Sunset Over Mulholland Drive (2019), a documentary by Uli Gaulke and Agnes Lisa Wegner, portrays the lives of retired film-industry professionals residing at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles. This unique community, part of the Motion Picture & Television Fund, supports aging Hollywood members by combining healthcare and creative infrastructure with residential living. Through group discussions and personal interviews, the film explores how aging artists sustain their creative identities and social bonds through shared experience and access to purpose-built spaces. Rather than relying on traditional family structures or isolated retirement homes, residents benefit from a model of collective living that fosters connection and continued artistic practice.
Such models, however, remain rare. In Zürich, despite cultural funding, aging artists still face challenges: financial insecurity, limited access to suitable creative spaces, and urban environments ill-suited to reduced mobility. These issues complicate not just movement, but also the continuation of artistic work and social engagement. The Industriequartier already hosts a diversity of creative infrastructures and community spaces, yet few are designed with aging practitioners in mind. For many artists, retirement is not a clear break but an evolution of their relationship to work and space.
This prompts a critical reflection: how might an architectural intervention on the site of the existing parking structure in the Industriequartier respond to these realities? The project proposes a hybrid living-working environment that supports aging creative professionals through accessible housing, shared studios, and mobility-conscious design.
