Architect Breaks Down Why Movie Villains Live In Ultra-Modern Houses

Have you ever wondered why the bad guys

get to live in the coolest houses on the block?

The modern villain,

a villain who wasn't kooky, or spooky, or insane,

this was a villain who was calculating, cold,

and was always in control,

and that type of villain needed to live in a modern house.

It makes it an ideal place for a villain to hide out.

Hi, I'm Valery Augustin,

and I've been an architect for over 20 years.

Today I'm going to break down the architectural details

of some of the most iconic modernist movie villain pads,

and see what their dwellings say about their devious nature.

[upbeat music]

First up, the house that made villains modern,

the Vandamm House in Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

[slow dramatic music]

Here's everything that jumps out at me.

We see some of the hallmarks of modern houses.

We see stacked stone.

We see a cantilever or projecting balcony.

We also see lots of glass,

this sort of modern experience

of really projecting the house out into nature

and prioritizing and emphasizing the view,

but it's not a real house.

Hitchcock was introducing us to a new type of movie villain.

[switch clicking]

Not what I expected.

A little taller, little more polished than the others.

And that type of movie villain needed a new type of house.

Hitchcock wanted to hire Frank Lloyd Wright,

America's most celebrated architect,

to design a house for this project.

But Frank Lloyd Wright apparently asked

for 10% of the film's budget,

and they figured out pretty quickly

they couldn't afford him.

So Hitchcock got production designer Robert Boyle

to design a house in Frank Lloyd Wright's style

and they based it on Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic house,

Fallingwater, which is located in Bear Run, Pennsylvania.

Now, let's compare these two houses.

One of the first things you'll notice

is how they both use stacked stone.

One of the things that Frank Lloyd Wright liked to do

was to contrast materials.

So you can see here how this stacked stone

contrasts with these wide horizontal planes

and the smooth plaster finish.

In the Vandamm House, we see a similar technique,

the wide balconies, the glass,

and of course, the cantilever.

But one difference that we notice here

are these metal beams.

These actually were a plot device

because Cary Grant's character needed something to climb on

as part of the movie.

But maybe Frank Lloyd Wright could have taken a tip,

because the cantilever here on Fallingwater

started to sag after a while.

Another important philosophy

that Frank Lloyd Wright thought of

was the idea that the house should be of the Hill,

and not on the hill,

because nothing he felt that he could design

was better than nature.

But the Vandamm House in North by Northwest

is actually perched on the back of Mount Rushmore.

This is no good, we're on top of the monument.

[tense dramatic music]

So we can look at North by Northwest

as a turning point in how we saw villains on the screen.

This was a modern villain,

a villain who wasn't kooky, or spooky, or insane.

Vandamm was suave,

he was cool,

he was collected,

and villains after this also began to take on this persona,

and villains were surrounded in the trappings

of modern architecture,

houses that made them seem like borderline normal people.

Hurry on down, darling,

it's almost time to leave.

I too believe in neatness, Leonard.

This matter is best disposed of

from a great height over water.

Next, let's take a look at The Chemosphere

by John Lautner.

[radiowaves screeching]

I can't believe this.

It's something, ain't it?

This house was famously featured in Body Double

and Recreated by set designers

in Charlie's Angels in 2000.

One of the most unique features of this house

is its octagonal shape.

Houses like this didn't exist in California.

In fact, they didn't exist anywhere.

This futuristic form, almost like a spaceship,

or a flying saucer.

People had never seen a house like this before ever.

One of the things that makes this house so iconic

is the single structural support in the center.

Then there are additional diagonal supports

that go back to this post,

but the whole house sits and perched up on this column

which provides an amazing view up in the Hollywood Hills.

It makes it an ideal place for a villain to hide out

To Hollywood.

Yeah, to Hollywood.

One of the things about The Chemosphere House

is that it's very transparent and open.

This is achievable because of these unique,

continuous glulam beams that we see along the edge,

which allow all of this continuous glass

along the perimeter.

And of course, the continuous windows

that go along the perimeter are important to the plot

of Body Double and Charlie's Angels.

It's through these wide open windows that the character

in Body Double witnesses and murder,

an homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window,

and in which Dylan is shot through a glass window

for the pivotal scene in Charlie's Angels.

[upbeat music]

So what is it about these modern houses

that make us so suspicious?

They show everything, but they reveal nothing.

In both Body Double and Charlie's Angels,

the villain is actually somebody who we trust at first.

See, here's the key. Okay.

Try not to make too many long distance phone calls.

All right, thanks again, man,

this is really good.

Hey, you're doing me a favor too.

Thank you.

Don't stand next to the window

'cause it's not safe.

Hey oh, toga.

[both laughing]

Before we find out their true nefarious character.

[gun cocking]

They say that in death, all life's questions are answered.

Will you let me know?

[gunshot booming] [Dylan screaming]

This house was designed by John Lautner.

John Lautner was a prolific modernist architect

who practice out of Los Angeles.

He came to California to work for Frank Lloyd Wright

before opening his own office in 1938,

where he went on to create

some of the most iconic houses in California,

and also around the world.

He's also known for being a pioneer for Googie architecture.

Once again, an architecture

that really spoke to the Atomic Age,

and to what was happening in California

and the nation around that time.

Many of John Lautner's designs are featured in other films

including the next house we're gonna take a look at,

the Sheats-Goldstein House from The Big Lebowski.

Hello, dude.

Thanks for coming.

I'm Jackie Treehorn.

It's quite a pad you got here, man.

Here are a couple of things that jump out at me

in looking at this scene.

First is some of those similarities

between this house and The Chemosphere,

the continuous glass facade that you see here

which allows a lot of openness and transparency.

Another great thing about this house

is the triangular shapes that you see referenced

both in the overall design of the house

as well as in the concrete structure of the roof.

Another thing that is immediately apparent

is that this house is not a house for a family.

It's clearly a house built

for either a bachelor or a single person.

The furniture is all custom made and built in,

there's little space for storage

or any indicator that there's some kind of real life

that happens in this home.

One of the things that is important

in understanding a villain's layer

is that it's not a place where the dog is gonna run around,

it's not a place for real life, 'cause real life is messy.

You can't live this way

unless you are in control of everything,

and you can't control your family or your pets,

the same way you can control your evil henchmen.

Another thing about these houses

that maybe makes them more suited for villains

was all the hard angles, all of the sharp edges,

all of the things that we don't really associate

with a house.

Houses are meant to be warm.

Houses are meant to be cozy.

The interior of this house really kind of tells you a lot

about the man who owns it.

You can't imagine Jackie Treehorn

cuddling up on the sofa with a cup of tea in this house.

New technology permits us to do very exciting things

in interactive erotic software.

Hmm, well.

Another thing about these villain houses

that we start to notice is that many of them

essentially are isolated,

sort of removed from the busyness of everyday life.

Oftentimes perched up above with expansive views,

something that really separates them

from the common man and woman.

Also, there's an Easter egg

for those of you who've seen North by Northwest,

the pencil shading trick that Thornhill uses

to track down Eve Kendall is the same one

that The Dude uses in The Big Lebowski,

but with less impressive results.

Of course, we can't talk about movie villains

without talking about Bond's notorious nemesis, Goldfinger.

Gentlemen!

Goldfinger!

[upbeat music]

Let's look at Goldfinger's Rumpus Room.

First thing to note is that this was a set design

created solely for the purpose of the film.

Now, what are some clues that this is not a real house?

A trick set designers often use

to make a space feel larger than it is,

is to use reduced size furniture

or miniaturize things to create forced perspective,

and make a space feel larger than it is.

Second of all, we have a stairway that seems to lead

to a space that's not really tall enough

for somebody to stand in.

Another thing that is immediately apparent

is that these structural elements

don't seem to be supporting anything of substance.

Many of the features of this set are reminiscent

of prairie style houses by Frank Lloyd Wright.

You'll see a similar use of materials, such as stone,

which give the house a sense of earthiness

along with materials like wood and glass

which provide openness and warmth.

So for anybody who's seen the movie,

we know what happens when Goldfinger is at his desk.

At the touch of a button,

a bunch of things start happening.

The table moves, a panel flips up to become a projector,

and the floor opens up

to reveal an architectural model of Fort Knox

where Goldfinger outlines his plans to his henchman.

This is a high-tech house,

and Goldfinger is a high-tech villain.

He even threatens James Bond with a laser.

Do you expect me to talk?

No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.

A laser at that time was almost unknown technology.

So who knew what these things could really do,

but in the hands of the right villain,

they could take over the world.

The fact that Goldfinger's House

has moving parts is no coincidence.

It's a direct reference to the Monsanto House of the Future

where hidden appliances and modern fixtures

were going to be the future,

and would lead us toward a better life.

Let's think about what's happening in the world

at this time.

We're in the midst of the Space Race,

technology is always being touted as this thing

that's gonna make modern life better.

But when you look at Goldfinger's Rumpus Room,

and many of these spaces,

you never know what's lurking behind a hidden wall,

or a panel, or who knows what happens

when he pushes that button.

So there's a lot of tension and a lot of fear,

which makes the modern house the logical place

for the villain to enact his evil schemes.

Another interesting tidbit is that the villain, Goldfinger,

is named after a real life architect Erno Goldfinger,

who is known for his humorless and irritable disposition.

Sounds like an architect

Twice our paths have crossed.

Let's leave it at that.

Next up, another iconic bad guy, Lex Luthor.

True friend of the Library of Metropolis, Mr. Lex Luthor.

[crowd applauding]

Me, stop, okay.

Thank you for coming.

There have been many portrayals of Lex Luthor,

and one of the best is undoubtedly

in the TV series, Smallville.

But in Smallville, he's still living in his family estate.

He's yet to become the corporate evil overlord

that he has in the comics and in other films.

So let's take a look at the most recent expression

of Lex Luthor's dwelling from Batman v Superman.

The first arrival at the building is at night,

but we can see a couple of things.

The first is this vast expansive glass,

and we also see some hints of elements

that are going off in different directions.

We also can sense the scale of it

just by the sheer number of people who are parked out front.

Now, let's get a better look

at this building in the daylight.

This is the Eli and Edythe Broad Museum

at Michigan State University,

and was designed

by Pritzker Prize winning architect, Zaha Hadid.

There's a number of things that really jump out at us.

Now, the first thing's that the building

is very hard to read.

It's hard to determine exactly where the entrance is.

A lot of the angles are jarring, sort of discordant,

obviously intentional on the part of the architect.

Something else that comes to mind

when I looked at this facade of this building

was the razzle dazzle camouflage technique

that was used on World War II battleships.

They were designed to confuse submarine periscope,

so they couldn't determine the exact distance

they were from a boat.

And this building does the same thing.

No matter which direction you're coming from,

you're not entirely clear how close,

or how far you might be away from a particular surface.

Somebody living in a house like this

clearly is hiding something.

I'll tell you that.

Only a villain would wanna live in a house like this.

The bittersweet pain among men

is having knowledge with no power, because,

because that is paradoxical.

This facade in particular, at first glance,

looks faceted, but all of these surfaces

are actually in the same plane.

It's the directionality of the metal ribs

going in horizontal, diagonal, and vertical ways

that make it really hard for us to read,

and understand this facade.

The architects said this was the intention of the design.

It was to provide many different viewpoints

to the inside of the space

but without ever getting one full vantage point

to understand the inside of the building,

you can never fully understand a villain.

In the same way,

you can never fully understand this building

until you get the full experience, and go inside,

and really get to know them.

The facade controls the views

into the interior of the building,

the same way in which a villain

wants to control what they see,

and what they don't let people see.

We don't have to depend upon the kindness of monsters.

That's just a taste of the many villainous layers

from the silver screen.

Let me know your favorite hideout in the comments below.

[slow relaxing music]