Film Basics
90 mins | Switzerland | 2024
Directors: Beatrice Minger, Christoph Schaub
She built a house for herself. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a masterpiece.

Irish designer Eileen Gray built a refuge on the Côte d‘Azur in 1929. Her first house is a discrete, avant-garde masterpiece. She named it E.1027, a cryptic marriage of her initials and those of Jean Badovici, with whom she built it. Le Corbusier, upon discovering the house, became intrigued and obsessed. He later covered the walls with murals and published photos of them. Gray described these paintings as vandalism and demanded restitution. He ignored her wishes and instead built his famous Cabanon directly behind E.1027, which dominates the narrative of the site to this day. This is a story about the power of one woman’s creative expression and a man’s desire to control it.

About the Architecture and Design Film Festival
The Architecture and Design Film Festival (ADFF)—North America’s largest film festival dedicated to architecture and design—is coming back to Toronto for another year of great films and insightful discussions! From October 23 – 26, catch one of their amazing lineup of 16 films, from all over the world. Looking for the full list of films showcased at this year’s ADFF: Toronto? See the complete programme on the festival’s website!

The TSA is proud to once again be partnering with ADFF: Toronto to bring a series of panel discussions and post-screening Q&As that complement this year’s film roster. These panels bring together architects, film-makers, and subject matter experts to further explore the themes of each film and bring them back to our local context here in Toronto.