Originating in Philadelphia, Horn & Hardart's Automat was America’s original and most beloved restaurant chain where generations of Americans ate and drank coffee at elegant communal marble tables, free from social barriers. Pie? Coffee? Put your nickel in, then open the little glass door to a freshly made delight. This ritual made Horn & Hardart the place to meet, where people connected over good food and coffee. The Automat illustrates how the company served the public great food while treating its employees with fairness and integrity. The legacy of the Automat spans a century, chronicling it's rise as an iconic restaurant chain that inspired Starbucks, and it's eventual decline sealed by the rise of fast food that forever transformed the American dining landscape.

Screen from Home, Same Day Only

Directed by Lisa Hurwitz 

2021, USA, 79 Minutes

FREE. Doors open at 6:00 pm, movie begins at 6:30 pm. 

Learn more about Season 13 of The Architecture + Design Film Series at adfilmseries.org

The Architecture + Design Film Series is presented by: 118 Elliot Gallery, AIA Vermont, and Burlington City Arts. With support from: 05401, AIAVT Emerging Professionals, Artisan Engineering, Birdseye Building Company, Burlington Furniture, Office Environments, Inc., Pella Windows and Doors, Peregrine Design/Build, Redstone, Riven Studio, Rocky Dale Gardens, Selin + Selin, Site Form Studio, TruexCullins, UVM Department of Art & Art History, Vermont Eco-Floors, NuChocolat, Douglas Sweets, American Flatbread, Radio Bean, Jim Williams Architecture and Design, Austin Design, Inc., Hinterland Studio, Hubbard Land Design, Mathes Hulme Builders, ASLA - Vermont Chapter, Hotel Vermont, and Nusantara