A Legacy of Mies and KingA Legacy of Mies and King

What do you do with a library designed in the sixties by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and named after Martin Luther King Jr.? This was the question Francine Houben, creative director of Mecanoo architecten, had to answer when she was commissioned to give Washington D.C.'s central library a new future. After the film their will be a Q&A with Francine Houben (with a proviso).

The documentary film 'A Legacy of Mies and King' (Mecanoo, 2016, 62 min.) follows architect Francine Houben as she investigates the past and present in order to design the library fit for the future. Houben delves into the archives, meets contemporaries of Mies and King, speaks to the current visitors of the library, and participate in a Martin Luther King Day March. During her quest, both the namesake and the original architect of the building look over her shoulder critically.