Berlin’s modernist and contemporary architecture stands in for Aeon Flux’s fictional city of Bregna in the year 2415 with surprisingly little alteration. At what point will modernist and contemporary architecture no longer seem quite so futuristic? Not only is modern architecture clearly still space-age in the popular unconscious, on some level its aesthetics and utopian aspirations are also clearly under suspicion. I can never decide if this is either well-founded skepticism or some sort of Puritan conservatism, or both. (A friend of mine recently pointed out that in Hollywood it’s always the villains who have the best taste in architecture and decor, but that’s another topic.) Not unlike the biosphere society in Logan’s Run, the future city of Bregna was purportedly built as a utopian haven but quickly reveals itself as a dark dystopia, its superb architecture suddenly taking on a more chilling nightmare feel. Much of the information about architecture in Aeon Flux in this post came from a long thread on architecture in film on pushpullbar, as well as from exhaustive fan websites here and here. There’s also an entertaining discussion here which tries to pin down the film’s architectural style and historical references. The photos above show the interior and exterior of the Baumschulenweg Crematorium of Alex Schultes and Charlotte Frank, which served as the ruling regime’s HQ in the film (note the Pierre Paulin ribbon chairs, in fuschia). All photos are from Paramount via here.

Above, familiar from the film’s poster, is the now disused 1935 Berlin Windkanal or aerodynamic testing windtunnel for German aircraft, built in 1932 and now designated a technical landmark. After WWII the Soviets removed all the equipment, leaving only the tunnel behind. It stands in for the “maze” and government complex in the film.

The Benjamin Franklin Conference Center Kongresshalle, above, by Hugh Stubbins with Werner Düttmann and Franz Mocken, 1957. It’s been renamed House of World Culture, but Berliners call it the ‘pregnant oyster’. Its roof, which has been rebuilt after a collapse in 1980, is the setting for a nighttime battle between Aeon on guards. on the roof at night.

Numerous scenes in the film were shot in the Tierschutzheim Berlin (2000-2001) by Dietrich Bangert, above. The building is actually a large, privately funded animal shelter complex.

Berlin’s modern concrete and glass Mexican Embassy, above, was a public marketplace in the film. It was designed by Francisco Serrano in collaboration with Teodoro González de León and completed in 2000.

The Volkspark Potsdam, 2001, popularly known as the BUGA Park, also includes the biosphere used as a tropical greenhouse in the film. Its recreation area, with standing concrete planes, appeared during the assassination mission sequence.

The scene above was shot at the Radsporthalle (Velodrom) by Dominique Perrault at the Landsberger Allee in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg. 1995-96.

Bauhaus Archiv, which served as the exterior of the building where Aeon and her sister Una live (the imaginary interior, probably just a studio set, is directly above). From the Bauhaus Archiv website: “The museum building is a late work of Walter Gropius [1883-1969], the founder of the Bauhaus. It was planned in 1964 for Darmstadt and was built 1976-79 in modified form in Berlin. Today, its characteristic silhouette is one of Berlin’s landmarks.” More information about the images below is forthcoming, once I figure out where they were shot. Anyone?

Complete list of locations below.

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I’m not sure where the strange compulsion to assemble this inventory comes from but it’s hard to stop, especially when people start adding their suggestions to the list. The house above was suggested by swedestralian. It’s by architect Jeff Kovel of Skylab Architecture for Nike executive John Hoke and his family and appeared in the 2008 film Twilight.  swedestralian also suggested The Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry, below, which as everybody has probably noticed made a key appearance in 2008’s Get Smart:

The climax of the atrocious Get Smart unfolds here, and while I’m not a huge fan of this building, I can only imagine the ambivalence Gehry must have felt if he saw the movie.

The much-photographed Villa Malaparte by Adalberto Libera, on the island of Capri, appeared in Godard’s 1963 film Le Mépris (Contempt). That’s Brigitte Bardot on the roof.

The Guggenheim Museum (New York), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1959, appeared in 2009’s The International. It was suggested by archdaily via twitter, who also suggested the Mies van der Rohe towers in Chicago, which appeared in Batman. I haven’t seen the new Batman movie, but boerhaus says that the two Chicago Mies vander Rohe buildings in the film are the IBM Plaza (1973), which was the site of the Wayne Enterprises Boardroom, Harvey Dent’s office, the Mayor’s office and the Police Commissioner’s office, and One Illinois Center (1970), which became the main living area of Bruce Wayne’s new penthouse. The building at center below is One Illinois Center, by photographer Lee Bey.

IBM Plaza, below.

Feel free to send in your suggestions. Unless otherwise noted all photos are from Flickr, with the exception of the shots of Villa Malaparte from Wikipedia.

This list,  inspired by an interesting thread on pushpullbar, is a small selection of great modern buildings that have appeared in 20th C film. Above, Charles Deaton’s Sculpture House, which appeared in Woody Allen’s 1973 film Sleeper. All photos gratefully borrowed from Flickr.

Ricardo Bofill apartment building, seen in Terry Gilliam’s 1975 film Brazil.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House, 1924, has appeared in the following films: The House on Haunted Hill, 1958; The Day of the Locust, 1975; Blade Runner, 1982; Black Rain, 1989.

Neutra’s Lovell House, above, appeared in LA Confidential, 1998.

John Lautner’s Elrod House of 1968. The 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever was shot here, shortly after the house was built.

John Lautner’s Chemosphere of 1960. Appeared in Body Double, 1984.

And finally, Corbusier’s Villa Savoie, which appeared in the film French Postcards, 1979.