Up From Ashes: A Film by Bill Kubota

STREAM

They're building a new library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not any library. This one will make important statements regarding design and the environment. Up From the Ashes follows a construction project from three points of view: Library Director Josie Parker wants something to appeal to her youngest patrons - children who will be using the building for decades to come. Architect Cory Lavigne pushes cutting edge green design that might send his career on a major upward trajectory. Woodworker John Yarema needs a new challenge and a place to make and show his art. The story lies in the wood. Ash, a beautiful hardwood, has been taken directly from the forest where the building sits, to be used in unique and captivating ways throughout the building. That's key because ash trees are dead in Michigan. A non-native insect called the emerald ash borer killed them. The scourge has changed the landscape across the Midwest, destroying countless ash trees. It's a lesson in the fragility of nature and the library tells the story in the structure itself. Up From Ashes takes us behind the scenes, documenting the two-year process with people creating a building that really matters. There's the controversial design and the tight budget. Deadlines loom and tempers flare. How does it come out in the end? It's worth the wait to find out.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

No community reviews. Write one below!