[Image Credit: Trendir]
On the heels of Oscar Season, it’s only natural that movies are on people’s minds. As architects, watching films doesn’t pertain solely to following the plotline nor catching the work of a favorite actor or director. Just as in real life, we can’t help but pay attention to the built environment that surrounds us, nor can we when watching the latest flick. It’s nice to come across some modernism gracing the scenes of movies, and it’s worth bringing them to light. Here’s a quick hit at a handful that we could recall, both recent and classic.
We’re kicking off the list with Hollywood’s favorite architect, John Lautner. His projects have graced the silver screen for decades. And likely for decades to come:
A Single Man (2009)
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore
George’s House
Architect: John Lautner
[Image Credit: Apartment Therapy]
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman
Treehorn Residence
Architect: John Lautner
[Image Credit: macphersonarchitecture.blogspot.com]
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Starring: Sean Connery and Jill St. John
Willard Whyte’s House
Architect: John Lautner
[Image Credit: centralinteriordesign.com]
It should come as no surprise that a Gosling film would feature some stellar architecture:
Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
Starring: Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell
Jacob’s House
Architect: Belzberg Architects
[Image Credit: Contemporist]
I Am Love (2009)
Starring Tilda Swinton and Flavio Parenti
Recchi House
Architect: Piero Portaluppi
[Image Credit: smallrooms.com]
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Starring Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck
Cameron’s House
Architects: A. James Speyer and David Haid
[Image Credit:lifewithoutbuildings.net]
Sometimes, the allure of fiction gets the better us, and the line between reality and make-believe gets blurry. Namely, in the “architecture” observed in the movies that are just a result of set design:
Ghost Writer (2010)
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, and Olivia Williams
Beach House
Architect: None. Set designed on location in Germany.
[Image Credit: arestdesign.com]
North by Northwest (1959)
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason
Vandamm House
Set design by: MGM, heavily inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright
[Image Credit: hookedonhouses.net]
Then there’s the genre where the world of make-believe is made transparent: animated features. We had to add at least one, you know, for the kids:
The Incredibles (2004)
Created by: Brad Bird for Pixar, Starring: Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter
Incredibles House
Environmental design by: Scott Capler and heavily inspired by Joseph Eichler
[Image Credit: blogs.babble.com]
Last but not least, an actual FLW house that made it to the movies:
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Starring: Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Andrew Wilson
Bob and Future Man’s House
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
[Image Credit: prairiemod.com]
Share any favorite films featuring modern architecture in the comments below.
Cheers, Team BUILD
FLW’s Ennis house makes an appearance in The Rocketeer, as well as several other period movies that escape me right now.
I cover some of this on the Mod House Media Watch blog:
http://modhousemw.blogspot.com/
although its more often about ads
Andrew Niccol’s film Gattaca with Ethan Hawke includes various shots of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin County Civic Center from 1960. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca
It also got a nomination for Art Direction. Fairly interesting juxtaposition of historical and futuristic in the architecture.
I was hoping you were including the house from Ghostwriter, simply amazing! I wish it existed in real life though, not just a set. Those windows!
Vancouver BC (aka Hollywood North) hosts many film and TV productions, especially sci-fi (e.g. Battlestar Galattica, 6th Day, Stargate, X-Men, X-Files etc), so our modern architecture gets good screen time.
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2011/01/vancouver-the-sci-fi-pop-culture-connection/
For residential shots, BSG’s Dr. Baltar lived in a great modernist house overlooking the sound at Lion’s Bay. And Twilight’s Edward Cullen and family have lived in two great houses, Jeff Kovel’s Hoke house and Arthur Erickson’s Stegeman house.
http://www.nhit-shis.org/hoke-house-cullens-family-modern-house-twilight-movie/
http://freshome.com/2009/11/21/twilight-new-moon-film-house-for-sale/
Erickson’s Waterfall condos are also a popular set, e.g. BSG’s Starbuck apt.
http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/gallery/waterfall_gallery.html
Don’t forget about Pierre Keonig’s Case Study House #22 (The Stahl House) from Galaxy Quest
http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/american_studies/tim_allen_was_abducted_by.php
Galaxey Quest? Do you have a screen grab from that?
I also loved the shots from the house in Fracture, starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. That movie also had a bunch of super-cool kinetic structures. Anyway, great post today!
Don’t know if they’re real or not, but I like the houses in “Charlie’s Angels 2″ – the one in Hollywood with the long poles that carries most of it, and Ironman’s house on the clifftop, and Harrison Ford’s house in “Firewall”, and Tom Hanks’ boat house in “Sleepless in Seattle”, and the houses out on the island in “Another Stakeout”.
@ lavardera, try here
I love this post. North by Northwest is one of my favorite films, and I was incredibly disappointed when I found out the house was a set. It’s gorgeous, and I’d love to live in it, whether at the top of Mt Rushmore or not.
Also worth a mention is LA Confidential for its use of the Lovell House by Richard Neutra
Bridgitte Bardot and Casa Malaparte star in “Contempt.” F.L.Wright’s Walker residence in “A Summer Place”. Lautner’s Chemosphere in De Palma’s ‘Body Double”-the driller killer movie.
Don’t forget the classic Blade Runner with the FLW Ennis House
The 13th Floor with Craig Bierko, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Gretchen Mol has the Ennis House in it as well.
wasn’t the tate modern in children of men?
the axel schultes krematorium in berlin – aeon flux
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRSZPXXGCp0
The Elrod House by John Lautner in Palm Springs. Featured in Diamonds are Forever
John Lautner’s Garcia Residence was the home of the evil villain in one of the Lethal Weapon movies. The Lovell Health House was the home of the bad guy in L.A. Confidential. FLW’s Turkel Residence in Detroit will make an appearance in the soon-to-be-released movie Sparkle, Whitney Houston’s last film.
As far as fictional sets go, the house in The Lake House was quite interesting. It was built in a surburban Chicago nature preserve, and then dismantled after filming was complete. And the house that is the main setting for the movie When A Stranger Calls (2006 verson) is also a very beautiful set that reminds me of something that Ray Kappe might have designed.
A few exterior shots featured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House in the 1958 William Castle, Vincent Price film: House on Haunted Hill. To prove it I have one frame from the film.
How beautiful. Thanks for the list of films. Just looking some to play at the minneapolis architecture firms events.