Architecture of the Mind
It's been a while since Hollywood has attempted architecture as a subject matter. I went and watched Inception over the weekend and I thought it was interesting. What do you think of portrayal of architecture and architects in movies? Do these movies have implications to real-life architects? I'm going to write a full blog post on the subject in coming weeks, but would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Tags: architecture, city, inception, movie
Views: 106
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Maissaa Khidher on -
I like this topic alot, this can start a very interesting discussion, I feel like like I have a hundred thoughts which I want to say at the same time!!! but hey; that's not very "Architectural" haha... less is more, this will always be true !
I haven't been to this movie yet, but now I think I will.. however, hollywood always shwos architects as the Atractive charachter in the movie, this is also very much true, but not always true!
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Permalink Reply by Manisha Gotmare on -
Movies had always shown an architect as a Glamorous person.... but his / her works are actually glamorous..
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Permalink Reply by Tyson on -
That's a good point Manisha. The glamor of the Architect always seems to be at the forefront. I've always thought this was a little silly, but I guess we come to expect that from Hollywood...
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Permalink Reply by chethan vennal on -
great movie ..... and gives lotta food for thought . would defenitely want to participate in discussion once u blog.
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Permalink Reply by Tyson on
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Thanks for the reply Chethan, I'll look forward to your thoughts once the next post is up.
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Permalink Reply by Almustapha Ahmad on -
Back in 2010, i watched this movie because of this post and today i can make a comment:
These movies have a lot of impacts on us some of which i'll list below:
1. they tell us that people don't just come to architects simply to get a building or design. there is a set of goals or functions they want that particular building to meet, a satisfaction they require and within our powers we have to provide this building.
2.We have to learn to provide for contingencies, eg. when the required an alternative access to the building where the father was housed in the third layer..if there was no alternative the mission would have not been that easy.
3. They trigger our imaginations and also prove one of Daniel Libeskind's points in architecture he made in an episode of TED TALKS that " we have to create spaces we have only been to in our minds", i think it tells you to try to bring into reality this spaces that no one else apart from you has experienced.
i hope i have being able to contribute a little. thanks a lot.
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Permalink Reply by Gunnar Bergmann Stefansson on -
It is interesting to look at how Hollywood depicts architects. In Inception and Matrix the architect is "the master thinker" where as in movies like Intersection and Indecent Proposal the architect is a passionate artist type character.
In my opinion both these types are based on the "real-life architect". Other movies like It's Complicated or Sleepless in Seattle, only use the title "architect" as a status symbol, to identify the character as a grounded, sensitive middle class man.
Architecture is utilized in most movies to establish most scenes, and it is sometimes funny to watch a scene go from an interior to exterior shot and in reality the two are not of the same building, and in many cases, not even in the same city (or country). So in a way, architecture (buildings, city planing.....) are just used as a tool to make the situation the director or writer is trying to portray, the "architectural experience" is only a byproduct. I was watching Mr. Popper's Penguins on friday, and there is a good example of this in that movie, where a scene takes place in Goggenheim museum in NY, not for it's architectural splendor, but because of the fact that it has a continuous ramp that goes up all the building, and that made for a great sliding scene for the penguins. This is the case in most movies, and because of this, there are independent businesses that do nothing but scout locations, and provide information on locations based on requests from the movie like the director, location manager or set designer.
But going back to the movie Inception, there the actual role of an architect is explained to the viewer in a new way. Here the architect is introduced as the best (and really the only) possible person to be able to create a new reality on the fly. She is the master thinker, that can think of the environment from the big scale to the finest detail. That is a good way to explain to the lay person what architects really do, and the first time I see that done in a movie.
I know this comes late, but I hope this helps you in your blog on the subject.
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