Architect Eliot Noyes is a transitional figure in the history of American design. Educated by Walter Gropius at Harvard, Noyes brings a modernist approach to corporate America. His impact on companies like IBM and Mobil paved the way for Apple and many of the other design-conscious brands we know today. Modernism, Inc. follows Noyes’ career up to a time when disruptive designers of the early 70s began pushing back against the status quo. This is Director Jason Cohn’s second film at ADFF, after Eames: The Architect and the Painter showed at the 2011 festival. With this year’s film, the director considers contemporary questions about the role of a designer in today’s world.

Hosted by Grace Farms Architecture Advisor Toshihiro Oki, this screening will be introduced by Grace Farms CEO & Founder, Sharon Prince. A Q&A with architect Frederick Noyes, Director Jason Cohn, IBM corporate archivist Jamie Martin, and Director of the ADFF Kyle Bergman, will follow.