Clara Kraft Isono

Clara Kraft Isono is an award-winning filmmaker, architect and academic, who shares her time between creative practice and academia. Founder and Director of Kraft Isono, a multidisciplinary design, animation and film production studio committed to telling critical stories about how we design, build, and cohabit. Her films have been screened internationally, including at the Raindance Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival and New York Independent Film Festival. Her work has also been exhibited at the Architectural Association, The National Gallery, and The Royal Academy of Arts, in London. Clara’s doctoral research investigated architectural essay film as a form of feminist spatial practice, a reflection of her own filmmaking practice. Her work is strongly embedded in academia, having taught in the UK for over 20 years, including at The Bartlett School of Architecture, Westminster University and the University of East London. Her most recent academic post was in the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art, where she co-led the interdisciplinary film and architecture design studio, ADS6 since 2013. She holds a Film by Practice Ph.D. from the University of Exeter, a Masters in Filmmaking from the London Film School, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture from the Architectural Association.

Her latest film projects include two feature-length documentaries about the architects Geoffrey Bawa and Jørn Utzon, both of which are presently screening globally. Current projects in development are, an immersive VR experience and exhibition in Sri Lanka, of the landscape garden Lunuganga, a key example of Tropical Modernism and a documentary on the early life of Zaha Hadid.