Shelter: December highlights

This month on Shelter is the World Premiere of Prefab Future House, in which prototype houses were built in the NSW countryside to create more efficient and cost-effective methods of building houses.

Shelter Original: Prefab Future House
(25 mins) Australia 2023
Worldwide Premiere: December 11
“There’s a real potential for the culture of housing in this country, to adapt to the future of housing in this country.” – Peter Stutchbury. With Australia in the midst of a severe housing crisis; its younger generation being priced out of the traditional concept of owning their own homes; and the cost of living skyrocketing, what if a new home could be built carbon neutral or even carbon-negative; architecturally stunning; seamlessly woven into its natural surrounds; and put together in just a couple of weeks? Shelter Originals: Prefab Future House explores the incredible and ground-breaking collaboration between Oscar Martin and Peter Stutchbury Architects to create a sustainable, prefabricated and affordable house in its entirety. After running pop-culture website Pedestrian for 15 years, Oscar Martin left his role in the media to become a builder. Working on site throughout his 2 year work-placement, he couldn’t help but notice the huge amount of wastage in the construction industry; and set out to create more efficient and cost-effective methods of building houses. “I’ve always believed that an architect’s success should be measured on how much waste leaves a site,” says Martin, “and if you designed a house on those principles, that’d be a great start for sustainability.” Discovering the ingenuity and assembly speed of Prefab walls, Martin approached Peter Stutchbury Architects, and together they began to explore how to implement the learnings of Stutchbury’s 40 year career into a modern adaptation of prefab housing; and create a flexible and beautiful prefab design that could adapt to its environment. Using Cross Laminated Timber construction, an innovation from one of Australia’s most celebrated modern architects, they created a number of prototype houses in the NSW countryside, each assembled within a couple of weeks, and with absolute minimal wastage and environmental impact on the area, all while retaining the functional and aesthetic needs of a modern home; to create what could be the house of the future. “We’re trying to provide a beautiful building, that can adapt to its settings – that start’s people thinking: ‘how big does a house need to be?’” – Peter Stutchbury
Production Credits:
Writer, Director & Producer: Matt Bird
Executive Producers: Dustin Clare & Camille Clare

Prospettiva Olivetti
(88 mins) Italy 2020
December 4
After the death of its iconic founder and industrialist Adriano Olivetti in 1960, the management of his company sought to spread his ideas and philosophy on design and its integral role in forming and strengthening community to the rest of the world. Prospettiva Olivetti embarks on a journey through Olivetti’s iconic buildings, spanning the 1960s to the 1980s. As it explores showrooms, factories, and headquarters designed by international architectural masters, this feature documentary weaves Olivetti’s legacy together through personal narratives and archival material. Reconstructing a dual perspective of Olivetti’s historic global impact and the forward-looking vision embodied in these structures; the film showcases the essence of Olivetti’s past achievements while contemplating their enduring legacy and future possibilities. Winner of Best Feature Film at Moscow International Design Film Festival (2021)

The Grand Plan
6 X 23 mins New Zealand 2013
December 18
What happens when a beautiful but derelict hotel building collides with a passionate team of restaurateurs & entrepreneurs, with a stunning vision of reopening its doors? This New Zealand documentary series tracks restaurateurs Nick and Sarah, along with entrepreneurs Graham and Stephen, as they navigate the tumult of four earthquakes to repurpose a worn Christchurch heritage hotel into a modern gastropub. Initially derailed by seismic events, their vision pivots after a devastating earthquake. The focus shifts to rebuilding their damaged Lyttleton restaurant, despite aftershocks, the birth of their second child, and bureaucratic hurdles. Witness their tenacious journey to turn adversity into triumph and realise their revised dream amid the challenges of post-quake reconstruction.