violence of the demolition scenes. This gesture becomes the film’s only real construction sequence.
Elsewhere, viewers meet Abdul Nabi al-Afi, caretaker of the Baalbek quarry, and artist Nick Steur, known for his ephemeral stone balances. Their appearances reinforce the director’s interest in how humans handle stone, whether through preservation, balance, or blasting. In one of Architecton’s most important moments, crushed rock suspended midair becomes a detailed visual metaphor for the material on the brink of transformation.
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
Despite its global scope, the film is spare in dialogue. Music by Evgueni Galperine and immersive sound design by Aleksandr Dudarev bear much of the emotional weight. Machines, explosions, and wind often speak louder than humans. Even De Lucchi’s reflections, when they arrive, are brief and quiet as he comments on architecture’s complicity in environmental degradation and resource depletion.
The film documents moments of building and unbuilding with an eye toward their consequences. For architects and designers, it brings a timely meditation on the afterlife of structures and the material and environmental costs of new construction.
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
scene from Architecton (2024), image courtesy A24
project info:
name: Architecton
director: Victor Kossakovsky
starring: Michele de Lucchi
U.S. premiere: August 1st, 2025 (find tickets here)
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