The Great Arch

The Great Arch

2025104 min6.9 / 10

A historical drama about an unlikely triumph of vision and integrity, following an obscure Danish architect's unexpected victory in France's most prestigious architectural competition.

France, 1983. The biggest architectural competition in history is launched by the new socialist president, François Mitterrand. Coveted by all the biggest international architectural firms, the open-call competition is surprisingly won by an unknown: Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, an architecture teacher from Copenhagen. Until then, the fifty-year-old Dane had built only four buildings: his home, and three small chapels.

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