Cinema has long built new worlds on screen, whether through ambitious architectural set design or, more recently, computer-generated imagery (CGI). Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Portals: The Visionary Architecture of Paul Goesch, this series presents five films whose backdrops are themselves works of art. Each of them reveals the important role film has played as a site for architectural experimentation and a way of imagining the future.

Once the wealthy have left for other planets, Los Angeles becomes a home to the outcasts who remain on Earth. In Blade Runner (1982; 1 hour, 57 minutes), the city as we know it is barely recognizable amidst dense high rises and pouring acid rain. Architecture plays many roles in this futuristic noir film, starring Harrison Ford; some buildings are villainous while others offer a glimmer of hope.

This series is organized by Ella Comberg, MA ’24 in the Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art.

Free.

Image: Blade Runner, Ridley Scott, 1982