The Brady Bunch
Mike Brady was a busy man. As well as looking after 3 boys of his own, a wife and 3 very lovely girls he was also an Architect. As with any successful architect of the 60s, he had designed himself a Modernist Mecca to house his large brood (+Alice). The Brady family home gives us spectacular levels, stone fireplace and a burnt orange laminex open plan kitchen. Breezy and light this home had ample, though ill-defined (just how did those bedrooms over look the yard?) space for everyone.
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The Party
Hipsters of the world unite. Blake Edwards knew the only house that proclaims 1969 Hollywood Mogul is one with a sunken fire pit, automated bar, floor to ceiling windows looking out to the pool and, of course, a stream running through the middle. The ultimate party house to define a generation.
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The Anniversary Party
This house is what Edwards probably had in mind when filming The Party. Not some enormous, neo Spanish villa for so many trashy celebs, this typical mid-century Hollywood home of moderate size, clean horizontal lines and pool, is for your more discerning stars. Be it reading the next Jarmusch script or having a domestic argument, this is your place.
Update! MA’s hunch that ‘The Anniversary Party’ house was designed by Richard Neutra was confirmed with investigations leading to The Schaarman House (built 1953). It is clear that an iconic Modernist house was intended as a main character from the get go. Have a look at the first page of the movie script…
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North by Northwest
With classic Hollywood movies there are the unspoken rules. The girl always needs saving, the good guys always win, and the bad guys know the best architects. Although not seen until the last 20 minutes of this Hitchcock masterpiece, Van Dams lair above the heads of Mount Rushmore is a textbook example of why crime does pay. Rumored to be modeled on a Frank Lloyd Wright home, it displays his trademark craftwork aesthetic.
Also take a good look at the Mount Rushmore tourist cafe and the UN building, which in reality was designed in collaboration by Modernist legends Le Corbusier and Niemeyer. The UN Building has also featured in Live and let Die, Batman (1966), The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Destroy all Monsters in which Godzilla demolishes it with an Atomic Ray – Woo!
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The Ice Storm
New Canaan Connecticut is not only the setting for this movie of 1970s boredom turned debauchery but decades before had been the location of architectural controversy when several architects had turned from the typical New England style home and built a succession of Modernist abodes. In The Ice Storm these beautiful and successful homes are populated by beautiful and successful people, shielding many a family drama from the outside world.
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The Incredibles
This is Pixar at their design geek high-water mark. Set somewhere around that mythic Atomic Age of the recent past, it is scene after scene of various 20th Century architecture ideals. This includes the retro Parr home (make sure you notice the furniture and impossible kitchen scheme), the Tiki Bond-esq of the Danger Island Lair and E’s magnificent International Style mansion.
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2001 A Space Odyssey
Essentially porn for interior designers and sci-fi nerds (who would have thought they’d ever have something in common?), 2001 blew everyone away when first released and continues to this day. Plot theories aside, Kubrick’s trademark reds and brilliant white lighting combined with the best Modernist furniture, living spaces and Mod fashions to make space coolest place not on earth.
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Mad Men
Once described as The Sopranos meets Bewitched, this AMC series follows the Ad men and women of Manhattan from the year 1960. Apart from addictive plotlines and spot-on costuming, this series hosts a drool-inducing feast of Modern workspace aesthetics and furnishings. The party-boys of Madison Avenue reside within clean, uncomplicated wood paneled offices while the occasional decorative mobile, sleek whiskey glass or Eames chair complete the picture of top shelf Modernist style and attitude.
Update! Give yourself a Madison Avenue (circa 1962) makeover.
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Edward Scissorhands
Few people revel in the visual kitsch of classic retro like Tim Burton, and in his second major movie he let the pastel run wild. With this film he inadvertently awakened a nostalgic appreciation for the suburban modern in many people. Special mentions go to the white plastic Christmas tree and the shopping mall, an original of it’s era and luckily still intact at the time of filming.
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Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is a superb study on living within the confines of a murderous family and it’s ultimate consequences. What those with a Modernist eye may also notice is the home where the family matriarch and her litter of wayward sons reside. A classic suburban, 1970s brick and wood beamed home of cosy spaces, modular furniture and mosaic tiled kitchen. A little run-down and far from the glamorous lairs of Hollywood, this home is the architectural reflection of a recognisable, local family and their criminal tendancies.
One Response to “As Seen On Screen”Real Estate
Profiles
A great addition to MA – The Party is my all time fav movie, Peter Sellers was brilliant but that house was the star!