How to Enjoy a Rainy Summer Day: Architects and the Movies

We all need a little down time, especially on a rainy summer day that doesn’t lend itself to gardening or reading on the deck in a comfortable lawn chair with a cool drink within reach. Several years ago, Lucy Campbell prepared a column on architecture and film. We are resharing it here.

That column highlighted some major films with a focus on architecture. And of course, you could go back to The Fountainhead or take another look at how Alfred Hitchcock depicted the contemporary house in North by Northwest. Here is how ArchDaily talks about how Hitchcock interpreted architecture.

But there is always also something new out there. You might revisit The Matrix. How about Woody Allen’s Manhattan?  Spike Jones created Her, a 2013 science fiction romance. There is also the 2017 Japanese Ghost in a Shell. More recently Black Panther presented another look into the future.

Beyond these, I share below a series of blogs that provide additional films to consider. These feature films can color a gray day while still providing some challenges to the mind.

Take a look at:

Architectural Digest’s Must-See Movies Starring Architecture and Design

Architizer’s 8 Lessons in Modern Architecture Through the Movies

ArchDaily’s 5 Films that Critique Modern Architecture

BUILD’s Modern Architecture in Film

UDesign’s Our Top 15 Films with Exceptional Architecture

AnOther’s Amazing Modernist Architecture on Film

Taste of Cinema’s The 10 Best Movies about Architecture

Rethinking the Future’s 15 Famous Structures That Have Made Cameos in Famous Movies

Elle Decor’s 15 Famous Films Every Architect Should Watch

Archiol’s 18 Movies That Architects and Architecture Students Must Watch

Want something more substantial? If your library subscribes to Kanopy, Piegeon Digital or OnArchitecture, you are in for days of interesting viewing.