César Pelli

For several years now, a select group of architects has been regarded as celebrities. Some of their buildings have become symbols of major cities. Perhaps the most iconic example is the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, which have come to define Kuala Lumpur since 1998. César Pelli was convinced that an architectural design could become a work of art, much like a fugue by Bach or a painting by Rembrandt.

This film, which documents a controversy over plans to alter the original architectural design of the Whitney Museum of American Art, examines some of the problems raised by the decision, including Modernist and Post-Modernist styles, architecture as art, the responsibility of art museums to the public, and the role of the architect