Customer Reviews

Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner (Architecture and Design)

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Interesting, if a bit wordy, book explaining some of the thought processes that went into designing films of the near-future / alternate reality variety. This book would have much better had more illustrations/photographs been included.

This is a necessary title for those interested in film architecture. The book is published by Prestel and is 208 pages. The hardback is cloth with a nice dust cover. I detect no printing issues and if you are familiar with Prestel titles then you already know to expect quality.

From the inside flap:
"Beginning with the expressionistic and psychological sets in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Algol, this fascinating study examines the bleak view of the future in Metropolis, moves on to experimental depictions of visionary modern cities as in Asphalt and Sunrise, and in the more recent films Blade Runner and Dick Tracy."

So, it isn't a survey of film architecture, but rather a focus on the aforementioned styles (i.e. expressionistic, bleak and experimental) in film architecture. If you enjoy this book you might also enjoy another Prestel title, Visionary Architecture: From Babylon to Virtual Reality.

The book is divided into the following chapters:

Introduction
Essays
-The Explosion of Space
-Sites of Desire
-Before and After Metropolis
-New York, Olde York
-Like Today, Only More So
Synopses
Film Architecture: Selected Texts From the Weimar Republic
Set Designers' Biographies
Bibliography

The highlight for me were the 7 paintings by Syd Mead for Blade Runner that I've never seen before (I don't remember seeing in Blade Runner: The Inside Story).

This is one of those titles that I refer to often in my library and it's proven it's worth over the years. I can't recommend it enough.