Architecture is not a shell but a membrane. More than a stage for daily activities, it carries a life and memory of its own. Somewhere in Germany, the dormant interior of a municipal building is explored through the narrow lens of a camera. Haunted Townhall (Institution of Suspense) takes place long after closing hour, at night, along large halls, staircases, and waiting areas filled only with echo. None of the usual business, such as local political sessions or administrative meetings, is taking place. Instead, a sound composition of whispers, footsteps, and a voice singing in an unknown language, resonate amidst the glass surfaces and heavy concrete walls.

Haunted Townhall (Institution of Suspense) is a sequence of scenes building up tension like a movie trailer, a teaser, whose narrative is embedded in the very tangible matter of mid-century architecture. Suggesting an omniscient presence, the soundtrack acts as an amplifier of the colossal and quiet design, causing shivering moments of synesthesia. Among the codes and shapes of brutalism and post-modernism, a vocabulary of intimidation unfolds, pulling the viewer into a gloomy scenery of sci-fi scariness.

Haunted Townhall (Institution of Suspense)
4K Cinemascope, 10:08 min
Camera: Enno Endlicher
Sound: Chiaria Strickland
Text: Isabelle Tondre