Film Screening and Director Talk: Skin of Glass by Denise Zmekhol

The Center for Architecture + Design is pleased to kick off the 2025 CA+D Film Series with a special presentation of Skin of Glass plus a wine bar and popcorn making station! Following the screening, join us for a lively discussion and Q+A - learn more about the powerful story behind this deeply personal and politically resonant film.

Skin of Glass follows director Denise Zmekhol’s journey after discovering that her late father’s most celebrated work as an architect, a modernist glass skyscraper in the heart of São Paulo affectionately known as the Pele de Vidro (“Skin of Glass”), has become occupied by hundreds of homeless families.

The film delicately interweaves the personal and political in a poetic and cinematic meditation on displacement, inequality, and loss. In the wake of a shocking tragedy during the film’s production, Zmekhol connects with the residents of the Pele de Vidro and is brought face to face with the intimate, human consequences of an exploding population and global housing crisis.

Organized in collaboration with Richard Neill, Adventure Pictures, and Karen Curtiss, AIA, CA+D Vice Chair.