1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

There always has been a symbiotic relationship between Cinema and Architecture. Once a beloved
Danish film director, Carl Dreyer, argued that Architecture is Cinema’s closest relative. Comparing these
dissimilar art forms, one being the most mimetic of the arts and the other one being the construction of a
new reality that is almost dynamic, seems almost rather paradoxical. Despite having a complex
relationship with each other, them being distant art forms, both dynamically as well as statically
complement and gives life to one another.

Coming to a specific genre in Cinema, Science Fiction, and Architecture, their relationship has grown
throughout the years. The end of the 20 th Century commenced a new era of science fiction and the start of
digitalization. Rise of the social media, the internet, and smartphones have made communication through
images more accessible and popular. There is a visible growth and dependency of the western world on
this visual culture. Consumers try to engage in visual events in order to search for information, driving
pleasure in the provided interface with visual technology.

Due to this growth, this visual culture has influenced new and various forms of perception of architecture.
One of the many attempts in the rise of the science fiction genre was to try, visualize and speculate how
the future built environments and cities would look like. Cities are the typical settings for science-fiction
films, often as much part of the action as the actors themselves 1. 1927’s Metropolis delineates a future
world of 2026 inspired by modernism and mostly art deco. Every generation has its own respective time-
bound perception of a future city, with that we can agree that in the long term architecture and science
fiction always have synergism towards one another and are deeply interrelated.

In Science fiction cinema, architectural space and forms often mimic the process of a person identifying
and occupying the space on the screen. But the spaces in these films do more than just connote and draw
an environment that mirrors the character’s place within an area legitimizing their necessity to be there. In
these Science fiction films, architectural forms, spaces, and narratives are important parts for the audience
to properly understand the film and identify its importance. These spaces and forms are the spaces

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JOHN R, GOLD (2001), UNDER DARKENED SKIES: THE CITY IN SCIENCE-FICTION FILM, 337

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where the audience is invited to travel through; to partake in the experience and the journey of identifying
and relating to the spaces and forms created by the architecture when viewing the film.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The main aim of this study is to find out the effective and thought-provoking ways architecture has been
utilized to invoke a response from the audience viewing the films through space, forms, and narrative and
how these elements have changed throughout the years with new science fiction film releases and whether
any new reality (cities, urban projects) have been inspired from it. The objective is to analyze and
compare the relationship between these elements- form, space, and narrative; and to analyze any future
possibilities of these elements coming to fruition in future urban megaprojects or cityscape projects.

1.3 METHODOLOGY

1.3.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction and understanding of reviewed and published research related to the topic and their
respective terminologies and keywords like Architecture, Science-fiction, Cinema, Narrative, Forms, and
Space.

Applying these terminologies in films and architecture and understanding their importance and roles and
applying them through the medium of film in architecture.

1.3.2 CASE STUDIES: DATA COLLECTION

Conducting a comparative analysis between four sets of films, corresponding to two different periods of
time in relation to three main elements- space, form, and narrative; and the differing technologies, ideas,
and perceptions of architecture experienced between the releases of the films. Also how perception in
science fiction overall as well as in these films speculates the futurity of architecture, societies, and cities.

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1.3.3 ANALYSIS OF THE DATA (INCLUDING GRAPHICS)

Detailed analysis and comparative visuals, as well as the written study of the main elements, will be
showcased in various films set in different eras; to highlight the progress of architecture throughout the
years with these films as case studies.

1.3.4 CONCLUSION

To support and get a conclusion of the case studies and their respective analysis and sum up the
dissertation to prove a point by highlighting certain factual information as a conclusion which will
unravel through the research. The conclusions will be drawn from the analysis, which will validate and
support the aim this dissertation is reaching for.

1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The scope of this study is the in-depth analysis and research of the secondary works that focus on the
particular area this dissertation is aiming for. View and interpret the selected films and analyze how this
genre and architecture are interrelated and co-dependent on one another.

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 2 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

The development of big narratives can be seen in the history of architecture. Two of them have
recently codified and organised our knowledge of the goals and progression of architectural
modernism. Although both of these came to opposite conclusions, they both established the
paradigms for research at the time. The first of the grand narratives, which first appeared in the late
1920s, focused on the emergence and growth of architectural modernism and for more than 40 years
dominated critical approaches to approaches to ways of interpreting the history of architecture.
Historians were able to demonstrate modern architecture as a component of an evolution—a series of
events—by identifying the primary contributors and influential thinkers within this. This allowed
historians to observe the rise of modern architecture.

The extensive application of modernist concepts in urban restoration initiatives, which had given rise
to a conviction in modernism's historical success, provided support for and legitimised these views. It
is obvious that there were many utopian city proposals in the early 20th century, many of which
evolved into plans for actual settlements. For instance, "Broadacres" by Frank Lloyd Wright and
"Radiant City" by Le Corbusier. Historians contend that in the case of these "ideal cities," alterations
to the physical environment show an internal restructuring of the social structure. It's significant to
note that after those principles had been implemented for twenty years, public discontent rendered the
conviction in modernism's triumph indefensible.

Le Corbusier, a French-Swiss architect, was one of the designers who was frequently criticised for
having flawed utopian visions. It was claimed that his ideas had led to the construction of enormous
concrete slabs or towers of housing that rose uncomfortably above towns and were completely
divorced from their surroundings and history. Plans by Le Corbusier for his 1922 "Contemporary
City" include a strong emphasis on a meticulous organisation that is characterised by symmetry,
orderliness, and twenty-four high-rise buildings with a capacity to house three million people. There

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were garden terraces (one for each duplex) that opened up at the ground level of these flats, which
were built on six double-storied levels. Le Corbusier also envisioned a sophisticated transportation
infrastructure.

Le Corbusier, a French-Swiss architect, was one of the designers who was frequently criticised for
having flawed utopian visions. It was claimed that his ideas had led to the construction of enormous
concrete slabs or towers of housing that rose uncomfortably above towns and were completely
divorced from their surroundings and history. Plans by Le Corbusier for his 1922 "Contemporary
City" include a strong emphasis on a meticulous organisation that is characterised by symmetry,
orderliness, and twenty-four high-rise buildings with a capacity to house three million people. There
were garden terraces (one for each duplex) that opened up at the ground level of these flats, which
were built on six double-storied levels. Le Corbusier also envisioned a sophisticated transportation
infrastructure.

There is a hierarchy present in the environment that can be broken down into three distinct phases or
levels, and this hierarchy extends through Blade Runner. In Metropolis, we repeatedly see vistas of
tall buildings that create a maze-like vision of space through which several aeroplanes can fly. Many
of these visual themes continue to have an impact on later science fiction movies, including the Fifth
Element and the previously mentioned Blade Runner. Similar to Blade Runner, the Fifth Element,
and Alien, Lang manipulates the environment in Metropolis to weave racial and socioeconomic class
themes with aesthetic components.

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