The Absent Column

In the eMagazine's Headlines we've covered the unsuccessful attempts at preserving Bertrand Goldberg's Prentice Women's Hospital at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Most recently we presented the three schemes vying to replace Goldberg's concrete cloverleaf after the unsuccessful attempts at saving it. The short film The Absent Column, by Nathan Eddy, a journalist based in Germany, touches on the various issues surrounding the preservation of the building, through interviews with critics and preservationists on the one hand, and the client and a lawyer on the other. The lessons are specific but also can be applied to architecture and cities in general.

The Absent Film was completed before the demolition of Prentice (underway at the time of writing), but the film's inclusion in the 2014 Architecture and Design Film Festival in Chicago raises the question if footage of the demolition will be added before its April screening. When asked if he would add such footage, Eddy said: "We can ... but the idea of a wrecking ball going into the side of it pains me." Nevertheless, the assistant cameraman on his film is shooting the demolition; meaning filmgoers in Chicago soon will be reminded about the masterpiece the city failed to save.