Interior Design

An introduction to the elements of design: color, line, shape, form, pattern, and texture. In addition to the customary design disciplines-interior, clothing, landscape, and architecture-the video also features more unusual venues like the family dog, kids, and professional models.

An introduction to the natural world and the fashion world, ancient times and modern pastimes, and interiors and exteriors with this lively and entertaining video. Narrated by an award-winning actress, it will give them a thorough grounding in the timeless principles of design: balance, rhythm, scale, proportion, emphasis, and harmony.

An integral component of any planned space, light is a favorite theme of designers. This program surveys the innovative work of seven contemporary designers whose lamps and lighting installations have literally changed the way we see things. Achille Castiglioni, Michele de Lucchi, Ettore Sottsass, Alberto Meda, Philippe Starck, Richard Sapper, and Ingo Maurer discuss their influences and ideas concerning the practical, decorative, and industrial applications of light fixtures.

On the outskirts of Dessau, Germany, Walter Gropius built his Higher Academy for the Arts in 1926: the Bauhaus. Filmed on location, this highly detailed study of Gropius' groundbreaking building explores every nuance of its design, as well as its history and the philosophy of its architect. A thorough tour of the Bauhaus is complemented with sketches, photographs, historic film footage, and vintage and modern aerial views. The separate housing units designed by Gropius and built for the famous teachers of the Bauhaus, including Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, are also shown.

Architect Frank Gehry's extraordinary building in the Basque country of northern Spain resembles a gigantic abstract sculpture in titanium, glass, and limestone. Its luminous exterior is as visually stimulating as the cathedral-like atrium and the organic forms of the galleries-an artful complement to the building's artistic contents. In this outstanding program, Mr. Gehry discusses his design approach and the architectural evolution of the museum, from sketches, to computerized blueprints, to the completed project.

The fundamental difference between a green approach to building and remodeling and a conventional approach is the thinking that guides the project. This video explores the thought process at the core of green architectural design and construction as it takes viewers behind the scenes of an architectural firm specializing in sustainable design, a remodeler who has built a green construction business, a supplier of eco-friendly building materials, and a homeowner who has remodeled his house from the ground up using green materials, technologies, and practices.

This program examines the design, construction, and history of Cologne Cathedral-which, for a grand total of four years, was the tallest building in the world. Dr. Barbara Schock-Werner, the cathedral's resident chief architect, describes political and cultural conditions during Cologne's initial building years and guides viewers through the evolution of the colossal church. Dr. Ulrike Brinkmann, in charge of the cathedral's acres of stained glass, sheds light on the religious meanings and architectural significance of the myriad colored windows.