Stardust: The Story of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown

Denise Scott Brown has been one of the world’s most influential architects of the 20th Century, but she has lived her life alongside her even more famous Pritzker Prize-winning partner and husband, Robert Venturi. Filmed over a decade by their son, Stardust, follows ‘Bob and Denise’ in a (tragi-comic) road movie across continents as they look back to the events and buildings that inspired a partnership and love affair of over half a century. Always holding hands, whether in their most famous building, the Sainsbury Wing of the National gallery, or while sitting on foldable chairs in their kitchen, surrounded by rooms filled with Las Vegas memorabilia and art, we share their secrets and loves. These brilliant innovators, always out of step with the architectural establishment, revolutionized the practice of architecture through their buildings and writings. Venturi, raised by Italian parents, pays homage to Rome, the ‘eternal’ city that profoundly affected him as an artist and led to the writing of Complexity and Contradiction, which influenced generations of architects worldwide. This ground-breaking film is a vibrant montage of early archival and colourful verité which shows how Bob and Denise, together, changed the course of architecture. Yet in a profession where the notion of lone genius is exalted, will Denise ever convince people that creativity really can exist in two minds?