10 Films About Architects That Are Worth Watching After Brutalist and Megapolis
The final months of 2024 saw the release of two major cinematic works, each focusing on design and architecture. Even though the films are very different (i.e. one is nominated for an Oscar , the other is nominated for a Razzie ), each is monumental in its own way.
First up was Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-old sci-fi drama Metropolis, about a visionary architect played by Adam Driver who dreams of transforming the future city of New Rome into a utopian paradise with the help of magical metal. Critics weren’t very kind to Coppola’s film, but there was a much warmer reception to Brady Corbett’s Violent , a more down-to-earth but no less epic historical drama about a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor (Adrien Brody) who emigrates to the United States and whose past as experienced architect gradually becomes clearer.
Beyond documentaries, architects and architecture play different but special roles in film: the art of architecture, when highlighted, is often used to metaphorically reflect what happens between prominent individuals. However, as a profession, architecture is often seen as a soft designation: architects often represent solid middle-class romantic interests, and the specific career is secondary. While these 10 films range from scary, silly, and epic, they all go a little deeper.
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Certainly a cautionary tale for aspiring young architects, The Towering Inferno reminds us that even Paul Newman makes mistakes (and just being hot doesn’t necessarily make one a good architect). The actor plays Doug Roberts, designer of the world’s most walled building: the San Francisco Glass Tower (fictional, thank goodness). The main fire is not entirely Duncan’s fault – the blame is laid at the feet of various subcontractors cutting corners – but it is still clear that Roberts was more concerned about style and personal prestige than safety, resulting in a horrific (also spectacular) disaster in which various ’70s-era celebrities find themselves in fiery danger. You can buy The Towering Inferno from Prime Video .
Belly of an Architect (1987)
In the acclaimed, if lesser-known, 1980s independent film, Brian Dennehy plays (fictional) architect Stourley Cracklight, who follows him as he travels from Chicago to Rome to organize an exhibition of (real-life) 18th-century French architect Etienne- Louis Boulet. In Rome, Cracklight’s marriage and resolve begin to crumble against the backdrop of increasingly rich classical architecture, especially that of Boulet himself, whose work is characterized as grandiose, to the point of megalomania (if not fascist). All of this impressive architecture is quite present on screen and is often used to signal that our presenter is being dwarfed by the scale of the art around him. You can stream Belly of the Architect on Prime Video .
High-rise (2015)
In the film adaptation of J. J. Ballard’s dystopian novel of the same name , High Rise, Tom Hiddleston plays Dr. Robert Lang, who lives in a London skyscraper where things have gone horribly wrong (they literally eat dogs). We go back a few months to meet the architect, played by Jeremy Irons, who designed the (pretty cool) building that is the absolute leader in sleek modern living – at least for the wealthier residents living on the upper floors. When class war inevitably breaks out between them and the less fortunate lower denizens, the situation grows increasingly grim, but the architect remains free for a time to politely philosophize about the impact of his designs on society. After all, he doesn’t have to live there. You can stream High-Rise on Max or rent it from Prime Video .
Inception (2010)
Inception captures what must be an architect’s dream and then brings things back down to earth in extremely banal ways. Elliot Page plays Ariadne, an architecture student hired to design the architecture of her literal dreams without any budget or design restrictions. Projects must be plausible on an intuitive level, with a unique logic that the dreamer will not question. Of course, capitalism rears its head here too: this is not some grand plan for art unbridled by reality; all in service of a super-rich businessman bent on stealing corporate secrets—a reminder that even our dreams are limited by greed. You can stream Inception onNetflix or rent it from Prime Video .
The Source (1949)
I’d rather eat my own head than read another great Ayn Rand book, but this King Vidor-directed adaptation of her landmark book certainly focuses on the title character’s profession, although it’s used to go into more detail about how the one who… inferior to popular tastes is a dirty communist or something like that. Gary Cooper plays Howard Roark, who faces an all-out newspaper campaign to put an end to his individual spirit and idiosyncratic agenda. The central romance between Roarke and the icy cold-blooded Dani Taggert (Patricia Neal) provides some melodramatic fun, and the cinematography is stunning. The central message of being true to your muse is also relevant, even if the narrative takes that idea to some pretty wacky extremes (though without some of the novel’s more odious undertones). You can stream The Fountainhead on The Criterion Channel .
My Uncle (1958)
I’ve tried to stick to films that focus on architects, or at least building design as a profession, but it’s hard to avoid Jacques Tati when it comes to how architecture affects our lives. This is the second of the director’s films in which he plays the hopelessly bumbling Monsieur Hulot (and his first in color). Hulot spends time with his nephew and family in their ultra-modern, ruthlessly geometric home in a new suburb of Paris. . Brilliantly and cheerfully conceived, Villa Arpel is a triumph of style over substance, with comfort and tradition giving way to capitalist modernity at every turn. The chairs are almost impossible to sit on, the stoves are positioned in such a way that it is impossible to walk, and the supposedly convenient appliances are so loud that you can barely think. It’s satire, underpinned by physical comedy, but insightful into how architecture and design can try to improve our lives, but get it wrong. You can stream Mon Oncle on Max or rent it on Prime Video .
Amityville: It’s About Time (1992)
From the sublimely funny to the downright hilarious: a highlight of a (relatively) dozens-of -film series (don’t worry if you’ve lost track of the Amityville oeuvre), It’s About Time reminds us that urban planning and architectural design aren’t all blueprints and math , it’s also the atmosphere. If, for example, you’re hired to design a new subdivision in Amityville, as is the case with architect Jacob Sterling (Stephen Macht), never use an old clock from the ruins of the infamous murder house as inspiration. This will end badly for all parties. You can stream Amityville: It’s About Time on Tubi, Freevee and Prime Video .
Jungle Fever (1991)
The architecture isn’t the defining feature of this 1991 Spike Lee establishment, but it speaks to the dearth of black American architects in both film and real life. Harlem architect Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) has built himself an impressive career as well as a strong family life—at least until he begins an affair with a temp worker (Annabella Sciorra) assigned to him by his agency. Being an architect in movies is often a shorthand way to suggest white-collar, middle-class success and is almost entirely limited to white characters (think Sleepless in Seattle ); Despite the enormous contributions of black building designers to the history of American design, the percentage of white people in the field remains somewhere in the 90s . In film, that number is closer to 100%—to be fair, Flipper is the only non-white cinematic architect I came across while putting together this review. So whether you approve of his extramarital affairs or not, you can certainly give him credit for being a trailblazer. You can rent Jungle Fever from Prime Video .
Columbus (2017)
Indie director Kogonada ( After Young , Pachinko ) makes his debut with this quiet relationship drama that makes stunning use of the structural design features of Columbus, Indiana, perhaps a surprising place to focus on architecture. John Cho plays Gene Lee, who returns to the main city to care for his father, who is currently in a coma in a local hospital. He meets library employee Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) and they explore Columbus together, with the city’s composition serving as a backdrop (and sometimes a mirror) to their developing relationship, although topics of conversation include her knowledge of local architecture and her desire to enter the field. This is a quiet, subtle film, as close as possible to pure 21st century cinema. You can rent Columbus from Prime Video .
Black Cat (1934)
A stunning expressionist masterpiece with gruesome trappings, the architecture of The Black Cat serves the story as much as it enhances it. Boris Karloff plays architect and former Austro-Hungarian army officer Hjalmar Poelzig, who built a state-of-the-art Bauhaus house on the ruins of the fort he betrayed to the Russians during World War II. However, its modernity hides many occult mysteries – it is a haunted house unlike any before, and its stylish sterility becomes a trap in itself. Director Edward J. Elmer worked as a set designer in Germany before fleeing the Nazi rise to power, and it’s hard not to see parallels between the film and conditions in Germany at the end of the Weimar Republic, when a thin semblance of progress was created. on top of real corpses. You can rent Black Cat from Prime Video .